Author: amyewhitelivecom

Our adventure started at 7 am boarding Island Packers ferry in Ventura on our way to Santa Cruz Island, which is the largest of the 8 Channel Islands. Fortunately we were in good company with the Conrath family.

We arrived at a cool and foggy Santa Cruz Island at 8:15 am. We had a full day planned with tickets for the 4:30 pm ferry home.

Some of the gang ready to go!

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First up, a hike up the Cavern Point Loop to Potato Harbor. Walking in the clouds.

I captured this flower along the trail. It was quite dewey!

A look down to where we started. The ferry at Scorpion Harbor.

Moving along….

Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the spectacular views. On the bright side, it was cool weather for hiking.

We had never seen these beautiful blue winged ravens before. Upon closer look, we realized they were tagged. I overheard one of the campers saying that Raven #14 was quite an a-hole in the campground.

The fog is starting to burn off. It was nice that once we got to the top we had the place all to ourselves and only saw a few other people.

The Amy’s.

On our way back down.

The Channel Island Fox was the main reason for the trip. Hayden has recently taken a keen interest in foxes and this fox can only be found on the Channel Islands. This trip was to celebrate H’s 13th birthday in early June.

The foxes and the ravens on the island are known for their cleverness in getting into backpacks and coolers in search of food. There are “Fox Boxes” where we stored our food.

There were two foxes playing (or fighting) and this one ran off and started screaming.

We had some lunch and rest time and got all our stuff back in the Fox Box. Then it was on to kayaking. There are alot of caves along the coast of Santa Cruz and we were told that we had perfect conditions for kayaking. I didn’t get many pictures but here’s Quinn and I going through one of the caves.

Don exiting a cave.

Amy C. got this picture, with Quinn and I on the right. You can see the kelp forrest below the very clear water.

One of the highlights of the day was seeing a Bald Eagle. Our kayaking guide noticed that hundreds of seagulls were flying and squawking very loudly which suggested a Bald Eagle was nearby. Sure enough a Bald Eagle came swooping in and plucked a baby seagull out of a nest. It was a pretty incredible sight.

After kayaking we had to make a quick change back to dry clothes, gathered our stuff, and busted a move for the 4:30 pm ferry. We were all pretty bushed after a long, full day of adventure.

One last sight on our way home. What a day!

Now that our family and most of our friends have been vaccinated, we can get together unmasked and have fun! Of course my friend Amy was the first to kick it off with a belated birthday party at her house.

I offered to bring a charcuterie board. Trader Joe’s is the place to go to get everything you need for a charcuterie board — there are even a bunch of websites that will show you how to put it together. I use a huge teak platter that I got from my mother.

These aren’t the best of images because it was dark but it was so good to see and hug our friends. It was a pretty great evening!

Quinn and I spent 5 days in Mendocino last week. It’s about an 8-9 hour drive from our house. Once you get off the main highway and start making your way to the coast you pass through this majestic redwood forest. I have to stop, take a picture, and smell the forest-y smells.

Quinn slept a good 4 hours on the way there.

We were staying in the cute little village of Mendocino. We were meeting Quinn’s friend Elias and his family and booked a place within walking distance of their rental.

I got Quinn settled in the room and went for a walk.

We were within easy walking distance of the Mendocino Headlands which is a path on the cliffs above the ocean.

This guy was pretty loud!

On Tuesday we went to the Botanical Gardens . These two teens don’t love their photos taken.

There were miles of paths within the gardens and it was so very lovely.

There was a beautiful dahlia garden. My father grew lots of dahlias in his garden so I have a special affinity towards dahlias.

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The path leads to the ocean. It might have been a little windy, but quite beautiful!

Later that day, Davi and I went down to Big River which is a spot where the river meets the ocean.

Davi getting the shot upriver.

The beach at Big River as the sun was going down.

This is the view from our friends rental house with a rising moon.

We only had one sunset during our trip. The clouds or fog rolled in the other evening. So it was nice to catch this sunset.

On Wednesday we visited Mackerricher Park. There is a boardwalk along the ocean and some really vibrant tide pools.

We saw lots of crabs, hermit crabs, snails, and this starfish.

This guy was having a load of fun!

Steve taking a picture of the boys. What a beautiful spot!

That evening I went to catch the sunset but the clouds had rolled in. Still just breathtaking.

We stayed in the “Barn Room” of an old hotel. It was a great sized room. But this door really bothered Quinn and it kept him awake at night. He wasn’t sure where this door led and who might come through it.

Another view of the room from the bed. The big barn doors in the left are the entrance to the room.

On Thursday, Quinn and I walked along the Fern Canyon Trail and it was so green and lush. It was a nice flat trail that ran along a little river. Southern California is so dry, hot and brown right now so this was so inviting for us. We loved this trail.

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Thursday afternoon we met up with Elias and family at Jughandle Beach. These boys are two peas in a pod.

Hanging out with Steve on the beach.

Steve brought a football to throw around with the boys. But of course they couldn’t throw it around in a normal way. They used a bucket and a shovel.

And that’s a wrap! We enjoyed spending the week with our friends in such a low-key place where the temperature was cool and the skies were cloudy. Quinn told me that he really liked Mendocino.