Rolling on the River

The view from the southern end of the Mendocino Headlands. This is looking back toward the Big River. The fog was thick this morning but the sky was clear a mile east into the valley.



Planned to take a canoe up river but otped instead for a mountain bike ride up the river trail.

Up a Lazy Creek

One of the coolest wineries we saw on our trip to Mendocino was the Lazy Creek Winery in the Anderson Valley. It's a small family owned operation with some fantastic wines including a great Gewürztraminer and a Riesling. This winery is off the path a bit, but well worth a visit. You should call ahead first to make sure they are open for tastings.



I enjoyed wandering around the property and I saw some turtles in the big pond out back. This picture is of the old rusty truck that greets you when you park outside the tasting area.

Autumn Cab

Some lovely grape clusters growing in the Alexander Valley near Cloverdale, California. These grapes will be used to make excellent Recerve Cabernet Savignon by the Clos Du Bois winery.



I actually picked a few small grapes from the vine and they were very tasty.

Russian River Wine

Here's a shot of me sipping the great wines of the Lynmar Winery in the Russian River Valley. They had some excellent Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.



Jonied this wine club and looking forward to my first shipment.

Bodega Bay Sand Castle

Here's a close-up of a great sand castle that was built on the beach in Bodega Bay, California. It was very detailed and had stairs and many little portals. Each of the four sides was a different design and the architecture was amazing. There were no other castles on the beach, so it wasn't part of a contest. Just some sand craftsman plying his trade in the early morning hours.



We found out the next day that 4 people were swept out to sea and 3 drown on a beach just 6 miles north of here the same day this photo was taken. Really wierd. They say it was a "Sleeper Wave" that got them. Never turn your back on the ocean.

Beach Babe

Here is a shot of our newest puppy on the beach in Oceanside. Her name is Kona.



Notice how there is no one on the beach? How did I do that in Socal (Southern California) during the day?

Well that's a secret location with access restricted to pass carrying personnel only. It's near Red Beach on Camp Pendleton and you need a base decal and a 4-wheel drive to reach it. On this day we only saw 6 other people (and 3 dogs) in a 2-hour span.

If you like to be out of the crowds, then this place is heaven.

Me and the dogs found a huge, rank-smelling sea lion that washed up on the beach a few hundred feet north of where this photo was taken. Not sure what might have killed him, but he was a giant animal and maybe it was old age.

Stock Photos

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So if you need some great images ( including some kiyotei snapshots) - surf on over to istockphoto.com.

Thanks. Your purchases will help support this blog!

Petting Zoo

I took this photo of my granddaughter, Noelani, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (which is really closer to Escondido than San Diego). This Petting Kraal is much more interesting now that they added some deer and antelope and it's not overrun with goats anymore.

Green Machine

This rusty old truck sits atop a hill on a farm in Carlsbad, CA. I guess it has seen better days. This farm is quickly giving way to houses and probably won't be around in a few years.

Mating Rituals

A beautiful peacock shakes his tail feathers as he fans out and makes annoying "meowing" sounds.



All around the Rancho de Los Kiotes (as Leo Carrilo named his ranch), the sounds of peacocks calling to hens can be heard. This peahen was not very impressed by the display.

Oh Pancho!

This view is looking from the entry arch of the hacienda of Leo Carrilo's ranch in Carlsbad, California.



The interior is a colorful splash of bright red bougenvillas, cactus blooms and fuchsias.

As young kids, my brother and I loved the Saturday morning TV show called "The Cisco Kid." The original owner of this ranch played the part of Cicsco's loyal sidekick, Pancho. The television series was very popular in the 1950's and even many years later was seen on Saturday reruns. I guess he was already dead before we even saw the shows because he passed away in 1961. He bought the land and built this ranch in the late 1930s and it was not only a place to entertain his Hollywood friends, but also a bonified "working ranch" with cattle and horses.

It's now a historic park and is being restored to it's former condition.

Kokopelli Rests

A close-up of the rock art found in Canyon de Chelly. The famous Kokopelli can be seen reclining here but still playing his flute. I have read that this may symbolize where a group of migrating people stopped to rest.



There are many handprints here (positive and negative) where some have dipped their hands in paints and marked a spot and others have blown pigment onto and around their hand to creative a negative print. Also seen here is a zig-zag symbol which may mean lightning or echoes.

The Crystal waters of of the Little Colorado River flow slowly through Greer, deep in the White Mountains of Arizona. This spot is so small that it's more of a country hamlet than a town. Nothing much to do here today, so we had a beer in the local bar and watched ducks, geese and dogs frolic on the river's edge.

Ancient Condo Living

The Kinishba ruins are a few miles away from the historic Fort Apache (of John Wayne fame).



It is the remains of a village built and occupied by ancestral Pueblo dwelling people between about AD. 1250 and AD. 1400. Kinishba is an anglicized Apache phrase that translates to brown house. According to Hopi elders, Kinishba may once have been called Ma'ip'ovi (place of the snake grass).

Read All About It

This is a photograph of the excellent pictographs found scribbled on Newspaper Rock.

Rock Woody

On the way to Canyon de Chelly, we took a trip through the Petrified Forest and I took this photo of some petrified wood lying below a formation known as the Teepees (which are large cone-shaped mounds of mudstone). This section of the Painted Desert lies along a volcanic rim with spectacular views of red-rock mesas and slopes.

Antelope House

We took a guided Jeep tour in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "De Shay"). The tour company was Canyon de Chelly Tours and I highly recommend their guides. These ruins are called Antelope House and is named after the rock art painted nearby.



Our Navaho Guide, Daniel, told us the colorful antelope artwork was added to the cliffs sometime around the 1830's by a Navaho artist named Little Lamb. The other art found here is much older and was left by the Anasazi people. The Swastika shown in this photo is actually an ancient native American symbol which could mean four seasons, four directions or an indicator of migrations. This area was the last stop on the The North Rim tour and is located at the point where Canyon del Muerto and Black Rock Canyon come together.