Category: tourism

Exploring Onancock Creek: A Kayaking Adventure

While visiting the Eastern Shore of Virginia we had signed up to paddle the Barrier Islands. A few days ahead of our scheduled tour the outfitter, Burnham Guides Paddling Adventures, advised us that high winds might be an issue and they suggested an alternate tour, paddling on Onancock Creek where we would have some protection from the wind.

With that in mind we made our way to the outfitters facility in Onancock.

Onancock Creek is a tidal estuary that drains into Chesapeake Bay. As we left the dock we passed a tug boat and a barge loaded with gravel. It seems that with most of the eastern shore being sand, there is a need for aggregate. Our guide, Bill, explained how the the business of importing gravel was an important part of the local economy.

Our track led us along the shore and up into a tributary, passing a number of houses and estates. Many of the homeowners have docks and we noted that it was common to store boats on boat lifts with the boats out of the water.

When we reached a little beach near Bailey Point we landed and Bill broke out lunch. We ate lunch and explored the local beach and marsh with periwinkle snails and fiddler crabs scurrying away as we approached. Over the course of the day we saw a number of birds including eagles, osprey, and a number of other shore birds.

On the return trip we passed some oyster castles, structures made from interlocking concrete blocks. These structures are designed to provide a substrate for oysters and to protect the shoreline from erosion. We did have a bit of wind on our return trip so we where happy to be on protected waters rather than out on the outer banks. We logged seven miles.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Discover Lake Superior’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Last year when we were paddling in the Apostle Islands we learned about Pictured Rocks. This year, since we had a reason to once again explore Lake Superior, we headed to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We booked the Ultimate Kayak Tour with Pictured Rocks Kayaking out of Munising, MI. The tour starts with a 45 minute boat ride to a location that gives you easy access to the cliffs. These boats are especially equipped with kayak slips. To launch, the crew slide a kayak into the slips. You simply step into the kayak, grab a paddle and push off into the water. Quite a novel arrangement.

Many of the cliffs are streaked with color, the result of minerals leaching out of the rocks: yellow, brown, read, orange, ochre, and blue. There are also a few caves and arches to explore and the color of the water is astounding.

We were in a pod with several boats and our guide led us along the shore pointing out features and giving us some of the history of the area.

After exploring about five miles of the shore we returned to the mother boat for the ride back to Munising. I’ve included a map that shows the track of our trip, including the the portion we explored by kayak. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Paddling the River of Presidents

In 1928, President Calvin Coolidge set up a summer residence, known as the “Summer White House,” at the Cedar Island Lodge, on the Bois Brule River. The river, famous for trout fishing attracted other presidents as well. Those included Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

We were there to celebrate a family reunion, staying at a place called the Lake Superior Barn, not far away. On May 27 we engaged a local outfitter to get us on the river. Eleven of us launched from the Stone Bridge Canoe Landing and paddled down the river.

We had a gorgeous paddle winding through the woods and watching for wildlife. We saw a few bald eagles, some deer and a bob cat. For lunch we did not find a suitable spot to haul out so we simply ate lunch in our boats.

Continuing down the river we passed the Cedar Island Lodge and a few other stately properties. We encountered a few class 2 rapids which added to the excitement. Everybody managed to stay in their boats.

We hauled out at the Winneboujou Canoe Landing having logged nine miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Exploring Baja: A 21-Day Camping Adventure

Our Baja trip began in March 13 when we hopped in the camper and started our drive to Loreto. The highlights of the trip included spending a couple of days in the desert to photograph the cirios and cactus and a six day kayaking trip out of Loreto. Those events are covered in separate blog posts. For this post I’m going to describe some of the other highlights of the trip.

We spent our first night at Kern River Campground just east of
Bakersfield. The highlight here was breakfast. We fired up the Dutch oven and cooked up a mushroom and brie breakfast strata, one of our favorite camping meals. Needless to say, the leftovers provided us with breakfast on several days.

From the Kern River we moved on to Anza Borrego Desert State Park where we spent two nights in the Tamarisk Grove campground. Most of the spring wildflowers were gone, but we did find a few cactus in bloom.

