Escape from the Heat!

Temps here on Saturday had soared into the mid-90s and we were due for the same Sunday, so we loaded up the Sammiemobile and headed for the coast. Our destination? Bodega Bay - about an hour's drive northwest - and where "The Birds" was filmed (see here for more info if you like.)

Once leaving 101, the countryside is bucolic - old chicken coops (Petaluma was once famous for it's chickens and eggs) and farms, pretty dairies and even newer spas and retreats.
We stopped in the actual town of Bodega, about 5 miles inland from Bodega Bay. Above lower right is Potter's Schoolhouse and right is St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, both in the movie.
We were headed for Doran Beach, a Sonoma County park and beach. The air was fresh and cool - whew!!! What relief!
Oh yeah! Love the beach! Gotta show Av the nuts and bolts of waves and sand.
Don't have my kong today, but this stick is perfect!
Salty and fibrous - yeaaahhhh... most excellent!
Hey there - pull that harness up, girl!
Sakes! You're embarrassing me!

Okay, okay... maybe I just embarrassed myself! We have to leave now, but let's check out the camping scene before we go!
Wow! Look at these guys! They have got it going on! I would love to live in that house on the beach with that front yard full of doggehs! How cool was that?
It was time for lunch. I wasn't allowed. Bummer. So after Dad ordered some goodies, we took a walk to check out the place.
Bodega Bay is truly charming - a little fishing town really, but the tourists have found out all about it.
Look at these! We couldn't get any closer, but I sure thought they barked funny. I woofed back a proper woof, but they're apparently slow learners. It was time for lunch.

And Dad shared a bit with me (heheh!) and ohhhhhhhh.... yummalicious fishie with a chip or two. Mmmmmnnnnnn. Then we drove home... except it was still too hot.
Soooooo.... we motored down to Sausalito, as we knew the temps were cool by the water. Here, we got another amazing treat. Boy, Dad and Momzers were in a great mood! Me and Avalon got scrumptialicious Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt with Strawberry Sorbet Swirl in it. Oh. My. Dog. We licked and licked and Avalon finished first. Then she tried to steal mine. Just like a little sister, huh! But we even got lots of pats from humans, big and small as we strolled down the streets of this also-charming (and waaaay too touristy) town. What a cool day!

Game cam bucks

Hubby moved the camera to an area where we'd spotted a buck rub. It worked!
I think he's leaving a scented "keep out" message for other bucks.
We mainly get does on the game cam, so I forget how powerfully built the bucks are.

We'd gotten this shot just before moving the camera. At first I thought it was the same buck, but after examining the zoomed-in views, I think the first one is actually a 6-point (as opposed to the second 4-pointer).

See Rock City

On the road again. Wednesday I drove from home to Paducah, KY. Yesterday, it was on to Chattanooga, TN. Drenching rain between Paducah and the TN line. Had plenty of time for go some sight-seeing when getting in town.
Decided to start my tour of Chattanooga with Rock City. Most of Rock City "tour" is walking the trail with the various rock formations. The trail winds you thought the rock and man-made structures to Lover's Leap. There you can see 7 states.
More view-points, rock formations, to the Fairyland Caverns. The grand finale is Mother Goose Village. It was interesting, some pretty good photos. A little more than just a "tourist trap".
Weather was threatening, and time to check into the motel. Got hit with a storm by the time got to the motel. Spent time getting settled into the room. After some food, I hit East Ridge Bicycles to check out the trails, places to ride. Chris Dodd gave me a very good "lay-of-the-land". I returned the motel armed with recommendation for riding dirt and pavement. Thanks, Chris.

Mosy squadrons, RVs and big trucks

Richard rode up while I was having tea in lakeview. He had the new Salsa Fargo (a bike designed for racing this route) He was running super light a laying down 100 miles on a bad day. We chatted for the afternoon, crossed into Idaho in a rain storm and then he rode on at his pace. safe travels man.

I set up camp on the edge of Yellowstone at a beautiful spot on Grassy lake. The swarms of mosqitos had chased me into my tent. I was lying back watching Loons divebomb after fish and chipmunks scurry around, When suddenly this big ass truck comes roaring down into my campspot. The dude drives up practically on top of me and yells "You seen any wildlife?" "Were looking for Wildlife" I look up at him and irritatedly just say "No"; too stunned by his retardedness to say anything more. Then he backs up and drivews away. Yep, unfortunatly these kind of people are alive, well and flock to Yellowstone.

Hannah Coulter and a Vanishing Way of Life

As I sit to write this post, I have an aching heart, lump in my throat, and unshed tears burning behind my eyes. All because of a book I almost didn't finish. I was ready to put it down around page forty, because of its slowness. But since it was for bookgroup, and I hate not to have read the book, I kept on. I'm so glad I did.

