{"id":906,"date":"2004-11-08T15:32:40","date_gmt":"2004-11-08T20:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/?p=906"},"modified":"2004-11-08T15:32:40","modified_gmt":"2004-11-08T20:32:40","slug":"happy-birthday-to-me-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/2004\/11\/08\/happy-birthday-to-me-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday to Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s the 43rd anniversary of my arrival on this planet. I wish I had one
\nof those Pulled From the Head of A God stories of my birth, but I suspect it
\nwas mostly normal. Or at least as normal as anything involving me could be.\n<\/p>\n

I liked 42 better because it was Douglas Adams’ answer to the ultimate question
\nof Life, the Universe and Everything, but this one will do. People ache and
\nwhine and moan over their accumulating years but as far as I’m concerned, I’d
\nrather be accumulating them above ground.<\/p>\n

So I’ve been taking a little mini-vacation — call a six-day weekend — and
\nas has been my habit of late I’ve been wandering the countryside with my handy
\ndigicam to document the visual highlights. It’ll have to do till they perfect
\nthe transmissions of smells and sensations over the Internet. Today’s pix are
\nin three parts: Day 1 was at Coyote Hills Park and Don Edwards National Wildlife
\nRefuge; Day 2 was at Grant County Park; Day 3 was a day trip Melissa and I took
\nto Mendocino, a nifty little coastal burg about 200 miles north of us. <\/p>\n

Day One: Coyote Hills and Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Coyote Hills Park is in the background from this spot at the wildlife refuge.
\nThe hills are just high enough to provide a mild workout and offer great views
\nof the surrounding countryside. The southern end of the San Francisco Bay forms
\nthe park’s western boundary.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lots of cool rocks in the Coyote Hills. Didn’t see any coyotes, but I’m sure
\nthey’re sneaking around somewhere. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Weather was cold, windy and all-around nasty, but that’s a good motivator to
\nkeep moving down the trail. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From the top of the hills, the marshes beckon. And besides, the wind’s not
\nso biting down there. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Though the arrival of winter rains has greened up the hills a bit, brown is
\nthe operative color. Any dab of brighter color on the landscape is an excuse
\nto take a picture. These seem to be wild berries that ripen at this time of
\nyear<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A boardwalk goes right out into the middle of the marsh. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The prettiest pictures need no caption. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ducks must be the hardiest of waterfowl. Seems like every body of water bigger
\nthan a mud puddle has a few. <\/p>\n

Those are the highlights of the Coyote Hills. After a few hours there I hopped
\nin the car and drove over to Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, which is
\njust down the road a couple miles. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There weren’t many birds around … my hunch is that many of them have migrated
\nby now. This wading bird was kind enough to stick around and have its picture
\ntaken. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

More trees doing wacky stuff. You think all a tree has to do is lean toward
\nthe light and produce leaves, but around here they seem to have so much more
\npersonality. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This tree looks like it was sent in from the plains of Africa. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first explorers who came to the San Francisco Bay reported seeing millions
\nof birds that would set off a roar when they took off in flight. As more people
\narrived, the birds began to disappear. I saw a few hundred, max. Just one more
\nexample of humans not being worthy of such a swell planet. <\/p>\n

Day 2: Grant Count Park<\/b><\/p>\n

Grant County Park has something like 50 miles of trails, with lots of hills,
\ntrees and wildlife. I was lucky lucky to have sunny, breezy weather (this time
\nof the year it rains about every other day) and mostly dry trails. The park
\nhas flatlands, steep hillsides, shady groves of trees — just about everything
\nbut people, if you go on a weekday as I did. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I was hiking up to a place called Scenic Overlook, which faces out over Silicon
\nValley. High winds and storms from a few weeks back must’ve knocked this tree
\ndown. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

"Hey, look, it’s George W. Bush’s heart." I know, I need to get over
\nthe election. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Walking up hills framed by cloud-dotted skies helps. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s the top of the trail. Nice of them to leave that picnic table. I had
\nme some lunch and headed back down the hill. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These fence slats with their coating of moss are rather quaint. I don’t think
\nthat fence could hold back a strong breeze after all these years, though. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

OK, Cool Dead Tree No. 9349. Turns out there was something even cooler about
\nthis one. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

See, it’s full of all these holes, each of which has an acorn tightly wedged
\ninto it. At first I wondered if squirrels were the culprits, but I found out
\nlater that this is the work of "acorn woodpeckers," which carve these
\nholes in dead trees and fill them with acorns. A whole flock of woodpeckers
\nwill use this tree to store months worth of seeds to last all winter. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I walked about 11 or 12 miles at the park. Didn’t see any wildlife, though
\nI’m almost positive I heard the snorting of wild pigs that live on the grounds.
\nI hear these pigs can grow big, ugly tusks. I’m not into finding out for sure,
\nthough. It’s just too humiliating to be chased across a park by a pig. <\/p>\n

Day 3: Mendocino (and Fort Bragg)<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So Mendocino just sits there along the coast and all these tourists coming
\nover from Wine Country tours stop by and pay absurd prices for stuff. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The town has cute Victorian homes, lovely shops and these great big old water
\ntowers that date to the time when people here had to work for a living doing
\nstuff like fishing and cutting trees. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We found this little burger joint tucked in behind a bunch of shops. This old
\nguy grills the burgers and does crosswords while the food’s cooking. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Melissa brings lunch: Two quarter-pound cheeseburgers, two orders of fries,
\ntwo Cokes — $24.50. Nothing like Disneyland prices to get you in the mood for
\ngawking. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Model sailboats in a shop window. It’d be a shame to part with such a prize,
\nwhich might explain the markup. (I didn’t see the price tag on it, but the eight-dollar
\ncheeseburgers told me not to expect bargains at the shops down the street).\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Santa Season! <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One shop sells humorous paintings by a local artist. This one is titled "Heaven."\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Melissa scans the wares at the local yarn shop. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A newspaper from 1928, when another Republican won the presidency. Can’t help
\nhoping history doesn’t repeat itself. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While we were in the area, we drove up the road to Fort Bragg and stopped in
\nfor a beer at the North Coast Brewing Company, which is billed as one of the
\nworld’s best brewpubs. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Oatmeal stout, a couple kinds of ale and a pilsner. You tell from the foam
\nthat this is the good stuff. I haven’t sampled all the world’s brews, mind you,
\nbut this is some kick-ass beer, definitely among the best I’ve ever had. (Most
\nbrewpubs would be better off serving Budweiser but this place had beer crafted
\nby a true brewmaster. Sure, it’s a 220 mile drive, but it’s worth it.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Large stuffed Elk on wall not approved by the Sierra Club, I assume.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We found some cliffs to watch the sunset. I love the way pointing a digicam
\nat the sun at this time of night creates the impression of an atomic blast going
\noff. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Melissa was definitely coveting that house on the coastline. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And that’s the last of it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s the 43rd anniversary of my arrival on this planet. I wish I had one of those Pulled From the Head of A God stories of my birth, but I suspect it was mostly normal. Or at least as normal…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}