From California’s Sea to the Redwood Forest

It was a cold but sunny morning as we left Fort Bragg and continued along the northern California coast. Our first stop was at a small beach called Seaside Beach. It is at the mouth of the Ten Mile River. From the parking lot and beach one can walk to Ten Mile Beach. Seaside Beach is fairly small with a very nice view of sea stacks. One of its unique features is that dogs are allowed on the beach which…

Scenic Vistas Along the Northern California Coast

The California coastline stretches 840 miles along the western United States. There are many beautiful locations along the coast, but most people think of locations in southern California such as San Diego, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, or Laguna Beach. However, heading north of San Francisco one can encounter some stunning views along the coastline that are less crowded and well worth the visit. Highway 1 runs along the California coast. It is a winding and twisting road. It will take…

Olympic Peninsula: Rialto Beach to the Hoh Rain Forest

Olympic National Park is somewhat unusual in that there are bits and pieces of the park scattered around the Olympic Peninsula. Not only that, but there is such a wide variety of locations. On this day we would explore two different locations. First would be Rialto Beach along the Pacific Ocean. Later we would discover the drama of a temperate rain forest. To get to these locations it was time to change accommodations so we packed up our car and…

Iceland Interlude: Over, Under, and Behind Waterfalls.

Thursday morning we woke to mostly cloudy skies, but we saw a few patches of blue sky so we had hope that maybe the day would not be all gray. Today we would be traveling east with a number of waterfalls on our list. We packed up our car and headed out. Before we got too far, we drove to the other side of the river from our cabin to see a waterfall. If you love waterfalls, then Iceland is…