Archive for January, 2010
Mail Boxes heading towards San Gregorio
Back in November last year we set out to investigate the beaches and coastal access points on the San Mateo Coast. We didn’t have time to check out Pescadero State Beach so today that is our mission.
(Click on the photos for larger versions)
At 7.30 we set off from home, driving first along Interstate 280 and Highway 84 to Alice’s Restaurant on Skyline Blvd (see previous post). The weather forecast said it was going to be a nice day but we were driving through low fog up to 280. As we joined the freeway, the fog was gone. Ahead the Santa Cruz Mountains were clear, bright and bathed in early morning sunshine.
After breakfast we continued on 84 towards San Gregorio. I don’t think we have ever driven to the coast this way before. We either drive to Santa Cruz and turn north on Highway 1 or we take 280 to Highway 92 towards Half Moon Bay and then drive south on Highway 1. It is amazing how different everything looks driving the other way. It is a glorious day so that makes things look new and exciting. At San Gregorio we turned right on Stage Coach Road. We stopped so Tom could take some photos. The view looking east, with rolling green hills, grazing cattle and distant hills was magnificent.
When we hit Highway 1 we turned south, driving past San Gregorio Beach and headed to Pescadero. The ocean looked stunning. At this time of
San Gregorio valley
the year the whales are heading south on their yearly migration and although they are long way out, I kept my eyes skimmed for the odd water spout on the far horizon.
There are three car parks for Pescadero State Beach and we stopped at the first one. From here, by crossing the road, there is a nice little trail round the lagoon and up the hill. Today though we started by checking out the beach. Ours was the only car in the car park. Before we set off for the beach we filled out the self registration form and paid our $7 fee. Normal price is $8 but we both can take advantage of the seniors rate.
As we walked towards the beach the sound of the surf was music to our ears. Tom told me that there is a high surf warning at the moment and he advised me not to turn my back to the ocean if I was near the water. A young girl was swept out to sea on the Sonoma coast recently. Fortunately her parents saved her but it must have been a frightening experience for the family.
The beach is sandy and would be perfect for young children. One word of advice though, the nearest place to buy refreshments is two miles away in Pescadero so take everything you need with you. We had the place to ourselves. Tom was busy taking photos and I wandered around. There was a tiny lagoon and just one structure made from driftwood. I found a handy log to sit on and sat in the sun enjoying the view. The only thing disturbing the peace and quiet was its proximity to Highway 1 and the sound of passing cars.
We started walking south down the beach and rounded a small headland to a long stretch of sandy beach. Still nobody else around, not even a dog with its owner. There were lots of footsteps in the sand above the high watermark so there must have been plenty of visitors over the last couple of days. As we walked we smelt something rather unpleasant. Tom thought we might have walked through something a dog had left behind but the source soon revealed itself. It was a dead seal. It had been there some time and the only way we could tell it was a seal was by its flipper and the shape of the head.
There were a few more driftwood structures here. One was not very high but it covered a largish area and was open. Logs had been placed round in a sort of circle facing a bower like structure so obviously had been some sort of meeting place. It is so beautiful here. I can sit or stand, gazing out to sea for hours and hours watching the surf breaking just offshore and rolling in, with the sun catching and highlighting lots of different colors and shades in the water and watching the pelicans skimming the surface of the ocean. There are no surfers here today but I’ sure this would be a great place to come. Maybe they are all a bit further north at Half Moon Bay taking on the Mavericks. It is usually at this time of the year the famous Mavericks meet takes pace.
I noticed there were a few other people around. A group had arrived at the north end of the beach and to the south I could see a couple standing on the headland looking out to sea.
Further down the sand was strewn with driftwood. What an adventure playground this would be for children. They could spend hours building to their hearts content. I’ve always wandered where the logs come from. Some pieces are huge. Are they carried in by the tide or are they washed downhill from the mountains by the streams and creeks which flow into the ocean?
I thought we could walk all the way to the most southerly car park but it wasn’t possible. The Butano Creek empties into the ocean and it is too wide to wade through. At this point, Highway 1 is a bridge across the creek. It is possible to climb up to the highway but from where I stood it looks a bit dangerous to cross the bridge safely by foot. What we did discover in the rocks of the headland was a small archway and we watched in fascination as the surf crashed and surged through it.
