Tuesday, June 29, 2010

This Has Certainly Been A Busy Monday, Of Miles & Miles--



A business sign in Point Reyes, which actually depicts our location geologically of where we were. Point Reyes is the epicenter of earth quake activity in the U.S. There was an earthquake in San Fransisco this morning, I was told it was a 3. on the richter scale.We've crossed the Golden Gate a total of 4 times on this trip. My husband gets to add a crossing, from his travel over the bridge in the late 60's, of when he was in the military.
Feels like you are on the edge of the world, truly.
We have traveled several hundred miles just in one day, & today's one of them.
This sign sooo, has my message, I then purveyed Many Villages, looking for abalone, of which I found.

The above photo is of Diana, she was very helpful, friendly & most informative, & had an excellent selection of abalone. Diana is of Native American heritage, she has lived in California for 40 years, & is originally from Syracuse, N.Y. She shared the story of the Legend of Hiawatha & the League of Nations. She explained there was a multiple group of different Indians Tribes, from-- N.Y., Ohio, Pa, Tenn. & some other states. This League of Nations, Diana said, is known to have set in place a model of an original framework, of a written document, & this document from this original League of Nations, has been used as a model for some of the very important documents of the U.S. government. She said information on Hiawatha can be found, & that Hiawatha was known to his people as a Prophet, & had informed his people that the white man would be coming. There is more to be known about Hiawatha beyond the Hiawatha poem, that many of us learned in school, her information made clear. It was a rather enlightening conversation regarding Native American history, that was never taught in our schools growing up, & am uncertain how it is being taught at present? It is a very sad & discouraging history, but it is always far better to know the truth, for without truth, we will never be fully free.

Diana's really cool stuff can be found at Many Villages, Stinson Beach, Ca. & can be reached at
osheno@yahoo.com
A cool poster, which states-- "Open Your Mind To A Banned Book" "Open Books For Open Minds"
I spotted this poster at a very interesting books store also at Stinson Beach. My husband bought a book, he's an unbelievable book reader, me, well I blog & I blog, & I .....
How's that for car decor....

I have never received an ice cream cone, from a person with a better smile than this. Meet Rudy, who has the coolest hair, & waited on me at the Parkside Snack Bar at Stinson Beach, Ca.

Our Laughter At Breakfast Continued--

Here's the google map of where Werner & Annemarie live in Varel, Germany. Computers provide us with our modern day, cave painting communications, worldwide, it does provide us with a window on the world for sure.

After Bill & Sue left for their day to do some out door nature treking, we met--
Werner & Annemarie, who are from Varel Germany.

It must have been Werner's friendly smile, & Annemarie's sweetness that was extended our way, that got us to chat with one another a bit. Werner showed us on his PC through google maps just where they live in Germany. We told them we were from Connecticut, & he asked if we knew Bradley. Bradley I asked, do you mean Bradley Airport, & he said yes, that he was a pilot & had flown into Bradley before. He is retired from flying now, & he & his wife Annemarie, who they said were married for about [?] apx. 17 years, or so [if I get the # wrong please excuse, as I'm really not very good with remembering numbers]. Werner & Annemarie, left on their long trip on 6/16, departing just 2 days after we did. They had also done a stop in Chicago to visit with family or friends, & had been traveling across the U.S. & finally to Point Reyes where we met this morning.

Werner had us laughing so, so much, & the hostess at the lodge gently asked us if we were done with breakfast yet. We said we were all set, & then Werner & I made these remarks as to how they really need to stop having all these friendly people stay here, as it's a real problem. That was quite a laugh, especially when my husband kicked in with his dentist joke, & Werner's "dirty people club" joke. We added the [yes I'm sorry to admit, if our family is reading this], I retold my husband's "Picasso toilet paper joke".

How's that for the morning news of the day....


Monday, June 28, 2010

Perhaps We'll Meet Some Day In Chicago To Continue This Visit--

We seem to have our usual time for departing in the morning, around 11:30 or so. Tomorrow we are determined to get an earlier start, we're thinking of getting some extra site seeing in before going across the state a bit to see my aunt, who lives in Frazier Park. Time will tell, what we'll be able to squeeze into the travel schedule. When we know, we'll definitely be sure to share that too.

Point Reyes was a fun overnight stop, we have become quite adapt at the gypsy life, my husband & I, with many laughs along the way with a few off key sons to sing too, I must add.

In the morning at the Point Reyes Sea Shore Lodge's breakfast room we had the opportunity to get to know some really interesting & fun people. The first couple we met, Bill & Sue who live up around the northern section of Calf., were so friendly & interesting to get to know. Sue had worked as a Librarian at a private school for apx. 18 years, we shared somewhat of a common experience, as I had worked at a private school for 10 years, though our depts. were very different, there still was a lot of similarities in our career experiences. Bill I think worked in finance, & he & my husband hit it off right from the start. Bill told us the story of how he had met John F. Kennedy, when he was a 17 years old. Bill was the official host person for Kennedy's visit to Bill's school. John F. Kennedy was a Senator then. It was interesting to learn about Bill's impressions of JFK, for as a 17 year old, he was certainly years ahead of his peers in mature thinking.

