The Purr...fect Solution to Keeping Cats Safe & Happy

Here's Jack safe behind our cat fencing. We installed this fencing three years ago when Jack and Scout were kittens. We had lost our handsome male Burmese, Tony, to a car earlier that year. It was so traumatic for me that I knew I could no longer allow my cats to roam the way I always had. I didn't want to go through finding another cat in the neighbor's yard, dead, from being hit by a car right in front of our own home.

We looked at a lot of different types of fencing and finally settled on the product provided by Purr...fect Fence at http://www.purrfectfence.com/. When properly installed this fencing is truly escape-proof yet allows cats the freedom to enjoy the outdoors and frees me from any worry that they will be playing in the road. We have a cat door so our cats can go in and out as they please which frees us up from being a door monitor.Here is a view of the cat garden from where I was standing under the arbor. They have all this room to roam! You have to look closely to see the slim black poles and the mesh fencing attached to it which runs just inside the wood fence. That's how unobtrusive the fencing is; it certainly doesn't make our garden look like a prison yard.Jack likes to stroll (or patrol?) along the stones that border our flower gardens. There's always a bug or butterfly to chase, grass to nibble, and dirt or warm concrete to roll on.
Looks like Scout is right behind him! She's really the superior hunter and has brought in many a lizard, bird, or rodent. That is the only downside to letting my cats go outside. I do have to clean up feathers or lizard pieces now and then, or corner and trap a mouse that she's brought into the house and let go. Nice!

In California there is talk of making owners register & license cats, just like dogs, and of requiring cats to be confined to the owner's yard. Happily, we're ready for that now. I know I've blogged about our cat garden before, but after spending an enjoyable hour out there this morning I just felt compelled to write more about it, and encourage anyone with cats to look into installing this awesome fencing. It could totally change your life and save that of your cat.

Benicia State Recreation Area

It's one of our favorite places to walk, bike, run, or rollerblade and it's also one of the state parks that is on Gov. Schwarzenneger's list for closure. We do hope that doesn't happen. In the meantime we are going to enjoy it as much as we can, and this happens to be one of our favorite times of the year at BSRA.

We took our bikes there yesterday afternoon and had a wondeful and relaxing ride to the end of the main bike trail and back, just over a 5 mile round trip. Lots of people were out walking or jogging or riding bicycles, although not as many as on weekends, or late afternoons after school gets out. The weather was perfect; warm and sunny and not too much of a headwind. Flowers and trees are blooming and the hills are covered with bright new grass.
Here's a field covered with that mustard grass I'm so fond of!

Mike climbed over a fence to explore this old abandoned trail, now partially covered over in grasses and plants. (He's like a cat -- put up a fence and the cat can't think of anything else until he's climbed over it!) We saw wild pheasants out in these fields, as well as lots of ground squirrels.
Along the bike trail, in the ditches, grow cattails. This group is from last year, blown out and going to seed. Later in the summer the new ones will appear. I often gather 4 or 5 and take them home to put in a tall pottery vase.
One of the few shaded parts of the trail, this path is lined with huge eucalyptus trees. It's always a welcome respite from the hot sun when we ride here at the height of summer.
At the very end of the bike trail is this view of the Carquinez Strait. Can you believe it? That's Mt. Diablo in the distance!

A xeriscape (low water) garden highlights native plants and flowers. The plants are marked so you can learn a lot about the different types that grow well in this area. We always stop here to make note of growth and changes. (And I like to take photos of the flowers!)

A walking path heading off toward the marshes. At the end is a viewing area to observe waterbirds and other wildlife. There are tons of Red Winged Blackbirds out in the marsh; also ducks, seagulls, and muskrats.

If you live in the east bay of northern California and have never visited the Benicia State Recreation Area, get over here! If it's closed it may be a long time before you have another chance. It costs $4 to park, but you can also park free in the residential areas nearby and walk or bike over. Bring your camera!

Mystery Bird Identified!

