friday afternoon i left chinatown at 3 and headed for oakland where i was meeting dottie that night. 7ish hours of driving later i checked into the hotel and collapsed face first into bed. saturday morn we headed north to humboldt county. i underestimated the time, miles, and hours it would take to reach ferndale, but 6 hours or so later we arrived.
we took a ride on the old redwood highway in the rain up the avenue of the giants.
it rained on and off throughout the day, and i loved it!
we have put down a set of shallow roots here in ferndale. unpacked our mountains of stuff and bags of food and have been collecting more since we’ve been here – driftwood, flowers, sea stones.
i’ve been stopping to clip roadside wildflowers and daffodils. today dottie assisted by rolling under a barbed wire fence in a field near the beach to cut some calla lilies. i’m painting every specimen into my sketchbook and conducting exhaustive searches on the internet for botanical names.
today i went out on a solo scouting mission and met a woman who owns a local eatery. she joined me for a cup of coffee and told me about a backroad (partially dirt) ridge-top drive that went over a cattle guard and through her land. i picked up dottie and we were off. spectacular views of snow covered mountains in the distance, pointy conifers as far as the eye could see and sweeping views of eureka way off in the distance, the ocean, green valleys. a narrow pot-holed road snaked over the ridge of mountains revealing vistas on either side. dottie and i kept stopping to take photos. the air was icy cold. we could hear a river roaring away behind a dense stand of trees. cloud shadows moved ahead of us on the road.
bear river ridge road in case you get up this way. stop at the ridgetop cafe and coffee barn and talk to mariette. she’s a cool woman. didn’t expect to have coffee talk with a stranger, but am glad i did.
went hiking in the redwoods north of trinidad yesterday. the only sounds were of water dripping from the tall trees onto the spongy forest floor. cool delicious northern california. it was worth the long drive.
there’s more, but i’m tired and it’s way past my bedtime. wanted to get at least 1 postcard out to you before tomorrow’s adventures begin…
Mary Ann,
Haven’t stopped in for a while, but decided to see what you were up to.
I see you are on a wonderful adventure and as usual your pictures do
not disappoint. Enjoy to the hilt.
<The photo of you with arms outstretched on redwood path should be in the Websters under "exultant." I could almost smell them and feel the "spongy" ground under my feet. It was in my mind when I finally visited Lacy Park that afternoon (and El Molino Viejo). Bon Voyage!
Wow! Lucky girls. Sounds wonderful😊
You are on quite a good adventure!!!! Wish I was there with 👍🏻
Love your postcards from anywhere. The redwoods are amazing, such old souls. I love a walk in nature, anywhere.
Hi Mary Ann, I can help a bit with the flower IDs. Left page of your clippings: Top are Allium Triquetrum (3-cornered leek, an introduced plant that I saw in No. California this same time of year some years ago and did research on), lower are Trillium species. Right page, top left looks like (?) a wild mountain maple (Acer species), whose leaves vary considerably. We have Mountain maples with leaves like this but they also have more typical smallish maple leaves, too. The next is penny cress, then another Allium, and then I’m not sure. Possibly the burgundy leaves are some sort of oxalis and some sort of rush stem? It’s fun following you and Dottie in this trip to an area I really loved visiting, too.
thank you!!! i couldn’t find the 3-cornered leek for the life of me. or the penny cress. the oxalis variety is sorrel- Oxalis oregana. i have lots more i’ll need help with..will post in next postcard!
Mary Ann…Thank you for your traveling post cards, so enjoyable!
Diane…Thank you for your plant wisdom, so enlightening!
😉
Those redwoods and that beach are calling to me! My husband and I are heading that way in about 6 weeks for a long-overdue coastal vacation, so I’m scouring your posts for must-sees and can’t-misses. Anxiously awaiting the next postcard.
oh it’s so cool and lovely here. you’re sure to enjoy it v.v. much!
I love love love that area. The Redwoods feel like a sacred place to me.
me too!
Beautiful! So enjoyed your “postcard,” will look forward to he next one! Enjoy…
Oh your beach vistas just sing to me. Haven’t been on a beach since December. While lacking beaches I did manage a 3-day swoop to the Platte River in Nebraska to watch the Sandhill Crane Migration. To see a half-million birds lift off the river just before sunrise or to return home just after sunset is mind-boggling. They have fossils of the same bird here in the same place for 9 million years…life is good. Thank you for sharing yours.
how magnificent that must be to see those birds… dottie has seen that very thing. not me!
I just loved the wildflowers….I saw the white ones for my first time at the NC weekly farmers’ market at the NC State Fairgrounds in 2013….I think NC called them “snowdrops from the mtns”……but I will research. So glad the rain stopped, and the clouds parted to those gorgeous blue skies….I loved your sister’s happy smile over the newspaper…and so much more
hello holly! so much bounty in the natural world for us to discover…
This is so cool! I’ve never ventured that way and wow! What vistas!
oh yes yes yes!!
Absolutely fabulous photos. LoveLoveLove. Have a wonderful adventure, and keep us posted!
you know i will!
Enjoy! I love Trinidad! My own little bolt hole is south of there, near Jenner and surrounded by towering redwoods. To me, redwoods and coordinating flora and fauna restore my soul every time.
oh sally..one day i wanna come for tea. see your little cabin in person. if you’re there when i come by… i always think of you in your hidey hole in jenner when i’m up this way.
I squealed when I saw the . . . Instant Pot! 😉 You’ve got everything you need! Photos look amazing.
making beans and potatoes (not together) and other delicacies xo
Jill went to college in eureka and arcata. I always went to ferndale when we visited. I hope you get to see a banana slug. They are spectacular.
wanna see one!