From Anza Borrego we headed south and crossed the border at Tecate, an easy border crossing, although we did have to walk across the street to the bank to pay for our tourist cards (Forma Migratoria Multiple, FMM) since the credit card reader at the immigration office was out of order.

We passed through Guadalupe about noon so we stopped for lunch at Tacos del Valle for some delicious tacos, our first meal in Baja.

We reached Fidel’s Palapas, just south of San Quintin, about 5:00 PM, our intended stop for the night. Fidel promptly appeared to collect 300 pesos. Fidel’s has hot showers, running water and electrical hookups, although we didn’t make use of the water or electrical.

From Fidel’s we headed to Cataviña where we spent two nights in the Cactus Wonderland. From there it was on to San Ignacio where we spent one night at Paraiso Misional, our favorite place to camp in San Ignacio. It’s a lovely spot in the shade of palm trees, with hot showers. Then on to Loreto where we had two days to explore the town, having some fabulous food, dining with live music at Baja Haay and enjoying the vibe of the town.

From Loreto we embarked on our six day kayaking tour exploring some of the islands, poking along the coast, paddling, snorkeling and doing a bit of hiking. Before leaving Loreto on our return trip we made a stop at a water vendor to fill our water tank.

We were happy to find that one of our favorite restaurants, Nomadico’s, was open. We stopped for a delicious lunch. Joann had a yellowtail tostada and I had a scallop tostada with a pineapple coconut smoothie. On our last night in Baja we camped at Guadalupe RV park and took advantage of the hot showers. We crossed the boarder again at Tecate, camping at Sycamore Flat Campground in the Angeles National Forest. From there we checked out the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. The flower display was past its prime, but we did find a few clusters of flowers. Then it was on to Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park before making the final leg home. We were back home on the afternoon of April 2 having logged 2820 miles over the course of our 21 days.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Unforgettable Six-Day Kayaking Adventure in Loreto

Our six-day kayaking adventure begins on the morning of March 22 when our guide picks us up at our hotel and takes us to our launch site, a beach, Playa El Quemado south of Loreto. Actually, we had met our guide the evening before for a briefing and to provide us with bags for our gear. We booked our trip through Paddling South/SeaTrek.

We were surprised to find that we were the only two guests on this trip, which meant we had rather personalized support with our guide Jorge and the boat driver Adrian. We had opted for a skiff supported trip, which meant that our gear went by panga and we had cold beer and fresh food.

At 10:15 AM on March 22 we were on the water. It’s about a three-mile paddle to Isla Danzante where we made a stop at Honeymoon Beach (Playa Luna de Miel). A gorgeous beach with clear turquoise water. We did a short hike here to a panoramic vantage point. We then returned to our boats and paddled to a beach further south, Playa Arenas, where we set up camp.

We spent two nights camped at Playa Arenas. On the second day of the trip we paddled to Isla del Carmen where we had lunch, put our wetsuits on and got in the water to do some snorkeling. Whenever we stopped, up went the tent to provide us shade from the sun and, of course, a cooler with cold drinks. Paddling to and from Isla del Carmen and snorkeling made for a long day. It was 5:30 when we returned to camp. Having logged 12 miles, we were feeling a bit tired.

I must say that the food that Jorge and Adrian prepared was excellent. We had fresh fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, and of course tortillas and beans. We were well fed.

The trip was billed as a kayaking, snorkeling and hiking trip. We had several opportunities to get in the water and marvel at the coral and tropical fish as well as a couple of opportunities for short hikes to explore the plant and animal life. For photography I had my recently purchased iPhone 17 which I kept in a dive case whenever we were on or in the water.

I had a few issues with the camera, seemingly having a mind of its own and changing modes on me. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of getting the camera to behave, but in the end, I was quite happy with the results.

On the third day we broke camp and paddled to a beach on the peninsula where we stopped for lunch. The intent was to camp there, but Jorge decided that the beach was not suitable, so we put the kayaks on top of the panga and motored to another beach, Playa Aquililla, a few miles south. Our last two nights were spent on a lovely beach four miles further south and our final takeout was at Playa San Cosme.

