Coffee

Carmel Valley Coffee - Monterey County  2025

I insisted that everyone visit my favorite coffee spot in Monterey: Carmel Valley Coffee in The Barnyard just off highway 1 near Carmel. Coffee and pastries: as I recall, I think that everyone liked it!

Happy Girl Kitchen / Boats

Happy Girl Kitchen - Monterey County  2025

Boats - Monterey County  2025

Some Monterey iPhone sightems.

Downtown Monterey

Bliss Boutique - Monterey County  2025

Eyes - Monterey County  2025

Walking around before having dinner at a brewpub. The kids thought that his eyes were particularly creepy.

Monterey Peninsula College / Fort Ord Clouds

Branches, Lichen (Monterey Peninsula College) - Monterey County  2025

Clouds (Fort Ord) - Monterey County  2025

Hali and I went for an extensive morning walk through the Monterey Peninsula College campus. Very pretty! 

We stopped at my regular Fort Ord hiking spot for a quick out and back walk, puffy clouds decorating the sky.

Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay, Clouds - Monterey County  2025

Monterey Bay, Clouds - Monterey County  2025

I have a number of photos of Monterey Bay on the blog, but all taken from land. Now I have some photos taken on the bay itself!

Monday Whale Blogging

Whale - Monterey County  2025

Whale Spout - Monterey County  2025

From last April. We had a mini-vacation with our family in Monterey; our main tourist activity was a whale-watching excursion out of Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf. Not that many whales, but there were enough for me to grab a few shots (more of them were due to arrive in June.)

Also: seals! Apparently whales and seals can frequently be found together (same food sources).

I used an Olympus E-M1II with a 14-150mm zoom lens.

Seals - Monterey County  2025

Branches, Clouds (March)

Branches, Clouds - Marin County  2025

Branches, Clouds - Marin County  2025

iPhone photos taken during our hourly Fitbit walks.

Morning Walk Black and White

Stairway (Fairfax) - Marin County  2025

White Fence (Fairfax) - Marin County  2025

Saturday morning sightems taken with a Sony RX100.

January - Lake Lagunitas

Frost on Grass (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Mist, Trees (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Very cold! Nikon Z7II photos.

Rain, Lake Lagunitas - 3

Rain (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Rain, Trail (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Two iPhone photos (iPhone 12 Pro Max). The Olympus was hanging from a strap around my neck and tucked under my parka. The iPhone was carried in the parka's left hand pocket, so it was more readily available than the actual Olympus camera.

Rain, Lake Lagunitas - 2

Rain, Ripples (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Rain, Branches (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Two photos taken with an Olympus E-M1II fitted with a small 25mm lens (rubber lens hood extended for rain protection.)

Rain, Lake Lagunitas - 1

Cattails, Rain (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Lake, Rain (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

There were two Sundays in February when it rained up at the lake, although one of the days the rain was pretty light (top photo). Most of the month's rain pix were taken on  February 2nd.

Monday Coyote and Turkeys Blogging

Coyote, Turkeys (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2025

Studiously ignoring each other. An iPhone photo taken through the car window.

Gualala View

Surf from Gualala - Mendocino County  2025

We drove the short distance from our place in Sea Ranch to the small community of Gualala. (Grocery shopping.) Driving back I stopped at a viewpoint for this photo.

I've just realized that Gualala is located in Mendocino County! Also, maybe the G in Gualala is not pronounced. 

Surf (Sea Ranch)

Surf - Sonoma County  2025

Surf from Above - Sonoma County  2025

Bottom photo taken south of Sea Ranch from a Highway 1 overlook.

Sightems (Sea Ranch)

Fences (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Fence, White Barn (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Taken on one of our walks. I used an Olympus E-M1II with a 14-150mm zoom lens.

Waves - 2 (Sea Ranch)

Waves - Sonoma County  2025

Dog Walker, Waves - Sonoma County  2025

Small craft advisories were in effect while we were staying at Sea Ranch. Churned up ocean was very picturesque.

Waves - 1 (Sea Ranch)

Waves (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Waves, Rocks (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

The sea grew increasingly agitated during our visit. Mesmerizing. 

Food Items (Sea Ranch)

Japanese Drip Coffee Setup (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Japanese Drip Coffee Packet from Hakodate (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Our mini-vacation gave me an opportunity to use some coffee packets we brought back from Japan. Setup is a little intricate: the top margin has to be torn off very carefully, otherwise ground coffee will spill all over.

Then for dinner: pan-fried steak! Somewhat difficult for Hali to manage as the burners weren't quite level. But really quite good.

Steaks (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Monday Deer Blogging (Sea Ranch)

Deer, Ocean (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

There were a number of these pleasant animals wandering around.

Fence, Cypress (Sea Ranch)

Fence, Cypresses (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Taken using an Olympus E-M1II and a 14-150mm zoom lens.

Contrail

Airplane, Contrail - Marin County  2025

"And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, pledged the agency’s support last month for a fight involving so-called chemtrails, a debunked theory that the white condensation lines streaming behind airplanes are toxic, or could even be used for nefarious purposes."

Source: New York Times: Trump’s Return to Power Elevates Ever Fringier Conspiracy Theories

Morning Walk (Sea Ranch)

Road (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

The terrain was slightly more open than I had expected, at least where we were staying. One nice feature was easy access to ocean views. 

Irises (Sea Ranch)

Iris (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Irises, Surf (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

We saw the first irises of the season at Sea Ranch. Recently they've made a substantial appearance up at Lake Lagunitas in Marin.

Ferns (Sea Ranch)

Ferns, Fence (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Ferns (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Greens were too intense . . . looks better in black and white.

Porch (Sea Ranch)

Hali, Porch (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

Porch Chair Rain (Sea Ranch) - Sonoma County  2025

When we arrived the weather was nice and sunny. But that was short-lived. Then, rain on and off, but nothing torrential.

Monday Elephant Seal Blogging

Elephant Seal, Gulls - Point Reyes  2025

Elephant Seal, Gulls - Point Reyes  2025

"Since winter 2018–2019, male elephant seals have returned to Drakes Beach adjacent to the Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center in early December and pregnant females have returned to the beach in late January to give birth to their pups. As a result, to better protect the elephant seals, the park has closed access to Drakes Beach, and, at times, the entire Drakes Beach area, to the public for varying lengths of time. Please be aware that closures may be implemented at any time of the year if elephant seals return in large numbers. These closures were necessary to protect human and seal safety."

We visited Drakes Beach in January with Hanna and Nolan to check out the animals. Wow! They were right there!

Elephant Seal, Gulls - Point Reyes  2025