Good-bye Winter, Hello Spring

I am back.  We took some time away to travel and enjoy the warmth of Spring.  It always takes a while to get our routine back after the holidays and the end of winter marks the time when we end our hibernation, daily hot cocoa time, baking and general nesting.  It feels good to be outside again when the sun is warm and the breeze is cool.  My little explorer has had her backpack on, walking stick at the ready and camera loaded for adventure.  

Los Angeles has many great hidden hiking trails that feel miles away from the city.  Paramount Ranch in Malibu is one of our favorites.  Here we can watch coyotes, rabbits birds while we explore grassland trails and climb trees.

Still, it is always good to take a mini-break and just get out of town completely.  This time our travels too us to a tiny town called Duncans Mills, population 83, about 2 hours North of San Francisco.  The town itself consists of a few shops, a General Store and two restaurants.  The bonus was staying in this house on the banks of the Russian River.

We took daily bike rides in the morning and explored the river in our kayaks in the afternoon.  Since we were so close to the ocean, the occasional sea lion would swim upriver and bark a greeting to us while we had our morning coffee.

We stayed long enough to fall into a nice routine of driving to the beach every evening to watch the sun set over the water, then going to dinner.

We had hoped to glimpse the comet PANSTARS as it made its way North from the Southern Hemisphere, but the clouds had other plans.  Still the sunsets were a beautiful way to end the day and we did have fun making driftwood houses along the beach.

We took a short drive to Bodega Bay for a picnic of clam chowder at Bodega Head Beach.  On the way home we snapped a few photos of this infamous church.

 Don't recognize it?  How about now?

 Those are  birds by the way.

The Holga was out in full force and she has some great photos to show for her efforts.  Those are coming soon!