Here’s a map of our track over the six days with color segments representing different days. Over the course of trip, we did not see any other kayakers, and only an occasional fishing boat off the coast. It was a week of paddling and camping on remote and secluded beaches with amazing sunsets and sunrises. We did not spot any whales or turtles, but we did spot several pods of Pacific Bottlenosed Dolphins as well as a variety of birds. Overall, it was an adventure of peace and tranquility and an opportunity to be close to nature. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Camping in Cactus Wonderland

After a night on the beach at Fidel’s Palapas just south of San Quintín, we were on the road shortly after 10:00. About noon as we were contemplating lunch, we found Restaurant El Sacrificio. One thing I like about traveling in Baja is discovering places to eat.

North of the border it’s franchises surrounded by acres of asphalt with young kids behind the counter. When you order a Big Mac, you know exactly what to expect. Here it’s small family-run establishments by the side of the road with the charm of rural Baja, with posters about the Baja races and local treats. The food always seems to be delicious. We were the only guests for lunch. Excellent food and the opportunity to practice my broken Spanish. After lunch we were back on the road.

Shortly before reaching the town of Cataviña we pulled off onto a dirt road and explored possibilities to camp. We had camped here three years ago on our previous trip.

I wanted to return to spend a couple days exploring the desert. One of the apps we use for navigation, iOverlander, suggested that there were several locations suitable for camping. We explored a couple of dirt roads before settling on a spot. It was just short of 3:00 when we parked the rig.

This would give me two sunsets and two sunrises for photography. Temperatures were also more pleasant in the morning and evening, running about 65 degrees at sunrise. By mid-afternoon the temperature was 85 in the shade and 95 inside the camper. During the heat of the day we pulled out our journals and books and hunkered down in the shade.

Sunset provided some interesting photo opportunities with the cactus and cirios silhouetted against the western sky. Sunrise was not near as interesting. About 20 minutes before sunrise there was a faint glow of color which only lasted about five minutes, and I was not inspired to do much with the early morning light.

We did see a number of cactus in bloom as well as a few ocotillo with their spray of red flowers looking like flames on the tips of their thorny branches.

With the dark night sky, I was inspired to try my hand at astrophotography to see if I could capture part of the Milky Way. I think the resulting image of the cirios silhouetted by a cloud of stars is quite interesting. You can view more photos in an online gallery.

Scenic Train Journey from Fairbanks to Anchorage

The train ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage takes 12 hours. Our hotel shuttle driver (La Quinta Inn) dropped us off at the train with plenty of time to spare before the 8:30 AM departure. The weather was overcast with light snow falling. The temperature was ten degrees Fahrenheit.

Since we anticipated getting off the train when it stopped in Denali, we wore our rental extreme weather gear. I thought I would take off the bib overalls when we were on the train, but with the side zippers open I left the bib on. The train, even though it was heated, seemed a bit chilly and the bibs kept us comfy.

It was mesmerizing watching the trees go by as big snowflakes drifted down.

When the train stopped at the Denali Station I got out and walked the length of the train. As we crossed Hurricane Gulch, I managed to capture a few images. Photographing the scenery going by is a challenge since it’s hard to avoid reflections on the train windows.

At one remote outpost the train stopped for the artist Shannon Cartwright to board with several bins of artwork and a selection of her books.

We bought books for our grandkids and a print which is now hanging in our house. On the last leg we saw a number of moose scurrying away as the train approached. They were too far away to capture any photos but fun to watch. More photos are available in an online gallery

Exploring the Manet & Morisot Exhibit: A Rainy-Day Adventure

What do you do on a rainy afternoon when your house is not inhabitable? While remodeling is going on in our house, we have moved out, renting a house in Mount Hermon. When in town we stay in our camper although hanging out in the camper in our driveway in pouring rain isn’t inviting. So, what do we do? We head to the museum.

Today it’s the Manet & Morisot exhibit at the Legion of Honor. We paid for the audio tour which was well worth the price. I must say that I was not familiar with Morisot, so this was a real opportunity to learn about two of the most influential artists of the age of Impressionism.

