on the plain

 in the california valley we camped

 we watched a loggerhead shrike on it's nest

 and took a nine mile hike

 found many different wildflowers (parry's larkspur, purple owl's clover)

snake's - head sunflower

and found ancient native american rock art

 we found also a herd of tule elk!

 they ran up a ridge to keep watch on us

 devil's lettuce and not sure which butterfly (not a monarch)

 we camped on the plain

 and knit

 and then the most amazing thing happened. we had surprise visitors.

 a herd of pronghorn antelope saw us, and slowly, curiously, tentatively

made their way across the plain to us.

 sitting still keeping quiet, the pronghorn came nearly to our tent. i wished i could go to the truck for another lens, but when we had realized they were moving towards us, we both stayed put (or they would have run). an incredible amazing moment. the following photos are from a previous trip to the carrizo...

pronghorn antelope on the carrizo plain

 snake's - head sunflower

 purple owl's clover, snake's - head

leaving the carrizo plain national monument, always with a wistful feeling, but hopeful too for the next visit, we'll be back! thank you for coming along! xxx lori

alegria ~ heaven

hello! how are you? we are back from our northern california adventure|getaway. in a previous post, part one and two happened, this is part three (favorite part!). we celebrated our wedding anniversary staying at our favorite bed and breakfast, alegria oceanfront inn and cottages.

 big river beach, mendocino

~ alegria inn ~

 we stayed in the driftwood cottage

 indeed the most charming place we've ever stayed on this continent. alegria has several cottages to choose from (that is the hard part, how to choose?) and a few rooms in the main house as well.

the driftwood gives a feeling of coming home, even though we don't have our own loft

bedroom, wood burning stove, private garden and a kitchen with a hand hewn wood table...

some of the ways we celebrated while in mendocino...

went sea glass hunting, found lots of treasure on the beach right out in front of alegria!

 saw the extremely photogenic Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

 wandered around town. across the road (behind me) is the 'love bench'

where couples sit and take in the spectacular ocean view

(no photo because it was always occupied) :)

visited the mendocino yarn shop

 watched the many migrating or wintering birds. {anna's hummingbird}

walked along the trails ~  mendocino headlands

stood among favorite trees, navarro river redwoods (a short drive from mendocino)

ate delicious organic breakfasts at alegria, complete with (stunning) ocean view

 collected treasures

a wonderful coincidence happened! this is one of my favorite knitting books,

'shear spirit' by friends joan tapper and gale zucker. 

gale,  photographer of the book, told me the lovely girl in the brown hat on the cover,

is the innkeeper's daughter (of alegria) 

and gale had stayed here while shooting the mendocino part of the book.

 eric and elaine, owner's of alegria were tickled to know this and said to 

say 'hi!' gale! 

and treasures for one reader of this blog. 

oh my goodness i found a lot of sea glass on this trip. the surf came up and there was even a little stormy weather. perfect sea glass collecting conditions. i found a book at the gallery bookshop that seems very helpful in finding your own treasure. it's filled with sea glass collecting tips. 

i'm giving away 'the official sea glass searcher's guide' and the sea glass shown here,

and a post card of alegria, to show where the treasure was found.

 to either add to your own collection, or start one.

{a small way to say thank you for all your kindness}

giveaway begins now, happy november 1st! and will end tuesday november 4.

leave a comment with an email, if you would like a chance to win

open to the world 

good luck everyone! 

mendocino links in this post:

alegria oceanfront inn and cottages

point cabrillo lighthouse

mendocino yarn shop

gallery bookshop

visit medocino

traveling

hello from california's central (and northern) coast! we are traveling, on a road trip (and boat trip). this adventure is a bit different (for us) and is actually three adventures in one. part one and two are complete (mission accomplished!) and so the most fun part, part three is left, which we are on right now!

part one ~ 

a few hours up the coast, san simeon ~ we spend the evening watching the surf, the sunset and eating fish and chips, and waiting for friends to arrive.

next morning, we all head north to big sur

 in big sur, we cart and carry one kayak, two paddleboards, paddles and several days of equipment and food over a mile down to the beach

making preparations

there they go, can you see the 3 of them out at sea? i watched and made my wishes for nearly an hour, and then slowly began the hike back alone.


part two ~

on my own in big sur i went to my favorite place, nepenthe. such a beautiful day! i ate lunch, knit and watched three acorn woodpeckers and one stellar's jay in the tree directly in front of me!

this is the bathroom at nepenthe. the art painted on the walls is so lovely, everytime i see it it's a thrill. 

 went to the henry miller memorial library next

found a couple books and a tote

 at the hotel (one of the books, and the tote, and knitting!)

 another day i went to hearst castle

 even though i've taken all the tours a few times, i could take the upstairs tour a dozen more (or even more!). the library is amazing. each guide offers something a bit different too, different stories and anecdotes. this time i learned that first lady grace coolidge was once trapped in the elevator. when she was finally found and asked if she were okay, she answered yes, she could yodel and she had her knitting.

part two and a half ~

the adventurers arrive! they'd kayaked and standup paddleboarded 36 miles of big sur coast. returning safe, healthy and happy = successful adventure.


part three ~

patrick and will head back to their homes and families

and now, time for chucks and my adventure together. we spend time with the elephant seals

central coast zebras, and then head north...

to san francisco

then marin county

our bed and breakfast came with chickens  :)

this place!

heading further north still, point reyes seashore

point arena lighthouse, mendocino (we are in the top of the lighthouse!)

and because this happened nine years ago today, we are staying at our favorite place on the entire california coast to celebrate...

here. we'll be back soon, there is so much to share about mendocino and magical alegria!

thank you, as always, for coming along! xxx lori