My friend, Susan, who is a ninja net-surfer, has identified our mystery bird! It is a Townsend's Warbler and is commonly seen on the coasts of Oregon and California in winter. Here is a link to a better photo than mine of this beautiful bird. Isn't he a stunner? Thank you, Susan!

Well, it's another gray, rainy day here in northern California so I plan to stay inside as much as possible. I'm so lucky to be self-employed and able to work at home! The cats will do more of this:

Scout, sleeping on top of my sewing box.


And this:

Jack, having his bath on my sewing table. Wherever I am . . . that's where they want to be!

Warm Flannel for a Baby Quilt

My niece, Heather, is due to have her baby in March. Her baby shower is on the 9th so I've been busy working on a baby quilt for her. I found this adorable safari flannel fabric at the Patchwork Cat and also the stripes and green batik to go with it. Heather is using the safari theme and colors in her baby's nursery (they know it's a Boy) and so I think this quilt will fit right in.

This is the quilt in progress. I'm trying one of those "ragged" quilts where you clip the seams and then wash the quilt, letting the clipped seams fray. They are so cute when they are done! I can't wait to finish it and wash it. It works especially well with flannels and probaby chenille fabrics, too. As you can see it's a VERY simple pattern; just 9.5" squares so it's going together really quickly. And it's FUN!

Every time I get my sewing machine out I wonder why I don't do it more often....
That's Jack. He decided this folded up piece of warm & soft batting was the perfect place for a nap. Yep, he's really that color.

Asilomar - Pacific Grove, CA.

I spent a long weekend at Asilomar Conference Center at a scrapbooking get-together with a couple dozen other women, all friends. It was fantastic! Thx to Susan, who organizes this retreat every year -- this was our 10th year! Asilomar is right on the northern California coast so we also spent some time walking on the beach. The weather was absolutely gorgeous; warm and sunny. Unusual for this time of year! Needless to say we soaked it up.

On one of our walks between our scrapbooking workroom and the dining hall we spotted this interesting bird. At first I thought it was an American goldfinch, but looking closer we could see it wasn't. Still not sure what it is....I've looked through all my bird identification books and can't find one that totally matches this little guy. It has some characteristics of the Common Yellowthroat, Lesser Goldfinch, as well as American Goldfinches, even Orioles.....I just don't know. If any of you can identify this bird, please let me know!

Two Finished Projects

THE SOCKS ARE DONE!!!

Yep, there are now TWO finished socks and they are almost the same size! I've even carefully hand-washed them and blocked them and they are now ready to wear. I had a good time knitting these socks and will definitely make another pair . . . uh, after I finish a few MORE of my unfinished projects.

Here is another project I just finished. It's a cross-stitch piece of an orange tabby cat (of course!) with a mockingbird perched on his head helping himself to a few bits of fur to use in building his nest. I love the look on the cat's face! I have watched my own cats being dive-bombed by mockingbirds so this particular pattern was very enjoyable to stitch.
Finally, here's a photo of a snowy egret that my friend Susan and I saw during our walk at the Benicia Marina this morning. Gotta love those yellow feet!
Big storms are on their way to us here in northern California; the temp is already dropping and heavy rain is predicted. Other than a trip to the Oakland airport tomorrow evening I should be able to hunker down here at home. Times like this make me very grateful that I'm self-employed and have the ability to work from home.

Morro Bay Seabirds, a Cat & a Meltdown

A walk along the waterfront here in Morro Bay never fails to provide good photo opps. This Great Blue Heron kept one eye on us but we didn't seem to worry him much; he was too busy waiting for his breakfast to swim unknowingly by. What a beauty! What first caught my eye, though, were these two white pelicans (below). We see a lot of the brown pelicans but these were the first white ones we've seen on our trip. In our neck of the woods, northern california, I've often seen these guys in the marshlands off Highway 37 between Vallejo and the coast but this is the first time I've had a chance to photograph any.Also on our walk we came across this grey-and-black Tabby cat. His nametag told us his name is Tony. He was very friendly and clearly wanted some attention which I was glad to give!He's also kind of a camera hog! As you know, the weather has not been too good. Thursday, which was yesterday, actually looked like a small window of opportunity to get out and on our way. Mike went out early to look at the sandbar (at the entrance to the harbor) and came back to report that it looked ok. I was concerned that he hadn't gotten a "second opinion" from someone like the harbor patrol or the coast guard. He was confident, though so despite my misgivings we made ready to go.

