We have no permanent home in the US, and for the past six months, we’ve worked our way across the country until we arrived in Eureka, CA, where our oldest daughter and her fiance live, and where we can walk along the Pacific Ocean again. It was almost a coast-to-coast drive. Starting in Chicago inContinue reading “Eureka!”
Category Archives: California
California Beaches
It was a pleasure to find that California beaches are as well-tended in the Santa Barbara area as they were in Mendocino five years ago. I often mention the quantity of debris that we find on beaches around the world in our continuing rounds of beach combing. California beaches are a remarkable exception. Yes, theyContinue reading “California Beaches”
Interim–October in Santa Barbara
We left Peru with great fanfare, but didn’t get all the way to New Zealand in one hop, we stopped for a month in Santa Barbara, CA. It was a month of relaxation, walks on the beach, exploring the area, and wine-tasting–this is California, after all. We visited the Avocado Festival in Carpenteria, and theContinue reading “Interim–October in Santa Barbara”
From the back room: California
I took notes on some of the great places we visited along the northern California coast during June-Aug. 2015. Somehow I never posted them, though I may have mentioned the excellent, Hiker’s Hip Pocket Guide to the Mendocino Coast, by Bob Lorentzen. We used it regularly. My own notes are these: Places visited on theContinue reading “From the back room: California”
This is Jeopardy!
Driving in from the north to Pasadena we missed most of the rush hour traffic and arrived around 6 pm. Unloaded most of the car at Amanda’s house, since she and Jimmy are the inheritors, willing or unwilling, of our miscellany. They are rewarded by getting our leftover kitchen ingredients and picnic supplies, and stuckContinue reading “This is Jeopardy!”
Mendocino to LA, via the Monterey Aquarium
We left our wonderful house in Little River, CA (thank you Eckhart, Birdie, Jenna and VRBO) to head south for LA and then Barcelona. Down by a couple of boxes, the car was still packed to the doors. I gave up on the bird feeder–after the raccoon visit it was held together with fishing line.Continue reading “Mendocino to LA, via the Monterey Aquarium”
Mendocino area highlight reel
Best trail: Anyplace on the California Coastal Trail Best day hike: Pygmy Woods/Upper Fern Canyon loop, Van Damme State Park Best guidebook: The hiker’s hip pocket guide to the Mendocino Coast, by Bob Lorentzen Best coffee shop: Moody’s, Lansing St., Mendocino Best beach for collecting abalone: Van Damme State Beach, Little River; Mendocino Headlands, MendocinoContinue reading “Mendocino area highlight reel”
And Away We Go
Mendocino has been a blissful environment, yet tomorrow we leave. Yesterday, I put some of my beachcombing shells back in the water. In addition to packing, we spent our last day beachcombing on one of the best beaches yet, the Mendocino Headlands. I found a lot of abalone pieces, but left them in place forContinue reading “And Away We Go”
The World Beyond the Trees
All summer we’ve walked on the California Coastal Trail (CCT) and related paths that run along the coast. At Jughandle State Park, I followed a trail away from the bluffs toward a cluster of pine trees where I thought there might be some woodpeckers, but the trail was actually a deer track and gradually narrowedContinue reading “The World Beyond the Trees”
The Relentless Beachcomber
Not many people have the chance to go beach combing as often as they would like, we usually do this occasionally while on a short vacation. I’ve now had three months when I can go beach combing almost as often as I like. I can collect anything I find, with the understanding that at theContinue reading “The Relentless Beachcomber”
Llywindatravels 2026 