The Maiden Voyage: A different point of view. (Mine, not the dogs.)

I see that Carl got a post finished yesterday. Corgis are smart dogs and very entertaining. I'm sure that he elicited sympathy and showed you good examples of  OCD ( Obsessive, compulsive dog) behavior. I hope he behaved himself and wrote a good "point of view" story for you.
Last Monday, I woke up to this view out of the bedroom window.

I had just watched a wonderful video about photography and life by a man named Dewitt Jones. He was a photographer for National Geographic Magazine and he speaks on the subject of celebrating what's right with the world. He's really good and if you have 20 minutes out of your day to watch this video, I promise that you will find something here that will be worth your time.
The link is @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw-0hhoJLUo
It's called Possibility. It's so good. Please take a look.
So, I heard Mr. Jones again ask, "Where is the photo that is waiting for you?"
So I waited... and the sun came up... and ten minutes later I shot this image.

 And I waited another ten minutes.... then the light hit the window and came into the room.

 Yes! Change does hold possibility. The difference was only 20 minutes.
Please watch the video.

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So, with this new found knowledge I traveled, with the Prospector and the Corgi Boys to the "edge"... the Pacific Ocean... to Bodega Bay.
Mr. Jones says, "And it’s not just the external edges that we have to test; it’s the internal ones as well."
You all know that I'm afraid of the ocean.  It's about the vastness, the depth, the endless water, the amount, the fish, the noise and the smell. I just feel it's going to rush in and sweep me away. I don't like being in the surf and feeling the movement of the water as it goes out. Even as a child, I was afraid. I'm sure that this goes much deeper than I completely understand.
As my years go by, I find that I'm less afraid of this vast body of water that I've lived near all my life. And where I live now there is no possibility of it reaching me anyway. I'm 1100 ft. above it all and even the rivers would not allow the ocean waters to come in and up this far. Like my fear of spiders, the older I get, the less these fears affect me. The ocean... spiders... they are all a part of this world I live in. Acceptance is key.
Also, I take the ocean in small doses... unlike spiders which just pop up in unexpected places, the ocean stays where it is. I go to Pacifica with my sister for a weekend. I drove down the Oregon Coast with my friend "D" this summer for a few days. And now, I venture forth with husband and dogs, to brave the multitude of water again.
We had to lift the dogs into the new RV. We had practiced for weeks to get them use to being inside the Bus. We knew it made them nervous but they were, we thought, OK with being inside. We brought their beds and blankets, their special pillows for the sofa... biscuits, dry food and their harnesses and leashes. They were pampered pouches. We made sure that their needs were met.
Cutter was not a happy camper. He spent the whole trip sitting next to the Prospector, and sometimes me, with his head on our laps. Sometimes he would lay down on the rug and rest, but the minute the bus slowed down or turned. he would be right back by our sides.
Carl, on the other hand, was trying very hard to be in charge of the situation. He would bark at anything he could see out of the windows and stayed on the sofa almost the whole trip. He would look at me, now and then, as if to be reassured that everything would be all right.
We drove over to highway 50 and down through Sacramento, over the river, past the Tower bridge and Raley's Field.

We drove through Davis.

Continued west and drove past a sign that brought back memories of travel with my own family when I was a little girl.  The Milk Farm Restaurant, in Dixon, was a popular stop for dining on highway I 80 since it was built in 1928.I remember it from the 50's.

The restaurant stayed open for many decades until closing in 1986 after a large hole was blown in the roof during a violent windstorm. Even after closing, the Milk Farm's tall animated-cow road sign stayed illuminated for years due to its popularity.
We passed the Nut Tree in Vacaville. At its peak, it contained a restaurant, a bakery, a gift shop, a toy shop and the Nut Tree Railroad  that gave rides from the toy shop to the airport. I really remember this  airport. It was 1960. I flew up there with a couple of UC Davis boys that just got their pilot licenses. The runway was really short and it was really windy. We almost ended up in the trees at the end of the runway.  But... we didn't. We returned the plane to Buchanan Field in Concord, where I worked and laughed about it for years but, we never landed their again. Ah, the memories.
Back in the RV....
We drove down to Vallejo and turned west onto highway 37, stopping for lunch and a quick rest near the Mare Island turn off.