{The photo above is of my husband, Bill & Sue, it was a really fun visit, getting to know these really neat California folks, so warm hearted, as if we had always known one another.}

Going That Extra Mile, For Some It's A Breeze--


Yesterday we had a late lunch/dinner on the Sonoma coast, as we were on our way to Point Reyes on Sunday of this week. On Monday we arrived in Carmel at around 5pm, just in time for wine & cheese time here at the Cobblestone Inn, a warm & friendly environment, after all the miles on the road today.

When we stopped by in the Sonoma coast for our belated meal yesterday, we dined at Jenner Bistro which was an excellent selection, as our meals were very good. We had originally stopped at another restaurant, which was a bit crowded, & the owner/manager, seemed a bit [?] stressed, as the vibe was not one to sit & relax & feel welcomed, & we were truly in need of a good meal, & time to sit & unwind, before getting back in the car.

What attracted us was the cheery array of flags flying in the ocean side breeze--

Helena G. Giesea is the chef & manager of this excellent establishment, she was about to close the restaurant for a bit of prep time after brunch & lunch, & to get ready for dinner. We entered her bistro, & she heard our plea. How could she not, take a look at the restaurant's flags---

Helena thank you again, you certainly helped to make our day end smoothly & how nice to learn that your husband's family lives in Milford, Ct., just a stone's throw from where my mother lives in that part of the Constitution State, Connecticut. Feel free to email us, if you're ever in Ct. visiting, we can be reached at [turtle.ckc@gmail.com], or just make a posting on [thepeacegarden.blogspot.com].

"Jenner Bistro" is at Jenner By the Sea, Jenner, Ca. 95450/[www.jennerinn.com]/or on Facebook.
For those that are traveling in the Sonoma Coast, it is well worth the stop.



As We Continue To Head South--

The miles this young man has logged, baffles the mind. He's fit & determined, & appears geared up most adequately as we feel an infinity with him....


The views of course, keep us spoiled with the ongoing beauty of what we love so very much. At one of our well needed rest stops along route 1 , which is the shoreline route, we met Hugo. Hugo is in the midst of accomplishing his journey from Seattle-to-San Fransisco. He was really clipping along on the downhills of the route we were sharing, with those unbelievable, deep canyon descents. He is truly one to be admired. I over heard my husband ask him how his brakes were, & Hugo assured him that he has maintained them well. We wished him a safe trip, & we too resumed our journey, south. We were headed to Point Reyes, of which we arrived close to 6:30pm or so this evening. We had already had a wonderful early dinner/late lunch in the Sonoma Valley, of which I will eventually add on as an episode at a future posting.

"Goodnight sun, goodnight moon, goodnight planets, goodnight universe, goodnight all", & continued safe travels to Hugo.

*Amen*

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Leaving Howard Creek Ranch & Now Taking The Southern Trail--

Just one of many flowers in Sally & Sunny's garden.
Meet Sally, an extremely intelligent & creative woman, she & her husband Sunny make up a very incredible team. They both posses a spirit that truly reminds me of our better selves, as we are all in this together, in this world, as one, under our solar system's sun.
Carrie is the gal that showed my husband & I around the ranch the evening we arrived. It was a chocked full tour which included a required walk over the swinging rope bridge, that goes over Howard Creek, which flows to the ocean.
Here Carrie stands at the beginning of the swinging rope bridge.
& here's the bridge with my husband just about to compete his crossing.
A charming doorway to the main house, where we enjoyed a multi coursed fresh full, ranch style California breakfast. The folks we sat & shared breakfast with this morning were all warm & friendly people. It was a very enjoyable & insightful time & very special that we had this opportunity to get to know one another a bit. Sunny [who's picture I do not have] is a very kind, thoughtful & spiritual man. We talked about various matters, from my sharing my thoughts & opinions on peace [& doing this blog], & his thoughts, & opinions on the different religions of the world, & the mutual commonalities that they each have in common with one another, the oneness among human beings. It was a very heartfelt, spiritually beautiful encounter. So very much of this trip/this journey, does bring me to tears, the beauty of nature, & the beauty of the people we have met along the way.
Here we are, Carrie kindly offered to take our picture. I told her I adapted to the environment, even the swinging rope bridge, [as I can be such a baby on these types of adventures].
Views that feel like home, away from home...

Howard Creek Ranch is about the sweetest & most unusual place we ever stayed at. We were totally charmed with the beach house, which were our accommodations for the night. It was an original two story little cottage with wainscoting, wall paper ascents, a kitchenette, interesting window panes with bubbled glass in some places & with views of the sea to the east. It felt like we were in the Garden of Eden. Our hosts Sally & Sunny had been working on refurbishing this ranch for some 30years. Their choices for the flower gardens & interior furnishings, reflected a true free & giving spirit. I must say, it must have been the suspended bridge that presented us with glimmers of what proved to be a true, spiritual time for us, in this California by the sea experience.

