PRETTY HOUSE

After I got back to downtown Napa I hooked up with the boys at the Oxbow Market. Then we took a walk to the centre and had coffee at a sweet little cafe. We saw a cable car-like bus driving around so we decided to to take a ride. It was a free shuttle that looped around the downtown and the near neighborhoods. We saw some beautiful mansions before we arrived back at the COPIA parking lot.

EVAN

MEMORIES OF DAISY

NAPA CITY LIMIT

Today we took a ride to Napa. Evan and Rich wanted to visit COPIA but I had other things in mind. We parked the car in the COPIA parking lot and I hauled out my bike. I rode down along the river until I reached Napa Valley College and Kennedy Park. I rode around there for a while. As I checked out the photovoltaic farm (1 megawatt) a rabbit hopped out from somewhere and checked me out before hopping along on his merry way.
I went back to the main road and noticed a sign for the River-to-Ridge Trail. It looked a little funky, a narrow path between two chain-linked fences, but I decided to try it out. I started riding along the trail but it was so muddy and rocky I gave up and started to hike. The trail opened out to beautiful foothill countryside. It went up a thousand feet over a mile and a half. At one point I came across a brown speckled bird's egg with the yoke spilling out. I wondered if I had just interrupted some animal's lunch - perhaps a raccoon or a fox.
The trail ended behind Napa State Hospital. There was another trail that took me to Skyline Park. I consulted with a lady on horseback about the best way to get back to the main road.

RIDE TO SEBASTOPOL

I got on the road a little earlier today because of the threat of rain. On the way down the hill a couple of quail rain across the road in front of me. I parked at the same place on Sonoma Avenue but instead of going up the Parkway I headed west on Third Street then continued west when it turned into Hall. Today I was able to find my way to the main road that leads into Sebastopol. I got there about 1:30 in the afternoon and rode around a little looking for a Peets. To no avail. I did wave to a small group of war protesters including a little granny with a sign that said "We need a department of peace". On the opposite corner was a larger group of war supporters with American flags waving.

In Sebastopol I found the bicycle trail to come back to Santa Rosa. As I was riding along it started to rain. A rabbit (or perhaps a hare) hopped out in front of me and carried on his way. Further down the trail a heron rose up and flew beside me for a few feet.
When I got back into Santa Rosa I cycled along part of the Prince Greenway. I saw an egret hanging out waiting for his dinner to swim by in Santa Rosa Creek. My wildlife day was capped by a sighting of a falcon or a hawk (hard to tell in the drizzle) on the power lines along Petaluma Hill Road.

SONOMA COUNTY RIDE

I parked the car close to the Empire Cleaners and hauled the bike out of the back. I headed down the Prince Memorial Parkway that runs along the Santa Rosa Creek. After about 5 miles the cycleway stops and there is nowhere else to go except on surface streets. I asked this old guy with a dog where the street led to. He told me to go a little way then turn right, then turn right again and I would soon be cruising into Sebastopol. It wasn't like that at all. I followed his directions but I only ended up riding through rolling farmlands. Eventually I got tired of not arriving anywhere (the leitmotif for my life) so I headed back the way I had come, but instead of getting back on the Creekside route I continued on West 3rd Street. I stopped briefly at the Imwalle Garden farmstand to buy some things for dinner. The lady there told me I was only about a mile and a half from downtown Santa Rosa. She told me how to get to Sebastopol which I think I will try to do tomorrow.

THINGS SPARKY KILLED TODAY

PACIFIC TREE FROG

PACIFIC TREE FROG

MEMOIRS OF A PACIFIC TREE FROG

While we are sitting here waiting for THE WELL GUY Sparky caught himself a snake. I tried to discourage him from further molestation but he was not to be dissuaded. By the time I had my camera ready to photogragh the blighter Sparky had already chewed its head off. I wonder what kind of snake it was?

SANTA ROSA

Easter break in Santa Rosa: Always a crisis. The pump is not working so we have not had a shower. We have been up to the Quinta to check things out but we can't figure out what is going on. Evan has finally conceded defeat and called the well people. We are waiting for them to arrive.

RITE OF SPRING