It's raining cats and cats!

When I left Garberville, CA this morning, it was drizzling pretty good. That was kind of the theme for the day...raining on and off...as I drove north on U.S. 101. Given a choice, I like traveling on this road, especially through the redwood area. There's a reason why it's called Redwood Highway. And, before leaving California, I decided to take a little walk among the redwood trees. Just below the border into Oregon, I stopped at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. I chose to hike the short, easy Simpson Reed/Peterson Grove Trail.

I just love walking through the ancient redwoods and talking to the trees. Well, maybe not aloud...silently talking to them.  I didn't talk to the fungi or the three-leaf clovers, but I did take their photos.

After crossing into Oregon, I visited a place I've gone to before... Great Cats World Park. This facility is dedicated to educating the public on the different wild cat species of the world, and breeding such cats to help ensure they will be around for generations to come. 

I joined other people as a tour guide took around to see the cats they have there, big and small. Small was represented by such cats as the Serval, Canadian Lynx and the domestic looking European Wildcat.

Most of the wild cats at the park are larger ones. There were three different types of tiger on display. The biggest was the Siberian Tiger, and there was also a young Bengal Tiger and a very mellow female White Tiger used for outreach programs.

As you can see in the photo of the Siberian Tiger, some of the cats are trained to do certain things for their meat reward. Here are two Amur Leopard brothers who patiently wait their turn to get their meat treat. And, it was thrilling to see the African Lion snarl for his reward.

The best thing about this place is being so close to the cats. At most zoos, you're always kept far away from the animals for safety reasons. Precautions are taken at this facility too, but being a few feet away from such beautiful creatures is a wonderful treat. And, on that note, that's all folks! Tomorrow, I'll be traveling to my parents' house for a couple of days, then head on home. But, it's time. I'm road weary and craving my own bed, not to mention reuniting with my cat. I miss her!

There be whales...and then there's those steps

Initially, I had planned to spend a little time in San Francisco this morning. But, to be totally honest, I was done with big cities and their big city traffic. Instead, after going to the grocery store for lunch food, I left Oakland and headed straight for Point Reyes National Seashore. I'm glad I did because I beat the crowds planning on spending a beautiful sunny Saturday at the park. My primary destination was the park's iconic light station located on Point Reyes. As I walked the .4 miles to the lighthouse, I noticed the surf pounding the shores of Point Reyes Beach.

When I reached the observation deck, a daunting series of steps going down to the lighthouse lay before me. Going down was obviously easy, but walking back up those 300 steps would prove a challenge. I wasn't going to let that stop me, though. After admiring the carpet of purple flowers along the cliff side, I started down.

Once at the bottom, I looked at the lighthouse inside and out, and also walked through the adjacent building that once functioned as the lighthouse keeper's dwelling and workshop.  The building also housed the old foghorns that are no longer used. 

The long climb back up the flight of stairs was pretty tiring. They actually painted numbers every 10 steps to either help motivate you or remind you how many were left to go. There were also a few rest stops along the way, which doubled as a spot to admire the view. When I made it back to the top, I took a breather at the observation deck, hoping to see whales. The gray whales migrate north during the winter, and I heard it was still possible to see the females and their young (calves) swimming by. The docent stationed there explained by swimming close to shore, the calves are better protected from sharks who typically attack the young whales from below. After searching the waters for a moment, the docent suddenly spotted a female and calf. I waited and watched and my patience paid off...I saw them in the water! I got a good look at them a couple of times as they broke the surface of the water and took a breath. I wasn't able to get a photo, but it was thrilling nonetheless. 

Since I had a long drive ahead of me in the afternoon, I only had time to do one other thing while at the park. I drove to the Chimney Rock area and took a short trail to the Elephant Seal Overlook. Along the way, I took photos of the many wildflowers growing along the sides of the trail.  Here are some of them.

Blue-eyed-grass

 Mule's ears

 Douglas iris

 Checker bloom

 Hedge nettle

I could hear the elephant seals before I got to the end of the trail. It was a mixture of yelping, honking, groaning and burping. Maybe farting, too. The overlook was a bit far from the beach, but my camera got some nice shots anyway. 

As I walked back to the parking lot, I took a photo of Drake's Bay and the historic lifeboat station building.  It couldn't have been a more perfect day at Point Reyes.