Abalone & More, Where The River Meets The Sea

We are just about at our destination--
The Navy was doing sea to ship testing along the coast--
These folks are from Oregon. Jacob & his girlfriend were a lot of fun to talk to. His girlfriend had the most incredible red hair, very sheik, so west coast.
Quite the view from the viewing deck on the beach, just a stone's throw from the ranch we're staying at for this evening, as are the following---



This siloute is of my husband & Greg who we were talking to at the beach this evening. Greg was pointing into the Pacific, showing us where a whale was spotting. He knew an incredible amount of information regarding sea life, & described aspects of catching abalone. He also told us about his great grandmother, who passed away several years ago. His great grandmother was a little girl living in San Fransisco when "The Great San Fransisco Earth Quake" hit in the 1800's. She & her family incredibly survived this horrid event, & she went on to live into her late ninety's. Greg is a Native American. When I asked him how it was for him & other Native Americans out on the west coast, how it was regarding their rights & all? He & his friends & family made it very clear, that they have not been able to reclaim enough of their land in order to fish & hunt in the way of life that he & his people had been accustomed to, that the tribes are required to pay for this right. It all seems so odd. Here we have all these expensive properties up & down the coast, which were basically stolen so many years ago, & the descendants of this, to this day, live with limited opportunity.
Unless our government fully rights this wrong, that will never be right.
& as the river continues to meet the sea...
We, all of us, enjoy these views....
Knowing nature knows far more than ever, any man.

We arrived at Howard Creek Ranch here in Westport, Calf., about 4 hours down the coast from Trinidad, depending on how direct you choose to travel. We took our time, & traveled down the Avenue of Trees, which runs parallel to route 101. Route 101 will take you all the way up to Oregon, if you were to continue north.

We are enjoying our stay here for this evening, for dinner we went to the one & only Abalone Pub here in town. The food was excellent & the views never stopped. If I'm lucky my photos will load up into the blog, but I give my chances 50-50, as the Internet is sooo slooow here, that even this turtle, can wait only so, so long. I will say this, that it basically has to do with the connection & nothing to do with me, as I can't even axcess my email, as it's so slow, that it just dumps out the account. But that is just fine with me, as the experience all along this coast is indescribable anyway. We have certainly managed quite well before the Internet, yet I do enjoy my compute time, & when it's available I'll do my best to put it to good use.

Here goes a try or 2 with some photos...

Saturday, June 26, 2010

I Can Believe It


This is a typical path, the way of traveling through Fern Canyon, which is shown above. Below is a view of the canyon, this opening is the way people travel through, with the walls showing dominantly on both sides, & with a glimmer of the sky shown towards the left.

Photos in today's posting are provided by, "The Turtle"

One of our side trips here on the North Coast was to a location called Fern Canyon. Some of the locals told us that it was the site of some of the filming of Jurassic Park. The trip started , driving eight miles on a twisting, turning, dirt road into the forest towards the sea. A ranger told us that we would cross two streams on our way in, and that the trail to Fern Canyon was a little hard to find. We had two more miles to get there when we reached the first stream, but there was no bridge, you had to drive through it. It was not too deep, but my traveling partner, "The Turtle" was a little apprehensive (understatement here). I was pysched. As it was her decision for this excursion, I had the upper hand,,,,,,forward. After another exciting stream crossing we arrived at the location of the trail. The trail turned out to be the shallow river that cut through a 100 foot high canyon covered with many different varieties of ferns, moss, and back dropped by Redwoods. People had thrown logs and branches across the stream in places, so that you could attempt to keep your feet dry. I found a couple of broken branches and made two walking sticks,,,,,,we continued up the stream. If you saw the movie, Jurassic Park, you did not have to work your imagination hard to see a Raptor peering through the ferns. The canyon narrowed, and the going got tougher, still the Turtle wanted more. But finally both of us thought we had seen enough, plus there was no real destination, except a breakthrough to a view of the ocean. The Turtle did well going back, lots of logs to tip toe on. With literally one step to dry land and the trail back to the car...........a slip, a near fall, and a wet foot with a strawberry on the ankle. We went to a pool near the trail and soaked the foot for awhile. Anyone who knows the Turtle would be surprised and amazed at the gung-ho attitude during and after our adventure. It was not hard to imagine the film crews and equipment crawling all over this location.......it was primal land, the ferns were eight feet tall, moss hung from the trees, and the sun hardly penetrated to the ground. At times the mist swept over from the sea and made old Redwood stumps look like prehistoric dinosaurs. It is a magical site, I can see why Speilberg used it. The road in and out were perfect for the jungle scenes in the movie. All in all, it was quite an afternoon........oh yeah the Turtle is fine, just a bruise.

Submitted by, "The Otter"

Good Night Trinidad, We Leave In The Morning







The views this evening were just too, too good. With each step of the way, or turn of a corner, it just became sweeter & sweeter.

In the morning we leave to travel down the coast. Our sojourn has taken us-- here, there & everywhere. It has all been very different & most interesting, what a vast, & beautiful country the ole USA is, & our fellow citizens have been truly wonderful.

Not all of our adventures have been included, yet, I my be able to convince my husband to do a posting on our adventure to the Fern Cavern, that was a very different experience. When we talk about it, we call it our Jurassic Park adventure.