As we were motoring toward the harbor entrance I got more and more unsettled. I was down below, bouncing from window to window, and trying to gage the weather with my landlubber's eye. True, in the harbor the water was calm (see above photos) but that was not a good indication of what was going on out on the open water. I couldn't see out there, I only knew that the weather reports were indicating much higher winds and swells than I'm comfortable with. Up on deck Mike had on his cold-weather gear and life-jacket. I had just started to put on my own life-jacket when I glanced out a window and saw spray coming up over the rock jetty that we were approaching.

Well, that was the last straw -- I could NOT go out there! I slipped into a full-fledged panic attack. I opened the hatch and told Mike to drop me off at the nearest pier, that I would take a bus home! (I may even had said I'd jump overboard, I can't remember for sure!) He threw the boat into a u-turn and started motoring back, then turned back to the harbor entrance again and told me to come up and look, that the entrance was not bad at all, I'd see, and there was even a boat ahead of us on their way out, but I wouldn't even go up, I'd made up my mind. Mike was angry, but he drove the boat back to the dock and tied it up. By that time I had my bags packed and was ready to walk to the nearest motel to check in until I could figure out where to catch a bus or Amtrak.

Mike didn't like the economics of that (Paul, you understand!) and convinced me it would be better for us to stay on the boat, at only $20 per night, until I was ready to head home and at that point he'd take me to the bus station. As I have calmed down over the last 12 hours or so I've realized I really would like to finish this trip on the boat, if at all possible. Mike has agreed to wait out this bad weather, which looks like it may last through the weekend, and we've figured out that we still have time to make it home by the 15th even if we didn't leave until Monday.

At this point, our plan is to make a short run to San Simeon on Sunday - the weather will be calming though still a smidge over my ultimate comfort level but it would be only for a short day -- stay the night there, and continue on to Monterey Bay on Monday after the storm has fully passed. After a night there we'd then decide whether to make the run home to Alameda (about 100 miles) all at once, which would entail sailing overnight, or perhaps make a stop in Half Moon Bay.

And, what do you know? The weather deteriorated greatly last night -- the wind roared and rain hammered -- and today the wind is howling through the rigging and even here in this normally calm and placid harbor (check it out in the photos above), the water is choppy. I took the photo below about an hour ago of the boats near us that are tied to mooring buoys and they are surrounded by whitecaps!It's pretty clear that Mike and I have different tolerance levels for dangerous ocean conditions which is understandable since his skills at sailing are far greater than mine. Mike thought I was questioning his judgement about whether or not it was safe to go out yesterday, and that made him angry. The reality of it is that I simply reached the limit of how scared I can stand to be! It doesn't even matter whether my fear is rational or not; it is what it is.

So we are here for at least two more nights. You can't beat the accommodations, and we've been invited to attend a get-togther this evening at the yacht club. Mike has gone off (in the wind and cold) to hike to the grocery store for a few things, and I'm wrapped up like a burrito in a blanket enjoying the free internet access! The sun peeks out now and then but the wind is still howling and I'm quite happy inside our snug little boat.

(by the way, I have no idea why some of these paragraphs are single-spaced and some double -- the blogger tools seems to make decisions like that for me!)