The New York Times has this to say:

They were close friends who corresponded often and went to the same soirées, passionate advocates for each other’s art, and eventually siblings-in-law (when Morisot, then in her 30s and facing financial precarity after her father’s death, married Manet’s brother Eugène in an arrangement supported by both families).

As we toured the exhibit, I found myself just as interested in watching people as the artwork. I recall a time when cameras were forbidden in such exhibits, and here people are using their phones to document the work. It’s almost as if the camera-phone has become an essential tool for appreciating art. I became fascinated with the idea of trying to capture the feeling for the experience; people looking at art. Somehow just snapping photos of people looking at art seemed static, so I challenged myself to try to capture images that had a bit of an emotional impact, introducing a sense of motion.

By the end of the exhibit, I had gained respect for Morisot’s work and her view of the world, contrasted with Manet’s.

The exhibit is up through March 1, 2026. It’s well worth seeing if you have the opportunity.

Living at Mount Hermon

As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves living in Mount Hermon while our house in Albany undergoes remodeling. Our adventure here begins on December 1st, when we drove our rental U-Haul truck up the driveway at #6 Pine Avenue in Mount Hermon.

Thanks to our daughter, Amy, we found a very cute house to rent for our stay here, which will keep us comfortable through the end of January when we anticipate moving back to Albany.

Originally, we were going to stay through December with the idea that we would take the pop-up camper on a road trip for part of January. On December 14 through, I broke my left wrist, so I no driving and thus no road trip. We could do worse than have such a comfortable place to stay in such a beautiful location here in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

We’ve been coming to Mount Hermon for over 40 years for church retreats, so we have some familiarity with the place. And our daughter and family live here as well. We are a 5-minute walk from our grandson.

On December 8th Amy hosted a gingerbread party and we were happy to participate. Cutting out dough shapes, gluing them together and decorating the resulting houses with frosting and candy.

On December 24th our son Aaron arrived with his family. We were blessed with having our whole family together for Christmas with both of our kids, our two grandkids and our son-in-law’s parents as well.

With family together we enjoyed hiking through the majestic redwoods, up to the cross on the top of the mountain and exploring the Bonny Doon Ecological Preserve.

And when the rain prevailed, we contented ourselves with putting together jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles have been a holiday tradition in my family since I was a kid. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Windsurfer to Paradise

It was 9:05 when I parked my car at Windsurfer Beach. Early! Way Early! I got across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in record time. It was a 20-minute drive when I allowed for 45. As I climbed out of the car, I was hit by a chilly breeze with clouds overhead. I climbed back in the car to wait for my fellow paddlers. It wasn’t until later, when I suited up, that I realized I had left my duffel bag with my lunch and camera case at home. I wouldn’t be using my iPhone for photography today; however, I did have my Olympus TG-5 which I usually carry as a backup camera.

It wasn’t long until my fellow paddlers showed up. Nine of us were on the water at 10:30 paddling out the channel and past San Quentin. We were anticipating a very light ebb current with slack at 1:00, meaning we would be paddling against this slight current. We had a chilly northwest wind pushing us along as we headed towards Paradise Cay. Once we approached the Cay, three of our paddlers decided to turn around. The prospect of a slog into the wind on the return from Paradise was something to consider. Six of us continued on to Paradise Beach.

At noon we landed at Paradise Beach. With the wind and the fetch coming from the north, we had a little bit of a surf landing. We hiked up the short trail to the picnic tables for lunch. Having arrived without my lunch I was able to bum cookies, candies, and an energy bar off of my fellow paddlers. No shortage of sugar to keep my energy up on the return leg. With a temperature a chilly 45-degrees we didn’t dally long over lunch. We wanted to get back on the water and paddle and warm up.

It was a bit of a slog paddling into the chilly north wind with whitecaps and chop. When every stroke into the wind is an effort it’s hard to stop paddling, pick up my camera, and capture photos. Best to keep the cadence and the forward progress. Once past Paradise Cay, we veered east and found a little protection from the wind.

Shortly after 1:00, the sun started to tease us, which felt really nice. At 2:30, we were back on the beach having logged 9 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.