The Colors of Spring Northern California
“The earth laughs in flowers.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It was my aunt @tejpratapsidana’s birthday, and I had promised to celebrate with her at her home in Northern California. Fly? Drive? hmm so many choices. I decided to drive and incorporate some wandering along the Northern California coast to enjoy the beautiful spring flowers that were sure to be plentiful given all the rain that we’ve been having.
As I drove through California, I was reminded again of how beautiful this state that I live in, is. While there were not as many flowers covering the green rolling hills given all the water, we’ve been having, there were beautiful rivers and streams gurgling along the roads and highways as I traveled.
I hit Santa Cruz, California where I was staying with a friend for the night and lo and behold the hills came alive with all the color that my greedy little heart and soul could have wished for. I was so excited I actually pulled over to the side of the road and pranced over in the midst of the flowers marveling at the beauty. A kind lady took a picture of me among the flowers, my very own Bollywood moment. Alas! there was no orchestra and background singer to give melody and lyrics but no matter, my heart supplied all the music that one could hope for.
The plan was to visit the Garrapata State Park between Carmel and Big Sur to enjoy the Calla Lily Valley. Fortunately, while Highway One was closed for a stretch it was about a mile beyond our stop.
Now, I have to admit that I had visions of a huge, lush valley full of the white flowers that are so reminiscent of Easter that I as a teeny, tiny bit underwhelmed to see that it was only a narrow crack but nevertheless it was full of flowers and the day itself will go down in my memory banks as a fabulous day full of friendship and laughter. Thank you @joyachatterjee, @ritagujral and @chandandhingra for adding your own brand of fun and frolic.
Now I have driven along this highway multiple times and at least twice last year, but it took @joychatterjee to point out the interesting rock formations carved into the sides of the road by the wind. If only I was gifted like Mr. Steinbeck who wrote about all these places in and around the Monterey Peninsula then I would have written stories about knights and ladies and fanciful quests.
On our way home we stopped at Moss Landing to see if we could spot sea otters frolicking in the waters and to taste the local delicacy of fried artichokes. Check out @ritagujral’s post on a recap of the day and lots of fun photos of us enjoying the day. The fried artichokes absolutely worth a stop, so delish.
After a day spent celebrating with my aunt and cousins, I set off to capture more spring color and at the same time wrap up my quest of visiting all the California Missions. Here in Sonoma, California, I visited the last of the missions that were established to wrap up my quest to visit all 21 missions that dot the landscape from south to north. Given today’s quest of finding wildflowers, I was rewarded to see poppies, blooming all around the mission.
As an unexpected bonus I also visited the Bear Flag commemorative stone right across the street from the Mission to commemorate the raising of the bear flag by the Bear Party to celebrate California’s independence from Mexico.
I continued to drive North through some of the most beautiful green hills and scenery towards Mendocino California. Along the twisting, turning curvy highways, I saw a lion cub run across the road right in front of my car even as the tall Coastal Redwood trees cast a large shadow over the highway. Along the sides of the road were sheep and goats grazing even as signs for apples, cider tasting, and other fruit stands enticed me to stop.
As I finally hit the pacific coast highway, I was greeted by the beautiful vista of the ocean waves and hills dotted with yellow, purple, orange and purple.
I grabbed a quick lunch at Frankies, stuck my head into the sock store where I couldn’t resist buying some interesting and overpriced socks and took a quick walk around the Mendocino Headlands where I got to enjoy the beautiful vistas of the pounding sea and the swaying wildflowers dotting the path.
Right in front of where I parked my car in Mendocino was this garden blooming with color.
The next morning found me at MacKerricher State Park to see the tide pools. Here I found sea gulls in plenty and a fair number of people walking along the boardwalk and venturing down into the tide pools.
While my key objective in Mendocino was to enjoy the coast and the wildflowers, I took the skunk train into the redwood forest to marvel at the giant trees. These are called coastal redwoods and the tallest of them grow to 300 feet.
Ok maybe these are not colored flowers, but the glass beach was one that I had been wanting to visit for some time. Most of the glass has been picked over by visitors though there are still shards left if you look carefully and when the sun hits just right it’s beautiful.
As I drove along the Pacific Coast Highway and wandered along some of the coastal access roads, I came across this family of deer grazing on the headland. What an awesome sight it was.
Another must do on my list in Mendocino, Fort Bragg was to visit this bridge. I had seen the bridge with wildflowers in the picture, but I did not have that same luck but did manage to get some great shots of the bridge from different parts of the Russian River Gulch state park.
I have lived in California over 40 years but not sure why I have never visited this beautiful part of the state. I was enthralled by the beauty and while I’m not ready to give up wandering in them thar foreign parts, I sure hope to spend more time wandering and discovering this beautiful country where I make my home.