End of Part 1
January 29 2010 | Special Places | 3 Comments »
Alice's Restaurant at the Corner of Hwy 84 & Skyline
We have often passed Alice’s Restaurant but never ventured inside. Normally we see it on our way home from the coast, when the car park is packed with motor bikes. This time we decided to have breakfast there and as it doesn’t open until 8, we set out a bit later.
After an exhilarating drive up 84 to Skyline Blvd, we arrived at Alice’s. There were a few motorbikes already in the car park but cars outnumbered the bikes. It is a wooden building and probably has not been altered much since it was built. There are steps up to a wooden deck on which picnic type tables and benches had set out. The outdoor heaters were being started up but too cold for me outside at the moment. On the edge of the deck, attached to a pole and overlooking the car park and the first thing I saw as I got out of the car, was a wonderful metal owl with outspread wings.
Inside we were greeted and told to sit where we liked. We picked a booth next to the window, which overlooked the deck and car park. What struck me most about the seat was its cover. It was originally hide but most of the hair has been worn away with use. The tables was very narrow. Tom and I played footsie the whole time. At the counter were seven low stools which were also covered in hide but these had obviously been recovered in the recent past because the hair had not been worn away.
Tom ordered a Joe’s Special $8.95 and I asked for the oatmeal with fruit $5.50. On the front of the menu was a short history of Alice’s. It was constructed in the early 1900’s. At the time it was a general store to support the local logging industry. The area was called Four Corners. In the 1950’s it became a restaurant. Alice Taylor bought it in the 1960’s and named it after herself and the Arlo Guthrie song. It has been a favorite stop for bikers, cyclists and hikers for many years. Alice’s Restaurant and adjacent buildings were bought in the 1970’s and has been family run ever since.
I then had time to take a look around and it was very pleasing. Looking closer at the windows I realized they were also doors. Presumably when the days are warmer they can all be opened. To the side of the restaurant is a covered deck with a view over the garden. The whole wall behind the counter is covered with photos, adverts (mostly biker orientated) and several comic signs. One said:
‘Drink Coffee
Do Stupid Things Faster with More Energy’
and yet another:
‘Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beerholder’
Music was playing in the background. I half expected to hear ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ being played at some point but it didn’t happen. The place was vibrant with lively chatter and everybody looked relaxed and cheerful.
My oatmeal was served on a large shallow bowl on top of a blue and white paper plate inside a green plastic basket. The bowl was filled to the brim with oatmeal with very little room for milk. The top was covered with sliced strawberries and bananas. It came with no milk but a jug was brought to me when I asked for it. The Joe’s Special came on a large round plate and looked really good – plenty of cheese and spinach. Everything tasted great. Tom said it was a good breakfast and I agreed with him.
The restrooms were outside in a separate block and can best be described as basic. Originally the ladies’ restroom had a shower in it because there was a raised area at one end and a pipe sticking out of the wall near the ceiling. Now the baby changing facilities are situated in that area. There were white net curtains at the window and they were filthy. On the walls were several pictures including one of a girl on a motor scooter. There were also things written on the wall and one of them caught my attention. It said – ‘I took the road less traveled….now where the hell am I?
Our conclusion on Alice’s Restaurant – a great place to go for breakfast and we will visit again.
Alice’s Restaurant
Corner of Hwy 84 & Skyline
January 26 2010 | Breakfast Log | No Comments »
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
We were on our way to Lake Shasta to spend Christmas with the Husband/Tischer family. Every two years we get together and each time it has been at a different spot. Along the way we took our first detour to have breakfast at Babs Delta Diner in Suisun. To think, this is the second time in ten days!
Our second stop was north of Williams on I5 at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Once again, our thanks to Tom Stienstra, who featured this wildlife complex in the San Francisco Chronicle a month ago.
It was a beautiful day, but with a chilly breeze. Must remember though that it is December so colder weather is to be expected. The Sierras were visible off to our right and to the north we could clearly see the peak of Mount Lassen which is in the Lassen Volcanic National Park. What was more exciting though was spotting the tip of Mt Shasta before we even reached Williams. I remember my first trip north on I5 back in 1999. I was on my own and several people had told me to watch out for this volcanic peak. When I approached Shasta Lake I kept my eye peeled for Mt Shasta, assuming it was near the lake. I drove for miles before I actually saw it. And here we were nearly 100 miles from the lake and we could see the top of the mountain.