This is the first writing I've read by Mr. Wendell Berry. Oh, I've heard plenty about him. Lots of people talk about his poetry and admire his lifestyle of being a farmer AND an intellectual. So I've been meaning to read him for a long time, and when a member of the bookgroup picked this particular book to read, I was glad. Now, at long last, I'd read Wendell Berry.

He's written several books that take place in Port William, Hannah Coulter being one of them. And this one is written from a woman's point of view. That was the first thing that struck me as amazing. How could a man know and describe a woman's heart so well? I don't understand. I could no more write a book from a man's point of view than I could turn into a man. I just couldn't do it. Mr. Berry must have an extraordinarily developed sense of empathy. I wonder what it's like to be his wife? I'd like to meet and have a good long visit with her.

The book is about community life in Port William and how interdependent all the inhabitants are on each other, not only socially but economically. They call themselves 'the membership'. They remind me in many ways of the Amish and Mennonite groups the way they all come together to help bring in each other's harvests and have barn raisings and other gatherings to support each other.

I remember life being this way during my childhood in the late 50's and early 60's. I grew up on my grandparents' farm in a very small town in the Tennessee mountains. Life revolved around community and what was happening with each other. The children played outside until dark in the summertime while the adults finished chores or visited on the front porch. Life was slow and savored.

On Sunday afternoons, we'd go over to my daddy's parents' house and visit all afternoon. We only lived a few miles from them but didn't often see them during the week. The women would sit inside and talk about their children and recipes while the men stayed on the porch talking politics and other things newsworthy. I much preferred the company of the men as I thought their topics of conversation so much more interesting than the women's in the next room. Often my uncle would bring out his guitar and he, my daddy, my grandpa, and anybody else there would sing old hymns together.

Children then would sit quietly in the presence of their elders and listen if they were interested or go off and play with each other. Now that I think about it, I was usually the only one who loved listening to them. I learned much about life from my listening.

So other than Hannah Coulter being about her life, it's also about two ways of life; one dying life beginning after WW II and the new one taking its place. It's about the agrarian life being replaced by the technological. And it just makes me sad, so sad, for I lived this...am living it. I've seen warm summer evenings catching fireflies change to no one being outside. I see children not know the value of a hard day's work and not being willing to work unless they're paid much more than their worth.

I've seen farm after farm with fields lying fallow; the broken and rusty machinery of their trade lined up beside barns that no longer hold anything but memories. Gone are the aproned grandmas standing behind screen doors watching for their men to come home from the fields. And it makes me sad, for this was the world of my childhood, and I want it back.

The book also contrasts two kinds of people. One is the kind that hankers and yearns for more. More life, more travel, and more education. These are the ones that don't come back once they're seen and tasted the bigger world.

The other kind of person is satisfied to do what has been done for generations before him. He's not dissatisfied with his life and wants nothing more.

There's an irony in Hannah's story, because she wants her children, as most parents do, to have all the benefits she never had. So she and her husband make sure all three children have college educations. While wanting the children to come back and help on the farm and someday take over, they realize that because of their exposure to new ideas, people, and places, the children are gone forever which perpetuates the dying of the farm and the life the community holds so dear.

As a grandmother, Hannah notices a grave difference in how she grew up and how her grandchildren now live. Since she lived in Port William all her life, she knew intimately all the other people living there which included her family. You get to know people that you spend time with; face to face in conversation or side by side doing work.

Now since her own children have moved away and only come for occasional visits, she doesn't have the pleasure of knowing her grandchildren very well. And that is only made worse by her grandchildren's indifference to her by their absorption in their various video games, phones, and other electronic devices. There is very little to none 'face to face' anything going on.

For anyone who's studied much of history, you know that ways of life come and go and the world keeps on spinning. And I'm sure it will continue to spin until God deems it time to end.

But this I know. People need to realize that with technological advances, wonderful as they are, comes much personal responsibility. We need to know when to limit our childrens' time with their various machines of entertainment. To say, "Enough. Turn it off and go outside and play." And then to do likewise, for if we don't follow our own good advice, neither will they.

We can still have a rich, mindful life today but not without much vigilance. For this I've learned, that the more you have and the more complicated life becomes, the more is required of you and the harder it will be to live simply and wisely.

Errands and New Friends

Fort Pickens Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS), Florida
Temps: Lo 58F / Hi 66F (14C / 19C)

One day of blue skies and sunshine, and we’re back to clouds and mostly dreary conditions. We got a short break with the sun peeking through yesterday afternoon. Today, we added fog into the mix. We woke up to misty conditions that lasted through the day. Not once did the sun show itself.

