Parks: The Beauty and Bounty of Nature

Tree in Henry W. Coe State Park, copyright Cynthia Leeder

If you didn't already know, PBS is running Ken Burns' documentary on the National Parks system in the USA this week, titled The National Parks: America's Best Idea. You can see video clips from the documentary right here.

Wildflowers along the road, Henry W. Coe State Park, copyright Cynthia Leeder

Fellow-blogger FoTPC, who often writes a particularly good post or the other over at our sisterblog, ThePoliticalCat, has managed to persuade her good friend, photographer Cynthia Leeder, to contribute two beautiful photographs of one of her favourite parks, Henry W. Coe State Park, for our use. Please note that these photographs are copyrighted, and the copyright is owned by Ms. Leeder. Please respect her copyright and do not reuse these photographs without Ms. Leeder's express permission. Thank you.

We at this blog have plans to hike Henry Coe as soon as our knees are up to it. For those of you who don't already know, both ThePoliticalCat and Ms. Manitoba, your hosts at this blog, have recently had a knee replacement. We're assured that we can soon hike longer distances and rougher terrain. Both of which constitute some of Henry Coe's finer features.

If you haven't visited Henry W. Coe State Park, we encourage you to get off your duffs and go there! California Governor is trying to shut down much of the state's beautiful park system. What a shame! California has an abundance of State and Federal parks, and for those of us not wealthy enough to own sufficient land to showcase the beauties of nature, the park system, State and Federal, is one of the few places where one may go and enjoy nature in all her beauty. A good hike is a fine way to get much-needed exercise, and the view is hella better than the one from your treadmill if you're not one of those who is rich enough to own a home that has access to this beauty.

Many thanks to the lovely Ms. Leeder for sharing her photographs with us. As representatives of the hoi polloi, may we just say that these incredibly beautiful photographes give us a much-needed frisson of delight, a break from contemplating the daily pain-in-the-ass that politics and the news inflict on us.

Santa Cruz: Back from our annual trip

Ms. Manitoba loves Santa Cruz. I take my daughters there every year before school starts and we have a wonderful time. We go with a long-time friend who is an auntie to my daughters.

This year we wondered if we should go -- there's a forest fire north of Santa Cruz and two of us have asthma. But we decided to head there and leave if it was smokey.

Our tradition is to ride the Haunted Castle first.

It's old timey and not scary to me ... but is for my 12-year old.

My favorite rides: Crazy Surf (I once rode this 7 times in a row), Pirate Ship, bumper cars, Sea Swings (new this year), Logger's Revenge, Ferris Wheel, and the sky ride that takes you from one end of the boardwalk to the other (don't know the name).

I felt like you could see the economy affecting this tourist spot ... the beach didn't have as many people as there were in the past.




I can't ride the Cyclone ... but the others love it.



And a caramel apple is a favorite.



I love the Boardwalk. Love the classic rock they play. Love the arcades -- I get to play pinball which I love! And Skee-ball.


We had two fun-filled days. Then on Friday morning (8/21/09) it got very smokey. We checked out of our motel and left right away. It's supposed to be 90% contained now. It really depends on which way the wind is blowing. Like so many things ...