Well, tomorrow is my last full day of sightseeing as my road trip winds down.  I'll be spending the following couple of days at my parents' house before heading home for good.  It's been fun, but I'm missing my cat and my own bed.  I can't say I necessarily miss work, but it's a necessary evil. I can't be taking these long, enjoyable road trips if I didn't have the money to do it!

Rain, rain go away, you won't mess up my zoo day!

I woke up to a little drizzle this morning in Salinas, CA. There was rain in the forecast and I changed my plan for the day accordingly. I started things out by making a short drive to the tiny town of Castroville. I wanted to check out the old Japanese School House located in the corner of a small park. In the 1920's and 30's, Japanese families immigrated to the area to work in the agricultural fields. The school was created to teach the Japanese language to their children. It was closed during World War II after the Pearl Harbor attack and the local Japanese community was sent to internment camps. The building is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Continuing on my theme of historical things, I was planning to visit a museum in Palo Alto. But, as I drove north, I saw that skies were beginning to clear and I could see blue sky. So, after a leisurely lunch at Baja Fresh Mexican Grill...my first time eating there...I changed my plans. I decided to I would rather see animals, so onward I went to the Oakland Zoo. After all, who doesn't like animals? When I got there it was still drizzling a little on and off. I wasn't going to let that stop me, though.

There were school buses in the parking lot when I arrived at the zoo. But, the kids were all leaving, so I had a few hours of peace and quiet to enjoy the animals. I think the animals liked the silence, too. So, are you ready for animal pics? Let's start out with those in the primate family. The chimps were making good use of their blankets, maybe to cover up during a rain shower? On the other hand, the ring tailed lemurs were definitely taking shelter. After all, who wants that beautiful fur coat to get wet?

The pair of white-handed gibbons were displaying their acrobatics in the trees, and the baboon troop welcomed the sun peeking through the fluffy white clouds.

I was very impressed by their collection of Malayan flying foxes, which are the largest bats in the world with wing spans that can reach six feet! And, in their reptile and amphibian house, I was admiring their large chuckwalla lizards.

The Oakland Zoo is one of the most progressive in the country when it comes to caring for elephants. They have one of the largest elephant enclosures at six acres, and treat their pachyderms with positive reinforcement rather than bullhooks and chains. The elephants I saw looked pretty content.

Besides elephants, the zoo also had the always popular lions...this male was roaring up a storm. Then, there were the beautiful zebras, and the comical, but ever so alert meerkats.

Tomorrow, the weather forecast looks simply wonderful. I'm planning to spend a little time in and around San Francisco, then continue my slow drive north back to Washington.

Goodbye Los Angeles, hello cooler temps!

One last morning commute, one last traffic jam. When I left my hotel near downtown Los Angeles, I had to contend with the traffic on the freeway one last time. Actually, it wasn't so bad. Since I was traveling west on US 101...opposite of most commuters...at least traffic was moving, albeit slowly. It still took me an hour to finally leave the greater Los Angeles area. After that, it was smooth sailing. I found it the least stressful to drive the speed limit and let those in a hurry just pass me. About an hour later, I arrived in Santa Barbara. The temperature was wonderfully cool...about 70 degrees...and it was nice and sunny. I was there to visit the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, which focuses on local history and events in and around the city.

I saw interesting displays on the diving culture, with abalone being one of the main industries of the past. There were examples of old style diving helmets and the newer variety.

In addition, there were many impressive ship models. Here's one of the Cutty Sark, a British tea clipper. Not all industry was related to the sea. Local ranchers also raised cattle in the area, and transported hides and tallow in ships.

The greatest peacetime naval disaster took place off the coast of Santa Barbara at Honda Point. In 1923, seven U.S. Navy destroyers miscalculated their position and in foggy conditions, ran aground at full speed into the rocks. Twenty-three men died and the ships were listed as a total loss.

Before leaving the museum, I headed up to the top floor of the building to take in the view. It was pretty impressive. You could even see a few offshore oil platforms in the distance.

For lunch, I enjoyed the smorgasbord...or buffet, if you prefer...at The Red Viking up the road in Solvang. I've eaten there on previous road trips, and it's a great way to indulge in a little Scandinavian fare.

Because it took so long to leave Los Angeles, I didn't have time to do anything else in the afternoon except drive on to my pit stop for the night. It was just as well. It seems I haven't been doing enough relaxing on this trip...L.A. driving CAN be stressful...and I need to take it easy more. Tomorrow, it looks like rain in the forecast, which will be a welcome change.