Happily Tucked into snug Morro Bay

There's a big storm coming causing conditions like the waves pictured above. That's a big Coast Guard cutter entering the Morro Bay harbor amid huge seas. So glad we got in last night ahead of the storm. It's supposed to get worse before it gets better so we'll be tucked in here for a few days at least. No way do I want to be out in 35-40 knots of wind and 15-25 foot sea swells! I'm seasick just thinking about it. We couldn't leave if we wanted to -- the Coast Guard has closed the entrance to this harbor due to the dangerous conditions.

Of course, staying here is no hardship because we are tied up to the dock of the Morro Bay Yacht Club, and we're the only visitors here, so we have the guest bathrooms/showers/laundry facilities all to ourselves AND free wi-fi internet--wooohooo! Needless to say I'll be updating both my blogs plus reading and replying to all my emails, making phone calls, and doing plenty of digital scrapbooking. So nice to be back in civilization!

We've already done quite a bit of exploring here and love this little seaside town. It's our first time in Morro Bay and since we'll be here for a few days you'll get to see some photos of this quaint little place. First, though, here is a photo just for my Mom who Mike has fooled into thinking he's always clean-shaven -- hah!!!

Most of the time on-board the Mirage THIS is how he looks! I refer to it (affectionately, of course) as his "grizzled sea-captain" look. He was getting ready to shave in preparation to going to a restaurant but I made him wait til I took his picture. He doesn't look too bad here, he's been much worse!

That's the famous Morro Rock - I took this photo yesterday in much calmer weather. This afternoon it is shrouded in fog. It's really quite incredible. People used to be able to climb it but naturally, since that would be so much fun, the gov't put a stop to that. After all, we might hurt ourselves. At one time this rock was separate from the mainland but then a causeway was built in 1933 and you can now walk, bike, or drive along the inland side. There's a lot of new construction going on as the walking and jogging trails are improved, and a boardwalk is being added. We're hoping to come back in a year or so and see it all completed.

And here's the other landmark which distinguishes Morro Bay -- a power plant with three towers stretching high into the sky. Too bad -- a necessary building, sure, but to put it right at the waterfront? And you can see it -- like the Rock -- from practically anywhere in town. An interesting juxtaposition of Nature and Man.

Last photo for this post is this pelican. Mike took this photo -- he's really a much better photographer than I am -- he has a lot more patience. I love how he caught the bird as it's wings nearly brush the surface of the water!

Bashing Back

Hi all, and Happy Thanksgiving! (a little late....)

I’ll be posting this in San Diego hopefully tomorrow which, unfortunately, is the day AFTER Thanksgiving. I had so hoped we’d be in the U.S. again by today so that we could call home to our families. Our cell phone service (Verizon) doesn’t seem to work at all here in Mexico even though Verizon assured us that we’d be able to make roaming calls when we were in range of larger cities. Guess the little coastal towns we’ve been in don’t count!

I’m craving turkey today (no surprise there) but we are going to have to make do with a Chicken Helper box dinner with canned chicken. Oh well, Mike has promised me a turkey dinner when we get back home in a few weeks, and another one for New Year’s, so I will just look forward to that. He’s sad to miss the great sale prices on turkeys (we usually buy several and freeze them). One thing I have learned on this trip is to forgo instant gratification. We sure can’t run out and buy whatever it is we might want for dinner, or that one ingredient we need but don’t have, or anything really. In fact, we could wait up to a week for a food item, and other things we can’t get here on the coast of Baja at all. Whatever we don’t have, we do without. My mom has always said, “Happiness is not having what you want; it’s wanting what you have.” So, I want a Chicken Helper dinner, Bisquick biscuits, and Crystal Light Lemonade for our Thanksgiving dinner today – YUM! Oh, and we have plenty of cookies (Mexican, which I’ve developed a great fondness for) and candy for dessert. One thing we won’t be missing out on is the overabundance of calories associated with a Thanksgiving Day feast!