At Exit 595 we turned off on CR 68. Turning left on Highway 99W, we drove 1.5 miles to the entrance of the Sacramento NWR. Just inside the entrance, we pulled in to pay the fee of $3 at the pay machine. A sign saying ‘Visitors’ pointed to the right and the start of the the 6 mile autotour was just ahead.
The road was gravelly and narrow and soon we were passing reeds and small lakes. Along the way were several signs telling us to drive slowly – 20 mph is the speed limit. We spotted our first birds – American Coots or Common Moorhen. The only way I can tell the difference between them is by the color of their feet.
Ahead of us a car was stopped so we pulled up and waited as well because we couldn’t get by. The passenger was taking photos and he had an enormous lens. Tom was instantly jealous. When they moved off we took their place but moved over so that other cars could pass. Officially the only stopping places are the designated Park and Stretch areas. Today it is very quiet with not too many cars around. Tom got some good shots of the birds with Mr Lassen in the background. Suddenly a mass of birds took flight at the same time and hopefully Tom managed to catch them.
I glanced out of of my window to the right and spotted a coyote a couple of hundred yards away. At first I thought it was a dog but when I looked through the binoculars I saw its tail and knew it was a coyote. A little later I saw another one, this time much closer but lost sight of it when some tall reeds got in the way.
Further on we saw a hawk like bird but I could not identify it. It was very dark with a white band at the base of its tail. It swooped and glided close the ground and we could not see what color the underparts were. Could it have been an osprey? Somehow I doubt it.
We came to the first Park and Stretch area. Here we could get out of the car and walk onto a wooden platform. At the top there were a couple of scopes through which it was possible to get a better view of the birds but there were not too many to see at this spot. Tom spotted another photographer with a large lens. This one was camouflaged and on a stand attached to the car window. Tom felt his lens was inferior. Never mind darling, you get great photos.
Further on we saw thousands of Snow Geese – or they could have been Ross’ Geese. There were some morphs amongst them. In the far distance
Sundial Bridge in Redding
near I5 we could see a large flock of white birds take flight. That’s when a large lens would be invaluable.
All too soon the auto tour was over and we were back on I5 head for Redding. Our detour via the Sacramento NWR was a great treat. Next time Tom said he would rent a large lens for the visit.
Christmas with the family at Shasta Lake was good fun. The house we rented was not quite what we expected but the deck and view were spectacular. One fly in the ointment – we had no water at all from 6 pm on Christmas Eve to 3 pm on Christmas Day. Things were a bit difficult with 12 people in the house and a baby but we coped somehow. The problem was caused by a mouse chewing through insulation and a wire on the pressure pump.
We had three expeditions while we were there. One to the Sundial Bridge (awesome), the second to the ‘Poop Scoop exhibition at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park (fascinating) and the last to the McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens (interesting) – all in Redding.
January 22 2010 | Special Places | No Comments »
Sign outside Babs Delta Diner. Our favorite breakfast place.
Rob, my son, was visiting from the UK. As he had never been to Locke we decided to take him for a day visit. The weather was not kind to us at all, in fact it rained for most of the time.
We also had a task to do. Cathleen made a comment on our Delta Eco Tour asking about an abandoned building on Ryer Island. We have never noticed any such building on the island but decided to see if we could find it.
(Click the images for larger versions)
Our first stop as ever was for breakfast. As Babs Delta Diner in Suisun City is the best breakfast place we have been to, we decided to take a detour and introduce Rob to their wonderful breakfasts. Babs didn’t let us down. I went for the oatmeal again and Tom, who has always had the corn beef hash in the past, went for the sour dough French toast. Rob, on the other hand, ordered the Short Haul which was two hotcakes, 2 eggs and 2 slices of bacon served with country potatoes. When he was asked how he would like the eggs he said ‘fried’ but of course over here that is not enough information. Did he want them sunny side up, over easy, over medium or over well? Rob was speechless and didn’t know what the server was talking about. After we explained he opted for the sunny side up. We were all amazed when Rob’s meal turned up on three plates – potatoes on one, bacon an eggs on another and two enormous hotcakes on a third plate served with butter and hot syrup. He was so impressed he even took a movie of it. And he very nearly ate the lot!
