The Badlands

Simply stunning:

 some cuteness:

The second great migration

I dropped Jamie at the Sacramento Airport, went back to the campground, hooked up and headed east.  Jamie made it to Ohio several days before I did.


The Bonneville Salt Flats happened to be on my route.  No pics, but it was really cool to see miles and miles of flat.


Next up was the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Love. Love. Love.  It is as beautiful as advertised.  I saw the Crazy Horse Monument.  The monument is about 1/2 mile behind the model:

Next up was Mt Rushmore:

Then the Mammoth Site which was SUPER cool:

Then Wind Cave.  The entrance hole:

Wind cave inside:

Pacific Coast Highway

The PCR is simply stunning.  It's hard to drive when you are looking over the edge at this:

or this:

or this:

Hopland Passport wine festival

Jamie and I hopped in the convertible and swung through Napa Valley on our way to:  http://www.destinationhopland.com/hopland-passport

First stop was in a Redwood grove at the Nelson Family winery.  

Then we cruised through a couple of other wineries before ending up in downtown Hopland.  Hopland is a cool little wine focused town.  We met a bunch of winemakers.  My favorite, Greg Graziano:

Guinness McFadden produces great wine, great beef, great seasonings:

Grapevines:

Cali whitewater

Satan's Cesspool reminds me of Julie's Juicer on the Gauley.  And yes the Shredder is buried under the pile!  With my newest river-husband Millard Blakey

Happy Mothers Day!

Dear Friends Revisited

Spent a weekend with my dear friends Jason, Michelle and Sebi.  Michelle and I went for a little hike on Saturday.  We were having such deep discussions that I got only one picture.  And it was of this banana slug.  Ugh!

On Sunday, we headed down to Santa Cruz for some quality beach time.  

Michelle tempting the surf gods:

Michelle and Sebi jumping in the surf

Cutie-patooties - Jason and Sebi

Surfer in the fog

A self described "Crazy French Woman" educated us about the joys of searching for sea glass

Sea glass is our discarded glass that ends up in the ocean.  Wave action grinds the glass down to these beautiful bits.  Picking up trash is actually fun in this circumstance.  The small gray-green rock in the upper right corner is jade - a gift from a fellow beachcomber.

Note to self:  Never turn your back on the sea and always wear appropriate clothing!