The last week has been a bit hard. We have set foot on land exactly once in six days, and it looks like we will not get off the boat today either, not until we get to San Diego tomorrow. We have been sailing from anchorage to anchorage, staying just the night, then setting off again in the morning. Due to my dislike of night watches, Mike is trying to locate small harbors where we can anchor for the night and which are close enough together distance-wise that we can get to them with just day-sailing. It’s been nice doing that but we don’t make very good time on our “Bash Back,” which is what the Baja Ha-Ha calls the return trip north due to having to sail into the wind -- always harder than having the wind at your back (this is why sailors wish each other “fair winds and following seas”).

A couple of times the wind and waves were especially uncooperative and we didn’t reach our anchorage until past dark (last night it was at 1:30 a.m.). This means I get to go forward with a spotlight and watch for such things are crab pots, small buoys and floats, and other boats (especially pangas which don’t bother with anchor lights so they are hard to see at night). Oh, and kelp, which is hazardous because it can foul the prop. One night when we anchored after dark (at Isla Cedros) we woke to the anchor alarm at 3:00 a.m. because the anchor had dragged free and we were drifting out to sea. It took over two hours to hoist the anchor, move to a new location, and set the hook again once more.

Two things we have not had the pleasure of here in Mexico – one is marinas with docks to tie up to and that don’t necessitate inflating our dinghy and rowing to shore; and the other is showers. You’re cringing now, ha ha! It’s true, no showers since the ones we took just before we left San Diego on October 29th. Scary, eh? We’ve been making do with sponge baths and the occasional dip in the ocean. I think I’ve washed my hair maybe twice by hanging my head over the (tiny) galley sink and letting Mike pour water over my head with a coffee cup. In between I’ve been living with hair like Kramer’s on the Seinfeld show. If I’m going to be seen by anyone except Mike (who is used to it by now – I think) then I “do” my hair by putting on a hat. I just thank my lucky stars I thought to get it cut really short before we left. A small knitted beanie or a baseball cap covers everything.

On the other hand, one thing we have definitely had the pleasure of and that’s the company of dolphins. Hundreds of dolphins. I’ve near driven myself crazy trying to get photos of them. I’d hang off the bow with my camera, try to anticipate when they’d come to the surface for a breath of air, and then press the shutter. Ninety-nine percent of the time I’d get a really nice picture of . . . water. Then just yesterday (yeah, I’m a little slow) I realized, “Hey! My camera takes movies!” Mike, who has a much faster camera trigger finger than I do, caught my moment of realization in the following photo.

Thought you all might enjoy a good laugh! Not only do I look dumbfounded and disgusted with myself, but I’m also sporting the ultra-cool raccoon tan that’s all the rage on the Mirage right now. Oh my. Anyway, after that I spent a long time taking QuickTime movies of the dolphins racing the boat and playing in the bow waves. Got some great footage! I hope I’ll be able to post one or two short ones on the internet, either on my blog, or on my website, but will have to wait awhile to figure that out. You’ll love ‘em! (And maybe Michael can help me figure out how to make some still photos out of the footage, too, hint hint!). Here are a couple photos we did manage to take – they’re probably both Mike’s:

I hope I get a chance to share some of the film with you all. It is really incredible stuff. We’ll be just sailing along and suddenly, from all sides, we see dolphins coming our way, fast. They converge on our boat and we watched groups of up to 8 at a time swimming together, racing each other and us, and surfacing for air in unison. Incredible! At times they actually roll over onto their sides and seem to look right up at us as if to say, “Hi!” They are so friendly-looking, too, with smiling faces. We saw some youngsters, too, and they usually jumped the highest out of the water. We watched them for hours both yesterday and today.

Later – 7 p.m. I’ve been keeping an eye on my cell phone since we are offshore from Ensenada now and a little while ago I actually got a “roaming” message instead of the “searching for service!” But when I tried to call my parents the call failed. I even tried dialing the 001 country code for the U.S. and it seemed to be dialing the call, then I got “lost call” message. Dang it!! I thought I was going to get to wish them (and whichever of my siblings and other relatives are at their house) a Happy Thanksgiving. We are between 8 and 10 miles offshore, though, so we are probably just too far from whatever cell towers Ensenada may have. So I’m back to waiting until tomorrow.

