The graveled road made a slight turn, and the first flock of lesser Sandhill cranes — a gorgeous waterfowl that stands 3 to 5 feet tall and weighs about 6 to 7 pounds — gathered together in a wet, golden field of marsh grasses and plants. The superstars of Merced NWR performed an opera of chortling, honking, and bugling songs in the field. Other waterfowl appeared to be their silent, floating audience.
Coming Soon: Gilda Does Fall
Adventures in historic California beneath and within the colors of fall is coming soon to the EuroVan Chronicles!
Escape to Lopez Lake
Yes, I awoke from pleasant dreams on the highest campsite at Lopez Lake, just outside of Arroyo Grande, California. It was another near-staycation not far from home, but someplace Gilda and her drivers had yet to visit. It seemed like a good way to recoup from a nasty week of international and national news — you know spies, and Russians, and misspoken words — stuff I can’t fix.
Jalama Beach Blowout
I knew it was a risk, but I couldn’t negotiate the calendar — you know, change June to October. Maybe the weather goddess would look favorably upon Gilda and her passengers for a two-day campout at Jalama Beach campgrounds in Santa Barbara County. Perhaps the goddesses of the sea would seduce Njord, the Norse […]
Life Goes On After Surgery with Day Trips
Two months of rest, fatigue, drugs and hibernating from all things that might send the flu my way, and not to mention that my last hike at San Simeon was about 200 feet, it was time to put my hiking shoes to the dirt, strap my camera around my neck and go for it.
Straddling the Tectonic Plates
I’m no stranger to living on shaky ground. A rock n’ roll life may be part of the reason why this California girl is attracted to the San Andreas Fault as if it were some mystical goddess. I’ve resided not far from the fault line whether near the north, central or south end of this […]
More Free Fun Near Hearst Castle
There are more free and inexpensive adventures on the northern end of California’s Central Coast. I mean, if you get as far as San Simeon, you may as well power up your VW, Westie or Eurovan a few miles further north up Highway 1. Arroyo Laguna State Beach, a part of Hearst San Simeon State […]
Gilda Visits San Simeon, Ca.
Winter! Not a good time for hitting the road in the Eurovan. BUT, California isn’t really having a winter. It’s a good time to roll Gilda’s wheels to the beach for a visit to Central California’s San Simeon, home of the world famous Hearst Castle. But wait! Across the street from the entry into the […]
Gilda Goes to the Desert — Part 2
Ah! It was the wildlife sighting possibilities that drew me there in the first place. A year earlier, I read that owls frequent the campground. Nothing would pleasure me more than to have Oly at the ready with its 300 mm lens focused and zoomed in on an owl perched on a Joshua Tree at sunrise.
Gilda Goes to the Desert — Part 1
With Spouse at the helm, we crossed the west end of the Mojave Desert — a V-shaped piece of geography called the Antelope Valley — the place where I lived for most of my younger life.
The EuroVan Chronicles 