To reach Locke we took the scenic route by crossing the river on the Real McCoy Ferry over to Ryer Island. We were hoping to ask the ferry operator about any abandoned buildings on Ryer Island but he never ventured out of the cabin. Who could blame him as the rain was coming down hard. Once on Ryer Island we turned left. Usually we turn right and go round the southern tip of the island to reach the next ferry but decided to take a different route to look for any old buildings. We drove across the island on Route 220. At one point I thought we’d struck gold. Ahead was an abandoned building and it looked like there was a wooden cross on one end. Cathleen mentioned she thought the building could be a church or a school. But I was deceived. When we got a little closer I realized that what I thought was a cross turned out to be the top of a telegraph pole. So we were unsuccessful in our endeavors Cathleen.
In Locke we parked on Main Street. There were a lot of cars but nobody was walking around. None of the shops were open so where was
Al the Wop's in Locke
everybody? We walked up and down Main Street, peering into shop windows. Some had signs saying there were open but the doors were locked.
Outside Al the Wop’s bar a man was smoking. He called across to us from the other side of the road and made some comment on the weather and then said it was the only place open and if we’d never been inside (which we hadn’t) it would be a good way to warm up. Nothing daunted we ventured inside. Al the Wop’s history goes back a long way. When the building was originally built it was a Chinese restaurant. In 1934 it became the first non Chinese business in town when Al Adami bought the building. He opened a bar and restaurant and called it Al’s Place, which became affectionately known as Al the Wop’s. Inside it has a long bar and tons of memorabilia on the walls. The biggest novelty were the dollar bills hanging from the ceiling. I asked the barman how they got there and he said it would cost a dollar to find out. Tom handed over a dollar bill and the barman stuck a tack through the bill and folded the bill in a specific way. He then put a Tahoe slot coin (in the past they used a silver dollar) and covered it with the folded bill with the sharp end of the tack sticking up. The next step was to throw the whole lot up to the ceiling. Tom went first but it all fell back to the ground. Then Rob tried and failed and so did I. Rob had another go and he succeeded. The tack attached the bill to the ceiling and only the slot coin fell to the floor. The guy with the cigarette said that once a year all the bills are taken down and donated to charity. It’s a very special occasion when this happens and the bar serves a liver and onion supper and they have a big fundraiser at the same time.
I did ask the only other group of people in the bar if they knew of any old buildings on Ryer Island. They were not locals but came regularly to the area on their boats. None of them knew of any abandoned buildings at all.
Tom and I had Irish coffees to warm ourselves up. Rob declined as he was still full from breakfast. At the back of the bar is a small restaurant where the food is apparently very good. The boaters recommended the cheeseburgers.
Rob inside Al the Wop
When we left the bar the rain had eased off a bit. Rob found a shop open and so we all went inside. It was a sort of antique shop though most of what was on sale would be classed as collectibles. This sort of shop is always interesting to browse around. I was absorbed in the books and found a small book of very short one act plays. Tom was perusing the old vinyl records where he discovered albums by Earth Wind & Fire, The Mamas and the Poppas, Joan Baez and many more. Rob was searching for license plates or old tin advertising signs but he drew a blank.
We then took a walk to the back of the town and showed Rob the toilet bowl garden. This is where Connie King, the unofficial mayor of Locke, used to live. She died a couple of months ago. Our last stop in Locke was to the museum in the old boarding house. We were the only visitors and the docent on duty was very interesting to listen to. He told us that most of the people living here now are not Chinese. Most of the Chinese moved away from Locke as soon as they earned enough money to move on. The museum has only been open eighteen months and it cost over a million dollars to bring it up to code. In the 1940’s it was owned by a Japanese family. They lived downstairs and the upstairs was turned into small bedrooms which had two beds in each. It is difficult to say how many bedrooms there were because I’m sure some of the rooms have been made into larger rooms but there must have been at least 8 bedrooms. There was just one tiny bathroom. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese family, along with thousands of other Japanese families, were forced to leave their homes to live in isolated concentration camps. They were never able to return to their property (a shameful bit of American history).
