Icewind's Ramblings

Driving south on Highway 1 past Fort Bragg on the coast of California overlooking the Pacific Ocean stands a monument to time and the perseverance of our fellow Americans.  The Point Arena Lighthouse was constructed in 1870 to help sailors navigate the rocky shoals along the Pacific Coast.     Point Arena is a narrow peninsula jutting about a 1/2 mile into the Pacific Ocean.  This sandbar creates a natural hazard to navigation, and hence the need for a lighthouse and fog signal here.  When I arrived there was a foggy mist in the area but as the day continued the fog burned off creating contrast between the lighthouse, the rocks and the blue green ocean. The brick-and-mortar tower included ornate iron balcony supports and a large keeper residence with enough space to house several families.  In April 1906, a devastating earthquake struck the light station.  The keeper's residence and lighthouse ...

Placido Flamingo and I on our trip back to the south spend a couple days in the California Redwood forests as we make our way down the Pacific Coast Highway.  The redwoods stretch from the Oregon border on highway 199 through northern California along highway 101 as it meets California highway 1 near Leggett.    There are several famous trees in the area, the Immortal Tree and the Chandelier Tree where you can drive a small vehicle through it.  The most famous redwood is the General Sherman Tree (world’s largest tree) which is located close to Yosemite National Park in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.  I will have to see that giant on another trip since I am not traveling the inland roads this trip. As I approached the California Coast at Crescent City I turned into Jedediah Smith State Park to drive the Howland Hill Road an unpaved road through a mighty stand of Redwoods.  Placido and I stopped at one of the pull offs and walked the tra...

As we go through life there is always another first step to take each day when you wake up on this road called Life.  As I have traveled along with the experiences in my life the concept of the journey (making your way along the different paths and highways) has been a recurring theme for me.  Creating the “Where’s The Flamingo” Facebook page is my attempt at writing about this subject so laugh with me when I make mistakes and forgive me as I learn where I am going with this.   Placido Flamingo travels started when I left Alaska as I traveled from there to where I am currently.  It doesn’t really matter where “here” is now because for some of us it changes with time and circumstance.  Home has been so many places I have traveled and most felt like a places where your comfort level was how you made the best of the where you were.  It might be lying under the stars on a hillside winery in northern California or sleeping in a metal conex box “apartment” i...