Preserve Shollenberger Park

Shollenberger Park, Petaluma, California. As a birder, I try to visit this park any time I am in the area. On the way home from our Valentine's Day trip, we spent maybe just 15 minutes before the rain started upsetting my binoculars, and in that 15 minutes I scored. The red-winged blackbirds were already starting their territorial displays, each claiming their small section of marsh, sounding off their varieties of calls and songs to either warn, threaten, or entice. Blood-red patches flashed like traffic lights for all the lady blackbirds to marvel over while competing males timidly retreat. I could have stood for hours trying to figure out which birds had the best patch, but instead turned my head to the attention of the water. Shollenberger provides a combination of marsh, lake, and estuary, with a variety of waterfowl, shorebirds, seabirds, raptors, and passerines, and if I wanted to see and I.D. each one, it would have taken the rest of the day to get halfway around the lake. I was first stuck on the interesting looking hybrid hanging with a canvasback. Then there was the island full of shorebirds -- willits, avocets, and stilts. In just about five minutes I saw buffleheads, gadwall, teals, sandpipers, gulls, sparrows, crows, and about a dozen other species I didn't get to. The nightcap was finding graceful white swans swimming in the marsh.

You don't know what you're going to find at Shollenberger on a given day. My first visit was not for birding, but for viewing western pond turtles as they competed with red sliders for basking spots, and to dream up thesis ideas. The park is a true gem surrounded by industrial parks and hotels. And it is in trouble. Our wetlands and the habitats they provide are getting fewer and fewer in California's Bay-Delta region, and that is creating a direct impact on the sensitive species they support. Yet the development or expansion of an asphalt factory, especially if there are less than sufficient environmental study and mitigation measures, could spell disaster for this precious wetland. I'll let Friends of Shollenberger Park, and a number of other web sites, tell it better than I can, as it is something to at least ponder.

Petrified Forest

Continuing our Valentine's Day trip, between Calistoga and Santa Rosa, on the Calistoga Highway, we paid a visit to the Petrified Forest. It's another natural phenomenon owned by a private family, and another $10/per person cover charge. However, we got the rainy-day discount. The gift shop is also a museum, and provides the opportunity to purchase a variety of rocks, lava, crystal, and other geological gems. But most puzzling are the fossils. Fossils that seem to belong in a museum can be yours for a nice fatty price, so perhaps there is an abundance of them to go around (or perhaps they are replicas). Not that I doubt the integrity of our nation's roadside entrepreneurs.

Not to be deterred by a cold mountain rain, this time I made use of the umbrella, and my husband and I walked the self-guided trail through the petrified wood forest. Remember the large volcano that stood where Old Faithful is now? It blew its top. Millions of years ago (a speck in geologic time), lava, molten rock, and ash covered the area and deeply buried the redwood forest. The forest remained buried for millions of more years (another speck in geologic time). Fire and ash turned to torrential rains, and the saturated ground (dissolved ash), caused silica to seep down to the buried trees below. The silica molecules replaced all of the wood molecules, but maintained perfectly the shape, texture, and colors of the fallen tree. So what we're looking at is not a redwood tree any more. It's a stone replica. This colossal fossil of a redwood still extends out from the mine from which it was excavated.

This time I managed to stay dry, but please don't notice the shoes. I meant to grab my Merrills and wound up with one Merrill and one Nike. Two different shoes beats slipping and sliding in clogs, so that was that. And Chris couldn't help himself in the gift shop. I walked out with a Valentine's Day gift of a heart-shaped box of polished volcanic basalt that had entombed and fossilized an extinct gastropod.

Calistoga is foodie friendly

I love to cook and I love to eat well and try to eat healthy as well. All of these are easy to do in Calistoga.

After enjoying the mineral spring hot tub at our hotel, (the very relaxing and pleasant Calistoga Village Inn & Spa with 3 mineral pools), I took my wife out for a nice Valentine's dinner in Calistoga. We first drove up and down the length of the main street Lincoln Avenue to see what looked good. As we had no reservation booked, we decided to walk our way from the edge of town, and after not finding a table at the first two restaurants we stopped at, we found the charming Parisian style bistro All Seasons Bistro, where we had no trouble getting a nice table.

Their menu is full of wonderful fresh food, so we could have picked almost anything, but we decided to split these (my wife and I often split meals as we don't like to overeat):

Salad with Organic Mache, Roasted Beets, Shaved Marinated Fennel, Feta Cheese, Blood Orange Vinaigrette ($8) Everything was fresh and crisp and the beets and blood oranges were the perfect taste complements to the feta and mache.

a bowl of Rich Lobster Bisque with Drizzle of Truffle Oil ($8)
This was too die for, creamy and lobstery. Good with the french bread they served.

Port Glazed Duck Breast with Currant~Maitake Rice, Roasted Root Vegetables, Duck Demi-Glace ($21). We chose to have this medium rare, and it was cookbook perfect. I have cooked duck so I know how difficult this is . Randi did not like the fruit (quince?) that came with it, but I loved the perfurmy flavor it added (so I ate hers).

My wife had been sick so she opted not to have wine, but I guess when in Napa...
I first chose a Napa Riesling, but alas they were all out that day, so I went with a glass of Pinot Gris (nice!)