As I mentioned before, we’ve only been off the boat and onto dry land once in the last week. That was on Isla San Martin. Very small, with perhaps a dozen very shabby fishing camp shacks made out of plywood and corrugated tin, and only a couple of pangas moored near a small beach (which, by the way, was littered with dead pelicans and seagulls). At the center of the island are two inactive volcanoes and the land surrounding them is made up mainly of volcanic rock.

It looks pretty barren at first glance but when we started hiking around we found an incredible array of hardy-looking succulents, many that we’d never seen before. One variety looked rather like a barrel cactus but grew in huge clumps and had wicked spikes that could reach out and grab a sneaker or pant-leg from several inches away. We had to carry sturdy sticks to beat the things off. The spikes had barbs, too, so when Mike caught one in his hand, and I ended up with one stuck in my leg, pulling them out hurt worse than when they went in!

Seems the island is also a sanctuary for marine animals and birds.

We saw a lot of pelicans, especially in a small lagoon at one end of the island where they were taking end-of-the-day baths with much noisy flapping of their huge wings, also seagulls, of course, and a single butterfly and one hummingbird. My favorite critters were the seals that we came across sunning themselves on the beach, sound asleep. We actually had to whistle to wake one up. We were trying hard not to annoy them (remember the sign). The little guy (see first photo) doesn’t look too concerned, though, and the other three seals never even opened an eye.

On one side of the island are awesome sheer cliffs with the surf crashing below.

As the end of the day drew nearer flocks of pelicans and cormorants came flying in to roost for the night. It was getting colder, too, so we headed back to our own “roost” for the night.

More soon!

Searching for Dry Land . . .

. . . and Whales!

Internet access has not been as readily available as I had hoped but, finally, we are in a marina where I can get on-line. What an adventure we have had already and only a week into our two-month trip!

I last posted from Monterey Bay. We left there Friday morning, our destination Morrow Bay, some 100 or so miles south, by water. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with mild winds and just a few scattered clouds. In the afternoon we had enough wind to sail for a few hours, but the rest of the time we motor-sailed, even with the larger genoa that we had rigged in place of the regular jib (the front sail). Sea lions followed us out of the bay and played in our wake.

Heading into the night we readied everything for overnight sailing; we got our cold-weather gear handy, ate an early dinner, and moved into our two-on, two-off watch schedule. As the sun went down, however, the wind and seas began to rise. It got colder and darker and the seas rougher until I was scared enough to wake Mike a half-hour before my midnight-to-two a.m. watch was up.

Mike gradually reduced sail until we had no more than a small bit of the genoa no bigger than a baby’s blanket flying and still it seemed too much. We had a following sea with huge swells taller than our boat’s deck that often crested and broke behind us sending spray over the stern. The water was inky black with starkly contrasting whitecaps that nearly glowed under the half moon. The fierce wind gusted and changed directions almost constantly while howling through the rigging.

I huddled below terrified that any minute we’d be capsized, or something on the boat would fail -- like the engine -- and we’d be left floundering in the tossing waves or, worse, the wind would turn us broadside to the waves and the next big one would fill the cockpit & cabin with water. I didn’t forget my prayers that night!

To me the night was endless. Mike told me to try to sleep and I did lie down in the aft cabin but who can relax when in constant danger of being tossed out of the berth? And I had to watch the porthole constantly to make sure I could see Mike out in the cockpit. If I couldn’t see him I had to get up and go to the hatchway and peer out to make sure he hadn’t gone overboard. Wrapped up in multiple layers complete with balaclava (which covers the entire head except a small portion of face) and thick gloves he looked like an astronaut in a space capsule as he moved around checking the GPS, the wind-vane, and the sails.