So be it; good time for quiet walks on the beach, making plans for the next few months, running errands, and making new friends.

The map to the right shows the miles we logged with the toad yesterday — about 75 miles (120 km). Most of it was to run errands.

One thing about Florida — everything is spread out. Another thing about Florida — getting from the barrier islands to inland spots is not always a straightforward shot.

(1) Fort Pickens Campground … (2) American Home Base … (3) Commissary … (4) National Naval Aviation Museum … (5) Joe Patti’s …
(6) Back to the Campground.

We started out early yesterday morning with a drive to our “mailbox home” at American Home Base(AHB). We could have asked them to send our mail to us, but we figured we’d make an in-person call and say hi to our contact there as well. Since starting to fulltime, they’ve sent us our mail twice (on demand) and so far we have no reason to regret our decision to use them.

Next, we drove to the commissary to pick up a few things. Unlike most commissaries we’ve shopped at, this one is off-station and required a detour before the fun part of our day.

Shopping completed, it was onto the National Naval Aviation Museum, located on Naval Air Station Pensacola. Although the Navy Lodge we stayed at in September is practically across the street from the museum, our time was limited and we didn’t get a chance to visit it then. Since running errands took longer than expected, our plans to tour the facility today didn’t quite work out as expected either. So we’re 0 for 2 for this museum — which, by all accounts, is not to be missed. Perhaps third time will be the charm.

In the universal language of all aviators, a WWII pilot relives his flight with naval
aviators from his past and future.
L to R: WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm.

The trip to the museum was far from a waste, however. One of the reasons we were there was to keep a lunch date with new friends. Ron and Ina, soon-to-be fulltimers from Woodbridge, Virginia, reached out to us soon after we arrived at Fort Pickens. Since they’re snowbirding it at the Blue Angel Rec Area (military campground), the Historic Cubi Bar Café at the museum made for a convenient meet-up location.

We sat in the open area overlooking the restored planes in the “early aircraft” display area. In hindsight, we probably should have sat inside for a step-back into history. You see, the café is not just an eatery, but an exhibit in its own right. The décor and layout apparently duplicates the bar of the famous Cubi Point Officers’ Club in Subic Bay (Philippines). During the Vietnam conflict, the squadrons began a tradition of placing plaques in the bar. When the club was closed in 1992, those plaques were moved here and placed exactly as they had been at Cubi Point.

The café is filled with memorabilia from the original Cubi Bar.
[collage from photos courtesy of the website]

The menu offers a simple, but tasty selection of soups, salads, sandwiches, and paninis. I was happy with the Half Aviator’s Choice and Cup of Soup (in my case, ham on whole wheat and Italian wedding soup); Mui ordered the Barrel Roll — a panini consisting of sliced deli ham and warm pulled pork, dill pickle slices, and Swiss cheese.

Thanks, Ron and Ina, for treating us to lunch; next time we meet up, lunch is on us.

We debated spending the afternoon at the museum, but hints of blue sky encouraged us to deviate from our plans. Well, that and the lure of Joe Patti’s seafood market. We had heard of this place from several people, and now that we’ve been, we understand why it is so highly recommended. We picked up some salmon — part of which we had for lunch today; and a couple pounds of shrimp. We will go back to fill up our freezer before we leave the area. And to have more of the excellent gelato also sold at Joe Patti’s ;-)

No photos from inside; but here’s one from outside the hangar-like market building.

By the time we arrived at the campground, the sun was out and the patches of blue showing between the clouds were on the increase. So, we quickly put the groceries away and went for a short walk that turned into a long walk. We started out on Pensacola Beach, walked up to and through the group camping area, and strolled back via the gulf-side beach. The sun went into hiding halfway through our walk, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

We saw another nine-banded armadillo near the campground, but it was too fast for me. So, here’s the sum total of my wildlife photos from yesterday … didn’t take the camera out today.

The brown pelican was at the pier at Joe Patti’s; the Great Blue Heron (probably a male
preparing the nest for this year’s mating season) was not far from the campground.

Although I didn’t take the camera out today, we did go out. We didn’t stray far from the campground, opting to create our own trail by walking the Blackbird Marsh trail, connecting to the gulf-side beach via the loop A access, wandering all the way to Battery Cooper, and returning via an inland trail we happened upon that took us by Battery Worth before it dropped us into loop B in our section of the campground.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast is iffy. There are storms moving in from the west that might bring rain. On the other hand, the front may wiggle and by-pass us. So, we’re in wait-and-see mode as far as any sightseeing is concerned.

Foggy Maples

A foggy afternoon in the forest on the last day of August . This was taken with my 'point-and-shoot' camera, a Canon G11.