Before starting the long journey home we stopped off at Mel’s Mocha and Ice Cream for a vanilla malt. We can’t bring Rob all the way here without giving him the pleasure of tasting one of the best malts around. I got talking to another customer there and asked her if she was a local. She said she had live here for ten years. I asked her about any abandoned buildings on Ryer Island and she couldn’t think of any but she suggested I go next door to the realty office and they might be able to help. I did just that but the office was closed.
It was great to visit Locke again but such a pity the weather was not perfect. We could have done so much more if it had not been raining so hard. And sorry Cathleen we could not solve the mystery of the abandoned building. Maybe if you let us know exactly where it is we can have a look next time we are in the area.
January 18 2010 | Special Places | No Comments »
Saturday Afternoon and Evening
We took a break from visiting artists’ studios by driving into Point Reyes Station. There were four things we wanted to do. The first was to find
Tamales Bay at Point Reyes
an ATM. Buying the bowl wiped us out of cash. Our second errand was to buy some cheese. Point Reyes has many dairy farms and cheese, along with oysters, are what the area is famous for. On Third Street is the Tomales Bay Food Company. It is a small selection of shops selling food from the area. At 1.30 on the Saturday it was packed. There were many cheeses to choose from and I could not decide which one to buy. In the end I chose a small selection from Cowgirl Creamery an a bag consisting of their Original Blue, Matos’ St George, Mt Tam and a goat cheese called California Crottin. The bag also contained bread and butter pickles but I misread it assuming there was bread and butter inside not knowing that there was such a thing as bread and butter pickles. I still have a lot to learn.
Tom and I sat outside on a bench and sampled the Matos’ St George cheese and watched what was going on. There were lots of people sitting on the grass eating their picnics and children were playing. More and more people were arriving to shop. Amongst all this, a young man was balanced on top of a four foot post performing some sort of Kung Fu exercise. For about fifteen minuts he carried on totally engrossed while people walked past, just giving him a casual glance. Hey, this is Marin and that’s what folks do round here. Just another day in Point Reyes Station.
Our next task, and the most important some would say, was to get a drink. Opposite Toby’s Feed Barn, where they hold a farmers market every Saturday, is The Western Saloon and this is where we headed. Outside Osteria Stellina – where we will be eating tonight – there were people waiting for tables but The Western had only a few customers. We took a seat at the bar and ordered a couple of beers. The lady who served us didn’t appear very friendly at first but she warmed up when we asked if she was serving when Prince Charles and Camilla came into the bar four years ago. She certainly was and told us all about it. Tom and I were in Point Reyes Station that day and were standing in the crowd outside the bar. It was a big occasion for us. It is the first time Tom had ever seen any of the Royals and I got to shake hands with both the Prince and his Duchess.
Our last visit was to the Pelican Gallery on the main street. A lot of people were walking round clutching the Point Reyes Open Studios brochure but the Pelican Gallery was not part of it and therefore not very busy. Inside the gallery were lot of large photos printed onto canvas and there were quite a few I would not mind hanging on my wall.
Back on the road again and there were just two more studios to visit today. They first was to Bruce Mitchell, the wood sculpture, who we missed earlier on. His studio was located in Sherwood Road. Bruce specializes in large sculptures and bowls. In the garden outside were a few of his bigger pieces. They are nice but not for us. Where would be put it if we bought one? Also outside he had a large work area with a sawpit. Inside there were more large sculptures and a lot of bowls. I circled the studio studying his bowls and some of them were really nice. There are made out of many different types of wood. It was interesting to observe the different grains in them. I had the urge to pick them up just to run my hands over their surface and to bury my nose inside to smell them, but resisted.
Our very last studio visit was right opposite our B&B so we parked the car and walked across the footbridge over the creek in the middle of Inverness Way. Abbie Durkeee uses mixed media in her paintings. Her studio is also her house so you walk straight into her front room. Several of Abbie’s paintings are displayed on the walls of her sitting room and every one of them told a story. One told the story of her grandmother and displayed a photo of Abbie as a young girl, a loaf of bread, a jar of bread and butter pickles (what a coincidence) and lots of butterfly wings fixed to the bottom third. Abbie collected the wings when she was cycling on the Big Island in Hawaii. Monarch Butterflies migrate to Hawaii and a lot must perish. She said there were millions of wings lying around and in a car they would not have been seen but when you are are riding a bike you see much more. Abbie picked up a discarded Marlborough cigarette box and placed the wings inside. The box protected the wings form being damaged as she continued her ride. Butterfly wings represent family and community to Abbie. Just off the living room is Abbie’s workroom and there was a canvas she was working on and other projects in works. Everything looked highly organized. As we were leaving she us she has a completely different display each day.
