Catching up after some adventures - May 2, 2010

OK - lots has happened, but we have not updated the blog because of unreliable or intermittent internet contact.  Apologies to everyone, and we promise to do better in the future.

When I left off, we were on the second night of our journey, down in Crescent City.  We started our day there very nicely.  It was a sunny day, and we had a walk by the fishing harbor, with lots of colorful fishing boats, which seemed to be entirely idle - guess it's not the fishing season.  The town seemed very slow economically, with not much going on at all, but a really colorful town.  By luck, we happened to see a male Brandt's Cormorant in breeding plumage - he popped up right next to us in the harbor, then disappeared before we could get a picture.  But he was gorgeous, with two striking white stripes down the head.  We also sighted a flock of Aleutian Geese, also known as Cackling Geese.  I guess they used to be close to extinct, but they're now plentiful around here in the spring. 

We went for a bike ride along the main highway and down to a local beach, where we took a long walk.  Ivy found some interesting rocks to draw.  Then we packed up the RV and  headed down the road through the redwoods.  We stopped at the Big Tree for the obligatory picture, and had a lovely lunch in the RV, parked among the redwoods.  We spent the night in an RV park nearby, great trees and shade but no cell phone or wi-fi coverage.  Had a nice conversation with a local RV'er, and were entertained by a large flock of quail who foraged all morning through the park.

By Friday afternoon, after an uneventful run down highway 101, we reached Healdsburg, where my brother,Chris, lives.  I was hoping to locate the RV right on  his property, to allow us to go back and forth easily, but that turned out to be impractical for now.  But we were able to work out a spot to stay in nearby Windsor with a good friend of his, Ellen.  She had a space alongside her house that fit the RV perfectly and allowed us to get power, water and all the trimmings.  It's a lovely spot, with two giant ancient oak trees shading the spot and a fence for privacy.   And for an added bonus, Ellen has a lovely garden in her back yard, complete with various birds and her two cats.  We've had a number of delays getting wi-fi going, but after a bit of wrangling and installation, we got that happening as well. So we are settled in for a bit.

Ivy and Ellen are both artists and gardeners, so they have been getting along fabulously, with Ellen giving Ivy tours of the area and working on artworks and garden projects together. The springtime is lovely around here, flowers all around and the ubiquitous vineyards starting to green out.  We had a very nice bike ride in Sebastopol, and there are many additional promising routes around here which are on my list for the next few weeks.  There are some fabulous birding opportunities as well, and the coast is quite nearby.  Weather has been mostly sunny and warm - up to 80 degrees today. 

I've been spending most of my time at my brother Chris's place, getting up to date on what's happening there and helping out wherever I can.  He is in a wheelchair and his mobility is quite limited due to the back operation that he had.  But he is lively and cantankerous as ever, and working hard to improve his situation and get it more workable.  He is surrounded by many people who love him and are working hard to take care of him.  People from the community are rebuilding his bathroom for better wheelchair access, fixing him food and bringing it over, cleaning up and doing laundry, dropping by to chat and watch movies, taking him to appointments and meetings, etc.  It's hard to get a word in edgewise sometimes, with all the folks that are crowded around to help out.

Chief among the helpers, though, is my sister Maggie, whose long career at Stanford Hospital has prepared her to handle all of the many details of medical arrangements that are so critical to Chris'  comfort and safety, as well as all the paperwork and documents that are needed.  Chris relies on her totally, and she has done an enormous amount to get him through all this with the best possible results.  She has been truly heroic, and we are all very grateful.


So we're settled in for awhile.  I'm not sure what our next steps will be, but things will get clearer over the next few weeks as we enjoy the Sonoma County area and spend more time with my brother.  I hope to have more regular bulletins in the future.