I suffer from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which seems to be brought on by my consuming sugar, so I tend to avoid desert, but we decided we had to try their Crispy meringues layered with fresh kiwi, lemon cream, raspberry sauce ($7). The meringues were light and crispy, the kiwi was sweet-tart and the lemon cream was pure heaven. All that with a nice cappuchino, a very nice finish. Unfortunately the sugar made me sleepy (a symptom of my syndrome). We around a bit to see if any live bands were playing but not much was happening this Saturday so we went back to enjoy the enormous full length Jacuzzi tub in our room.

The next day, we drove to a late breakfast (we had some trouble with the heater in our room which kept Randi from sleeping well, but we fixed the problem the next night). We stopped in a nice mexican place called Miguels, very authentic for some heuvos rancheros for her and a chilauiles. I had never had this but it was like scrambled eggs with tortilla chips cooked in it with salsa roja, Mexican cheese, sour cream and guacamole. To give it even more flavor and heft, it was accompanied by strips of marinated grilled steak and fried cubed potatoes. Yummy.
Randi and I would usually split breakfast as well, but I guess I was hungrier as we ate breakfast a bit later. So she had enough left over for breakfast the next day (V-day). I decided I had to get a few groceries on the way back (the very foodie oriented Cal Mart filled the bill nicely). I got some nice organic Napa Olive oil (very reasonable at $11 a liter) and slice pumpernickel bread and naturally some bottled Calistoga water, and a bunch of tart green grapes.

After poking around some of the cool (but pricey) clothing shops and the gallery which was located in 4 old railway cars, we went back to enjoy more soaking in the natural mineral bath at our spa. For dinner, we opted to walk into town, and went to the venerable Brannan's Grill, which was across the street from the All Seasons Bistro. The have a great bar (and we walked) so we enjoyed a lemon drop and a rastini (?). Loved the lemon drop! Together with a couple of Hog Island oysters on the half shell ($3 each) with Meyer lemon granita and micro cilantro, we were off to a good start. This place a nice dark wood atmosphere and very friendly, but sharp wait staff. We again split a spinach & beet salad which was accented with pistachios, goat's milk feta and lemon honey vinagrette. And we had the special, black cod with shitake mushrooms and black rice and roasted vegetables. Yummy. And topped it off with the fabulous molten chocolate cake (a can't miss if you love chocolate like we do!)

Calistoga's Old Faithful in the Rain

Calistoga, California. While it's a sweet Valentine's Day weekend getaway known for human indulgences such as soothing mineral baths and fine dining, it has a few natural wonders to ponder as well. The Calistoga Valley has a rich ancient history of geologic, seismic, and volcanic activity, and was surprisingly targeted as a gold-rush area for early settlers. Russian settlers tried to farm the land but were unsuccessful. One lucky family, however, managed to gain ownership of Calistoga's Old Faithful, the geyser that predictably erupts a fountain of boiling water at 40-minute intervals, and has for centuries attracted visitors from around the world. When historical precedence keeps a natural wonder a private enterprise, the entrance fee is steep ($10/person), but if you don't mind parting with a ten or two, it's worth the visit. After all, Olga Kolbek's successors are preserving this natural wonder and surrounding vegetation and teaching the public about its rich history. One thing I learned is that Olga made a discovery that Old Faithful can predict earthquakes. The connection is based on increased intervals between the geyser's eruptions, occurring just days before a major quake in the surrounding area. Scientists hadn't completely rejected the hypothesis, but it still needed a lot of study before it could be supported as reliable. I don't know where the idea stands today, but regardless of whether or not the geyser can predict earthquakes, its spectacular burps can be predicted by us. In the winter, it erupts every five to ten minutes. Saturated ground water fills its bladder so that it shoots out the volcanically heated water in shorter, less dramatic increments. As the water hits the cold air and rain, it cools into droplets riding a gentle, foggy steam that drifts with the wind. No one needs to worry about getting scalded if standing too close. But in a steady, cold, Calistoga winter rain, it might help if you take one of the complimentary umbrellas with you. Farming still occurs here, and the sheep knew better than I on how to stay dry. (Photos by Chris and Randi Logsdon.)

Welcome to my Travel Blog

I am starting this blog to share my travel experiences. My hopes are not only to interest and entertain my readers but to inspire them to go out and see and experience the wonderful world around them. You don't have to go far. You don't have to spend a lot of money. You just need to open your eyes, ears, and mind to discover what treasures exist in your own backyard, on a day or weekend trip, in your own state or country, or halfway across the world. It doesn't matter where you go; what matters are the natural wonders, history, food, music, scenery, culture, people, animals, attractions, entertainment, relaxation, and all the other wonders you may encounter when you step outside. You will find a lot of different kinds of postings related to travel, and I will add others to blog about their experiences as well. You will read about what interests me, so let me know via comments what interests you. I hope people enjoy this blog (comments of course welcome), and I hope you take the time to experience some of these places yourself. And if you can bring a child, your child or any child into the outdoor world, please do. Computers, TVs, and video games are just no substitute for the amazing world around you. (Though I must admit I am somewhat inspired by TV hosts like Huell Howser and Rick Steves...). Thanks for reading, and happy travels!