Another view of Tamales Bay
Next door to Abbie at 2 Inverness Way we noticed a sign which said ‘Shaker Shops West’ so we went inside to have a look. There were many Shaker items and gadgets like kitchen utensils, coat hooks and children’s toys plus Shaker chairs, tables and a chest. The furniture is well designed, functional and appealing but also very expensive.
Back to the B&B for a spot of relaxation before heading back to Point Reyes Station for dinner. The fresh cookies were out in the sitting room and I picked up a couple as we walked past. They were delicious.
At 5.45 we turned up at Osteria Stellina only to be told our reservation was for 6.30. It was a very busy place with all the tables occupied and people waiting, so we went off to find some amusement before returning at the appointed time. For ten minutes we browsed the books in Point Reyes Books but it closed a 6. There was nothing else to do but to return to the car and listen to the radio for half an hour.
At 6.30 we tried again and only had to wait five minutes before our table was ready. It was not the best table in the house because people were constantly knocking the back of Tom’s chair when they walked past and every time the door opened I got a blast of cold air but these are the only negatives of the whole experience. The chef and owner is Christian Caiazzo. Originally he worked in high profile restaurants in New York and San Francisco but had to give up when he was in a bad car accident. After some painful rehabilitation he moved to Point Reyes Station where he first work at Cowgirl Creamery and then opened a coffee bar before opening Osteria Stellina.
To start with Tom had half a dozen sweetwater oysters. They were served in their half shells on a bed of ice with a cocktail sauce and a lemon flavored dipping sauce. I had roasted brussels sprouts and walnuts. Both were lip smackingly good. For Tom’s main course he had braised goat and I had Osso Buco with mashed potatoes and kohlrabi and broccoli rabe. Tom said the goat was very good. Mine was delicious. To finish Tom had the flourless chocolate desert and I had the cheese selection which consisted of three local cheeses – a soft goats cheese and two from the Cowgirl Creamery (Mt Tam and Red Hawk) served with a membrillo (quince preserve) and bread & butter. It was all washed down with a couple of carafes of house red. We both came to the same conclusion – it was the best dinner we’ve enjoyed for some time.
We were in the restaurant for nearly two hours but never realized it had been that long as we were having the time of our lives. The end of another perfect day.
January 13 2010 | Special Places | No Comments »
Another of that boat. There's something about Point Reyes that's magical.
Part 2 (Saturday Morning)
Tom was up very early. It was just after 5 and still dark but he was eager to get out and take some photos. I turned over and went back to sleep.
He returned, very cold, two hours later. I asked whether he had been able to take any photos in the dark. He had tried taking some long exposures shots of the stars but he didn’t think they were too successful When it started to get light he went down to the old wood boat marooned on the mudbank just a few minutes walk from our B&B. The tide was in and he hoped he had managed to get some good shots of the boat and its reflection in the water.
Coffee is available down in the sitting room from 7.30 but breakfast is not until 8.30. We went down for coffee – well Tom had coffee and I had tea – and we read the paper. There were already a few guests there and we chatted sporadically with them. One couple were from Mountain View, which is quite close to where we live. At breakfast we shared a table with Craig and Jenny who were from Campbell which is only a couple of miles from our home. Breakfast consisted of cereal, fruit, orange juice, yogurt and a cooked dish. It was very tasty.
After breakfast we went out for a short walk. We set out to find a trail but ended up walking up
A little windy but still a beautiful day.
