California

California Fires

/ Bulldog Travels / 10 Comments

It’s fire season in California again. I can only remember a handful of big fires growing up in this state as a kid. Now this is the new norm every year from probably about June-December. The Forest Service has even taken the monumental position of closing the Forests because if another fire kicks off they don’t have the resources to evacuate people and put out the fire. (Everyone is ok!) It’s crazy times. It’s devastating and dangerous for many; my family being impacted this time by the Caldor Fire. This photo was taken at a reservoir called Stumpy Meadows when the smoke from the Dixie fire was wafting over. If you glance quickly it looks like cool fog…

It’s been a while since I posted. I hope all of my friends out there are well. It seems many of us aren’t traveling much for many reasons COVID likely being one of them. Take care everyone. Happy Travels.

Horton Iris Garden – Loomis, California

/ Bulldog Travels / 12 Comments

Horton Iris Garden, in Loomis California is open for the season with early bloomers on display. This lovely family opens their beautiful property for a few months out of the year to display and sell tons of varieties of Irises. (They also open for pumpkin season which is probably my favorite time of the year!) Enjoy some of the blooms which opened for us during a recent visit.

Loon Lake Ashes

/ Bulldog Travels / 11 Comments

With COVID and the California fires it was time to flee the city. We went up to the family cabin and took a short drive to visit the beautiful Loon Lake. This lake is magnificent and on this day it was showing off. Sadly, a large fire broke out nearby yesterday which has me nervous for the emergency personnel, our cabin, anyone still in the area, and of course the wildlife. It seems California is on fire again and our friends to the north in Oregon are burning up too. Fire season likely won’t be over until December… Send any spare good vibes to the West Coast please. We could use them. #2020

Quarantine Walk

/ Bulldog Travels / 9 Comments

I am healthy and so far my family is healthy.  I am lucky enough to have a job.  I am lucky enough to be working from home.  For these things I am grateful.  Having said that I am restless as are many of you.  After not having left the house for a month except for grocery runs and trips to work it was time to take a drive.  Along the way to my destination I saw a few parked cars at the side of the road and a well travelled equestrian path I had never noticed before in the Auburn State Recreational Area.  Equipped with my mask and miles of social distancing space I took a short morning walk which refreshed me completely.

I share this wondering how all of you traveler’s are holding up?  How are you recharging while safely quarantining?  I hope all of you are well and your families are well and you are travelling in your minds.  I appreciate the freedoms we had up until just recently and I look forward to being able to plan safe travels soon.  I also look forward more than ever to hear all about your upcoming safe travels.  Until then stay well and travel in your dreams.

Open Studio with Dacy

/ Bulldog Travels / 9 Comments

We attended the open studio of artist Dacy Kolsky in downtown Sacramento recently and really enjoyed her art and the vibe of being in her studio. Check out her mixed media collage work! Her art has an neon Andy Warhol meets 80’s throwback vibe from the time before digital when everything was actually done by hand.

What’s your favorite piece?  Support your local artists!

Email dacy@modernpoppy.com

http://www.society6.com/dacykolsky

UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden

/ Bulldog Travels / 16 Comments

UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden has been on my local list of attractions for a while.  I can’t say why I haven’t gone before but I haven’t.  And after visiting today looking for some fall colors I certainly regret not having gone sooner.  I can say the Arboretum and gardens were not at all what I expected…in a good way.  I expected just a large park with some glorious old trees and a place for my son to run around reasonably free.  Instead, I found a lovely meandering creek called the Putah Creek lovingly surrounded by well maintained gardens and walking bridges.  Visitors can walk the entire thing or sections and can follow both sides of the creek.  They will be joined by runners, students, local residents, gossiping women, and visitors like me.

It is hard to be unhappy in a place like this even with heavy smoke in the air from the Butte Fire raging a small distance away.  Several distinct gardens keep one’s interest while they get their steps in.  Acacia gardens, redwood gardens, desert gardens, and plants and trees from China were the highlights.  Ducks followed us everywhere we went.  This perfect little park is a quiet oasis placed smack in the middle of one of California’s premier Universities.

It important to remember this lovely garden is in the middle of a thriving city and university
What a lovely peaceful location
Interesting flower blooming in the fall
Smoke from the Butte fire is high
Squint yours eyes a little bit and you will think you are in Giverny with Monet and his green bridge

Postcard from Sacramento

/ Bulldog Travels / 23 Comments

Greetings from my home town Sacramento, California! I’m still alive. I’m just over here sequestered in my house raising a tiny human and working in between with the occasional break to eat and sleep. Thank you for your patience with my lack of posts and lack of travels. 

I headed downtown this morning for an appointment and snapped some random Sacramento photos of things not everyone would pick to highlight my town. I’ve never really posted much about Sacramento so I finally took a moment to focus on a few locations and things that have always been the background of my runnings around. These are some places I enjoy for one reason or another. The art, the old signs, the institution of it, or the plane weirdness emitted. 

Yup. That’s a cow on the roof.

Are we in Greece or Mexico with these color?

Flipper!

The Tower theatre across the street from what was the original Tower Records and Books

A clock on a cemetery sign?

Always loved this sign

Water tower that has just always silently been in the background

Bon Lair. As close to Scotland as I can get right now.


The food is marginal but I go for the name.

Charming

Gold Country Drive – Melones Dam, Ca

/ Bulldog Travels / 12 Comments

It’s impossible to ignore the drought when driving over this massive bridge staring at the water marks from years before.  Thankfully we have received a decent amount of water here in Northern California, 130% of normal I am told so far.  But, still the brutal fact remains we need a lot more.  Spring flowers are starting to bloom and we still haven’t had enough water…

For other posts in and around the gold country please click here.

 

Gold Country Drive – Mokelumne Hill,Ca

/ Bulldog Travels / 22 Comments

Mokelumne Hill, California is an example of a small remote gold town that is still transitioning and finding its 21st century self.  While it does so I enjoyed the heck out of exploring its main street and the details of all its strange and wonderful architecture.  I have driven through this town hundreds of times.  My parents used to love doing the exact same thing taking us kids for a drive through the gold country.  This is the first time I got out with my camera and focused on the details.  I probably got a few strange looks from people drinking in the local bar but they shrugged their shoulders and went about their business.

For other posts in and around the Gold Country please click here.

 

 

 

 

Gold Country Drive – Columbia,Ca

/ Bulldog Travels / 25 Comments

My husband and I set out for another great day drive through the gold country.  As some of you may know gold was discovered in 1848 by James Marshal at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento,California in a beautiful place called Coloma.  This discovery set off what was later to be coined the California Gold Rush.  Tons of people came west with their sites set on riches.  In order to support these folks many “gold towns” sprouted up.  It’s always fun to me to go through and visit these towns observing how they have changed over the years.  Some are quickly on their way to obscurity while others are being revitalized by wineries, antique shops, coffee houses, and restaurants.  I have mixed emotions about the revitalization changes ultimately deciding it is for the best.

Join me on a tour of Columbia, a preserved gold town turned state park.

It’s a door!

For other posts in and around the Gold Country click here