When I left you yesterday, I was bound and determined we would get out for a walk. My determination faltered a few times as I sunk deeper and deeper into the couch. I'd hoped for some sunshine, but it wasn't meant to be. It looked cold and dreary.
Mike had to run a couple of errands on his own. I stayed behind, which meant I was still in my pajamas at 11:00 a.m. The kitties were no help at all.
And all of that to say when Mike returned, and after lunch, we went. It was cold, but dry. We just bundled up and went for it. We were glad we did. Here's a map of the Riverwalk Trail in Fortuna. If you look just in the middle of the picture, you'll see where the RV park is located...right where I've put a red dot. We ended up driving to the parking lot (marked with a car). The road is busy right there, and we weren't sure if sidewalks were available.
The Riverwalk Trail runs parallel to the Eel River. Wikipedia tells us the Eel River is about 196 miles (315 km) long. The river and its tributaries form the third largest watershed located entirely in California, draining an area roughly 3,684 square miles (9,540 km2) in five counties.
The river basin was lightly populated by Native Americans before and after the European settlement of California. The region remained little traveled until 1850, when Josiah Gregg and his exploring party arrived in search of land for settlement. The river was named after they traded a frying pan to a group of Wiyot fishermen in exchange for a large number of Pacific lampreys, which the explorers thought were eels. (I always love knowing how a place gets a strange name like "Eel" river.)
Looking left, it looked like this:
We walked in the opposite direction, to the north.
Surprisingly, there were a few wildflowers in bloom. These little yellow jobs were tiny...maybe the size of a caper.
We have this stuff below growing near where we live in Oregon. It's a pyracantha. Sometimes its berries are red, and the birds love them.
On the other side of the river, I spotted a Great Egret. He was about 500 feet away, and so I was zoomed way in with my point and shoot camera...using the not-so-great digital zoom function. I'm actually surprised I got anything at all. It's a little grainy, but there you go.
It was very cold and breezy, and so we probably walked only about a mile. It was enough. Back at the RV, Sadie was completely stressed out.
Smitty was finding it difficult to relax as well.
Today we're moving on to Oroville, California. We'll be there for two nights. Because we left four days early, we have some time to kill as we catch up to our previously reserved spot in Merced. We chose Oroville for its distance away and for no other reason. It'll be about a 270 mile drive today. We could head east from here over to Red Bluff, but then we'd have to cross some mountains. If we stay south on 101 almost to Ukiah, we can more safely head east, crossing over Interstate 5 before reaching our final destination. It adds about a half hour to our drive time, and it will be time well spent to be on the side of safety. In many years of making this journey south, I can't recall when we've had to contend with as much snow.
Okay, so travel posts always depend on internet access at the next stop. We'll be staying at a KOA next time around, and so I expect we'll be fine with our internet access. Still, I always like to issue this reminder...we're only as good as our internet access. If we disappear for a day or two, that'll be the reason.
9 comments:
A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. ~ John Steinbeck
Lovely wild flowers you spied. ;)))
Hoping this trip takes you to wonder and amazement...hugs, Julierose
What a pretty walk. Nice treat to find wild flowers blooming this time of year. Sorry the kitties are so stressed out. On the weather front, from what I'm hearing in So. Cal. the weather pattern will get better on the lst and should be sunny for a bit. I hope that helps you with your travels, as well as enjoyment of your winter adventure.
Glad you got the shot of the Great Egret. I think they are beautiful. Interesting story about the Eel River. All for a frying pan :-)
Thank you for the blooming things We had snow (little) today. Stay safe.
Looks like you are all in vacation mode - a good place to be. Safe travels!
Love being on your travels. Having an issue with change to Gmail and transferring photos to my blog. but working on it, besides settling in new home in Vegas. Thanks to your past story, we hope after settled to visit some of the highlights of our new area that you wrote about. And thanks for the info on where to buy some Redwork patterns. while reading I realized somewhere in a box is a book on Red work with patterns also. Pretty sure I kept those. Enjoy and thanks for the travels... vivian
That looks like a nice walk and the flowers and birds photos are great. the weather at this time of year plays havoc with the exercise plan. It seems to have been raining for days here but today was bright and sunny so we walked and really enjoyed it.
I'm late in catching up, but had to pop in and say that many, many years ago I worked and lived in that CCC building about a block from your Fortuna campground. It's a really lovely part of the world and you really captured how it can be beautiful even though it's constantly gray this time of year.
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