Inverness Way and around a few blocks and then alongside the bay before making our way back to the B&B to change into our walking shoes. Then we set off in the car, driving north along Sir Francis Drake Blvd. It was only 10.30 so once again had time to kill. We parked on a gravel pull-in by Chicken Ranch Beach and took a walk along the beach. The tide was ebbing but it was still pretty high. Last time we came here we were able to walk north along the beach and under the numerous piers that have been built into Tomales Bay. Today we had to content ourselves by walking south. There were several fishermen along the edge of the water and though we didn’t see anybody catch anything, we noticed the tail of a fish sticking out of a bag. It looked like a tiger shark. Near three fishermen was a very wet black lab with a tennis ball in its mouth. He came up to me and dropped the ball at my feet. I asked if it was OK to throw the ball and one replied that it wasn’t their dog, it had just appeared. So I threw the ball a couple of times to please him. At one point he was stood on a slope and when he dropped the ball, it rolled into the water. When he looked down and saw the ball had gone he looked at me as much as to say, “well, how did you manage to throw the ball without me seeing you?” It didn’t take him long to find it again.
At 11 we returned to the car and set off for our first studio of the day. This was at the home of Philip Loring Greene and his wife. His speciality is Ilfochrome photography. Egrets and herons are his passion and he has some stunning photos of them. There were a couple of other people there and while his wife – who plays the harpsichord by the way – served us hot apple cider, Philip demonstrated how he developed his photos. It sounded very long and tedious and one has to admire his patience. It can take two weeks to produce one print.
The next studio we missed altogether, though not intentionally. It was difficult to find. I should have looked at the brochure more carefully because it said that access was through the Inverness Valley Inn.
We drove on to the next studio which belonged to Molly Prier. She makes functional ceramics and Pueblo style vessels. Molly’s studio is not very large and only half a dozen people could fit in at any one time. Her burnished bowls were very beautiful and felt smooth to the touch. She fires them by digging a trench and covering them with cow dung. When the fire dies down, the pit is covered with soil. It takes a long time to finish the pots. Though we were tempted to buy one, we didn’t succumb. Just down the road was the joint studio of Shari Miler, who makes creative jewelry – which we were not interested in – and Peter Sheremeta, who makes stoneware pottery and garden vessels. Outside were some of his garden pots. They were round and the bottom is shaped into three legs. The legs are open at the bottom to allow water to drain away – what a novel idea. Inside were the studios were his bowls. They were mostly round and in vibrant colors. Tom fell in love with one so he bought it. It is a Christmas present for his daughter. Peter demonstrated it’s perfect construction by tapping it and it gave the sound of a bell being struck. He showed us one which didn’t make that sound and he said it must have a crack in it but it didn’t now where it was.
A winding road through the woods to another studio.
The next studio on the list belonged to the wood sculptor, Bruce Mitchell but we missed the turning, so we carried on to the next one. We turned up Drakes View. It is a private road but as the sign definitely pointed that way, we carried on. The road climbed up and up and there were some really sharp horseshoe bends. We really thought we had taken the wrong road but then we saw a sign for the studio, so we knew we were headed in the right direction. On and up we climbed, passing some really nice houses. The Richard Blair and Kathleen Goodwin studio is right at the top of a hill and it was one that was badly damage by the 1995 Bolines Range fire. In fact Richard and Kathleen only had a cabin then and it burned down. Now they have built a lovely home which is also their studio. They are both photographers b ut Kathleen also does paintings and Richard produces books. I particularly liked some of Kathleen’s photos. One was of the raft moored offshore at Shell Beach and the other of a group of men in a bus shelter in Alysham.
We walked out of the studio, crossed the road and walked down a short track between some trees to look at the fabulous view down over Tomales Bay. It was a lovely sunny day but there was a chill in the air and the wind could be heard soughing through the trees. Tom pointed out how far the fire had travelled down the hill. You did distinctly see the break between the old and new growth of trees.
We returned to the car and drove down the hill again but turned on onto Upper Robert Drive where we visited the studio of Ed Stetson. This was the only place we stopped at where we were the only visitors. The studio was in the beautiful home of Ed and his wife with a commanding view of Tomales Bay. Ed is a photographer and uses a digital camera to shoot wildlife. He has captured some amazing shots – one of a Marsh Hawk carrying a vole in its talons; one of what he calls ’sand trees’ taken on Limator Beach and one of a pelican trying to get friendly with a wooden statue of a pelican. Tom and Ed had a long conversation about printing techniques, Photoshop and matting. It is interesting to pick up hints and tips from other photographers.
More to follow…..
January 09 2010 | Special Places | No Comments »
