July 2011 – Page 2 – If we had a Marriage, These Would be its Thoughts

Anniversary Weekend Part 4 – The Ocean

July 2, 2011 10:27 pm

On Sunday, breakfast was Eggs Benedict, but we opted to switch out the poached eggs for scrambled instead and to skip the Hollandaise sauce.

After packing up and checking out we headed to the ocean. We stopped on a roadside pullout which was a cliff overlooking a beach. As I mentioned in the Part 2, I like taking long exposure shots. This was my first chance to try it out on the ocean though. I took a whole lot of ’em, here are the best (remember you can click on the images to view them larger).

I got these long exposures by using a neutral density filter and a polarizer to cut down on the light. I also used the smallest apertures I could. Even so, the exposures were a little bright, but I was able to get things worked out pretty well by using RAW images.

Here’s that scene with a regular shutter speed:

I really like these shots. It was sunny, but the wind was blowing and it was a little chilly. So we wrapped up in the blankets I keep in the trunk. We sat on that cliff watching the ocean and taking pictures for about an hour. It was Jess’ favorite part of our whole trip.

Once we finished we got back in the car and drove down Highway 1 for a little while. Jess really wanted to get down to a beach so we stopped at Doran Beach. The water was cold. Very cold. But it was sandy, unlike CT beaches. I didn’t bring the camera with me so we don’t have any pictures, but we walked down the beach for a while before turning around. It was nice, but the constantly blowing wind seems to give Jess a headache.

After that it was time to head home. It was very nice to get out of town and spend time in a more secluded part of the state. A last peaceful hurrah before our world is up-ended by a baby in a few months.

Anniversary Weekend Part 3 – The Horticultural Gardens of Doom

7:24 pm

After lunch in Sebastopol we headed to the Sonoma Horticultural Nursery and Gardens. Sadly, the gardens appear in need of many days hard work by a few dozen people to return them to their (presumably) former glory.

The paths were overgrown. And most of the property was just in disrepair. But that kind of created its own interest. A lost garden disappearing into the wild growth.

We wandered around for a long while being somewhat entranced with the state of the gardens. I eventually thought to get the camera out once we were deep into the property. We found a little picnic table in a small clearing with a fountain. The fountain is overgrown and non-functioning. It probably was a really nice spot to stop for lunch back in the day.

Here’s the path away from the fountain. If you look closely, the left-hand side has two stone boxes with a tree in each.

Here’s another stone box with a tree in it. There’s an old sign next to it which I assume is supposed to identify the species.

As we walked along we found this bench. The ends of the bench are wagon wheels.

Here’s another random little table thing with nice lion statues. Again, it seems like at some point it was a really pleasant piece of property to walk around on. However, on several occasions the paths were so overgrown you could barely see them and we had to stop and find new paths due to massive spider webs reaching across.

This tree was actually pretty cool still. The branches hang down to the ground and create a little covered area underneath. Jess is sitting on a nice little bench there.

It’s too bad that it’s fallen into disrepair. It would probably be a really nice place again if a few dozen people spent a bit of time pruning, cleaning, raking, fixing, etc. Sadly, as it is, it kind of seems like the kind of place where a serial-killing gardener takes his victims and buries them. They should at least be capitalizing on this ambiance with Haunted Gardens during Halloween.

Up Next: Part 4 – The Ocean

Anniversary Weekend Part 2 – Armstrong Redwoods

5:29 pm

On Saturday we slept in, of course. But the Inn at Occidental is prepared for this and serves breakfast until 10. The entree for the day was Pecan Caramel French Toast, very tasty. After breakfast we headed out to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. It was, as you might expect, a bunch of trees. But they are, you know, big….and tall….and old.

We only did a fairly short “hike” (let’s be honest, it was walking along an almost completely flat and cleared path). It started with a stop at a labeled cross-section of a tree which lived from ~948 until ~1906:

Along the way the path goes through the Burbank Circle. Apparently, when a redwood is damaged, or dies, offshoots from its roots/stump grow. This naturally creates a circle of trees around the base of the dead one. Eventually the dead one decomposes away and leaves a clearing within a circle of trees. There’s enough time for this to happen since the trees live to be 1000 years old. So, we rested on the benches in the Burbank Circle. Here’s a picture looking up from the center of the circle (it looks more circular if you’re really there looking around):

A very large amount of the ground in the woods is covered in redwood sorrell (not to be confused with clover). If it gets too warm (like when the sun is hitting it directly) it folds up. This spot was in the shade so the leaves (I guess they’re leaves?) are spread apart.

Here’s the two of us standing against the cross-section of a fallen redwood. They’re big trees.

As we were heading back along the trail to the parking lot we spotted a banana slug on a post. They’re silly-looking things:

One of the things I like to do with our camera is to take either really quick exposures or really long exposures because you get to see things in a way you can’t with your eyes. Here’s 15 seconds of walking through the woods:

There’s something kind of interesting and ethereal about it.

We like the redwood forest. It was quiet and shady. It’d be really fun to go camping up there sometime. Once we finished up we headed into Sebastapol. We stopped for pizza at Mary’s Pizza Shack, which was pretty good. The food was needed and Jess needed some time to recover from her first bout with car-sickness. The roads were a bit windy and up-and-downy.

After lunch it was on to see the Sonoma Horticultural Gardens and Nursery. We concluded that they would now be better named the Horticultural Gardens of Doom. So stay tuned.

Up Next: Part 3 – The Horticultural Gardens of Doom, Part 4 – The Ocean

Anniversary Weekend Part 1 – Occidental

3:45 pm

Last weekend we took a little vacation to celebrate our 2-year anniversary. We booked a room at the Inn at Occidental (in Occidental, CA). It’s a tiny little town west of Santa Rosa. The town has a population of 1,115. It’s up in the “mountains” (for lack of a better term) surrounded by woods–nice and quiet.

There was a fish-eye-view mural on the side of a building, it really does show pretty much the entire town, excluding most of the actual houses:

The Inn was very nice. They have about 20 rooms. When we arrived they had music playing in our room for us (a CD Jess ended up buying). The room had a Jacuzzi tub with some silly rubber ducks in it. The ducks had trouble staying upright when actually in water.

A hot breakfast was included and was served in their dining room on the bottom floor of the main building. They had a fixed menu each day, but were very accommodating to any desired changes.

Coming up next: Part 2 – Armstrong Redwoods, Part 3 – The Horticultural Gardens of Doom, Part 4 – The Ocean