Around 5 a.m. the wind finally began to calm a bit. I stood halfway up the ladder in the hatchway shrinking from the cold while Mike reported how well the boat had stood up to the rough conditions, the Monitor wind-vane hadn’t broken off and flown away in the wind, the engine hung in like a champ, and the genoa which is made of a lighter material than the regular jib hadn’t torn. He sent me below to look at the chart and see if there was a port closer than Morrow that we could duck into. Later that morning he wrote in his log, “Rough night. Enroute to Morrow but took refuge at San Simeon. Arrived 09:30 and slept.” I added my own note: “Deb terrified.”In San Simeon Bay there was no marina or other amenities for transient boaters so we anchored off-shore. I was able to use my cell phone to call my mom and check on my dad, who was still in the hospital but improving. We had a nice view of Hearst Castle high up on the hills.

The next day, Sunday, we left and day-sailed to San Luis Obispo Bay (skipping Morrow Bay entirely). Again we anchored off-shore and, although there was a water-taxi available to take boaters to shore, we were too late in the evening to use it so we simply stayed on-board. I called my mom again and as my dad had come home from the hospital that day I was able to talk to him. He sounded good! I also called my son, Rodrigo, and our housesitter, Richard, who said the cats are doing fine. Naturally, after talking to Richard and hearing the antics of the kitties I missed them more than ever.

We left San Luis Obispo Bay Monday a.m. and sailed all night around Point Arguello and Point Conception, also known as the “Cape Horn of the Pacific” for its notoriety in being a very difficult “crossing.” The Santa Ana winds, which are currently causing so much trouble and so many fires in southern California and northernmost Mexico, possibly helped produce the calmest seas in this area in recent history: gorgeous & calm mirror-like water, warm breezes until the deepest part of the night, and light winds. Not ideal for sailing, true, and we had to use our motor, but definitely my choice of conditions for standing night-watches. What a welcome difference from just two nights before!
All throughout the day on Monday we sighted whales, gangs of sea lions (many dozens at a time), and numerous dolphins which raced alongside of us and wove under and in front of our bow. At one point I lay down on the deck at the bow and dangled my arm over the side where a dolphin almost grazed my hand as it leapt above the surface of the water. I could clearly see them as they sped along under the water, sleek and shiny gray, and sometimes upside-down showing their white underbellies. What amazing, friendly, and playful creatures dolphins are.

We also saw a number of off-shore oil rigs – huge things they are, and lit up like Christmas trees at night. We located them on the chart and got a kick out of their names; “Irene,” “Gail,” “Hidalgo,” “Harvest,” “Hermosa,” and several standing all in a row are “Hellhouse A,” “B,” and “C.”

Now it’s Tuesday, October 23. We arrived at the Ventura Isle Marina in Ventura, CA, around noon, and it’s our first time on dry land since Monterey Bay – that’s five days. You can bet we have been happy with the amenities here; all the ones we’ve been anxious for: laundry facilities, a cute little marina shopping area with gift shops and restaurants (including one offering internet access), super-clean rest-rooms, and, best of all, showers. Ahhhhhhhh!

Dinner with Rodrigo and Dianna tonight (they live in nearby Camarillo), then tomorrow we head off to Catalina Island………check back in a few days for more of our adventures!

Taking Time to Watch the Birds

Looks like Mike and I are finally gettin' into the swing of this semi-retirement stuff. Today we actually spent thirty minutes standing at a window watching this woodpecker in our backyard and trying to get a good picture of him. He was all the way against our back fence so he only showed up as a small speck in the photo, but I was able to use PhotoShop to enlarge the portion showing the bird.

We've never seen this particular bird here in Benicia so we looked it up in our Audubon Society Bird Guide and found it's a type of woodpecker called the Northern Flicker. In fact, after this guy was done pecking around on the ground (turns out their favorite food is ants), he flew up into one of our pine trees and hammered away at the trunk in true woodpecker style. I love seeing new birds in our yard. Last month a bright orange oriole came to our hummingbird feeder. Incredible!

I think I'm going to love Life at this slower pace. . .