Lots of tidal marsh land here at the north end of the San Francisco Bay. Interesting birding place but we didn't stay long enough to look for any.
Then we drove over Sears Point Rd (I call it Black Point cutoff.) and connected to highway 101. We drove North to Santa Rosa and then west again to the little town of  Bodega Bay.

  Remember Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS? Some of it was filmed here. This is the town were the birds went crazy.  Great movie!
We drove past town a bit and drove into the Bodega Bay RV park, a few miles north of town.
Now, let me tell you something I learned about RVing. Always bring a small car with you when you are driving a class A motorhome, because once you set up, you're kind of stuck. RV parks are rarely in town and this one was no exception.
The park was nice but the town was a long way down the road and so we WALKED everywhere.
We need to address this issue soon. Our little, old Toyota RAV4 is an 'all wheel drive' vehicle, so you need to tow it with a trailer. A trailer means more money. You can't just lift two wheels off the ground and drag it behind the RV. The car has to ride on a trailer.  I could have driven the car over there myself, but then I wouldn't have been WITH THE FAMILY for our trip.
Not having a car became a problem during the four day trip. We basically didn't go anywhere that we couldn't walk to. We set up our rig, talked to the neighbors and walked the dogs.The park was kind of empty. Not a lot of people... but the folks that were there said it was crabbing season and that by the weekend the place would be filled up. So, we stayed where we were.
 The dogs must have eaten something that they shouldn't have because that night Carl threw up four times and then Cutter threw up once... and again the next morning. Fun, fun, fun. Thank goodness the park had a laundry. It was like having kids again. Remember nights with the flu? Remember wondering how they could keep throwing up when they couldn't possibly have anything left inside them?
 Some lady, next to us, said that it might have been the water... that we should always carry our own water with us. We did... for our coffee and drinking.... and the dogs. So I'm thinking that they just found something irresistible out on the trail the first evening. That's dogs for you. Love that yucky stuff. The next day they were fine.
The second day we hiked down to the marina . From the park to the fishing marina was probably a mile and a half and by the time we made this hike... with the dogs... we were wiped out. Carl almost had to be carried back. Poor dog. He doesn't have a tail... but his tail would have been dragging if he'd had one. The dogs and I took a long nap when we got back to the RV.
The caretakers gave us a map with directions on how to hike down to the bay. We followed the trail through two campgrounds, and a service road to arrive here...

This was the RV park we should have stayed at. There were lots of people, and a marina.

The fishing boats were coming in...

and going out.

There was constant activity around the boat dock.

Interesting people.

Lots of crab catching equipment.

Folks digging for clams. Cute boots!

And on lookers waiting for someone to drop something.

Maybe this seagull was going to try and trade that feather for a fish... or maybe he ate another seagull. Yes, they ARE that nasty with each other. They fight all the time, but I think it's more bark (like Carl) than bite.
This one looked old though, so maybe he was just loosing his hair like all old people do.

The walk back to the RV park was a long one, but pretty. From here to the ocean, which we hadn't seen yet, there were sand dunes and it was beautiful to see succulents turning red.
This was looking north along a service road.We weren't sure how far the ocean was but there were "no dogs allowed" signs on the beach trails so we never went down there... but I could hear it roaring. It always roars.

These were two very tired dogs waiting for the door to open so they could go inside and take a nap.

In the evening I took a short walk by myself.
The sun was setting and everything was gold. I saw a dandelion with the last rays of the sun shining on it. I remembered what Dewitt Jones said about finding the possibilities.
He said, "Nature was showing me incredible beauty standing just beyond the rat race saying “Hello, Hello…”

I got down on the ground and shot this image. It's not perfect but it was more about the evening, the light and finding that light behind this "puffball".
"Because, by celebrating the best -- that allows us to fall in love with it, that connects us with our passion, that emancipates the energy. By celebrating what’s right, we find the energy to fix what’s wrong."
I walked back to my husband and the dogs in the twilight and realized that life really is good and that this was an adventure that would become a memory... that would become my life.
This puffball is for you, Mr. Jones.