Mendocino

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A weekend away after a bunch of home moving activities seemed like a great idea. We had an invitation away for the Thanksgiving weekend which we would have liked to have taken but the travel involved meant it was not going to be a practical proposition. Instead, we decided to drive a couple of hours north to Mendocino and have a short break there as compensation for the missed trip to friends.

This turned out to be a great idea. We chose a weekend when the weather was gorgeous and the number of people was limited. What a combination! While we were staying in Albion, a little way south of Mendocino itself, we decided to head there on the day we arrived and take a look around. It is a cracking little town. It is a combination destination with people who are getting away from the hustle of life being there as well as city folks doing the same thing if only for a day or two.

There are lots of little shops to deal with the tourists and the place is very picturesque. It is planted right on the coast and you can walk out onto the headland to see the waves crashing in while looking back at the town on the cliffs behind you. Seeing as it was later in the day and the sun was low given the time of year, it all looked even better!

One feature of the town I particularly liked was the use of water towers. You could see the evolution of the towers around the town. Some of them were as designed with a timber framework holding up the water barrel. Others had decided to enclose the tower structure to provide some additional room space under the barrel. Then there were those that had gone the whole hog and got rid of the barrel and converted the tower into part of the home. The distinctive shape was still there which is what gives it all away.

Other little details of the place appealed. The weathervane on the fire house was rather cool. If you like chocolate, you would have several places to visit to sample their wares – something that made Nancy a lot happier than me! All in all, a great place to wander around and relax in.

Cormorants

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There have been a few cormorant posts of late on the blog so, if those were not your thing, look away now. Santa Cruz may have had a large colony of pelicans as described here but it also was not short of cormorants. They were busy zipping back and forth along the coast, sadly not often coming too close to our location but we did get an occasional look.

More fascinating was watching them land on the rocks. The pelicans seemed to be clearly in charge of things but the cormorants did have some spots they were taking up. However, good landing areas seemed in short supply for them. Instead, they took a rather more direct approach. They would fly right at the rock face and flare into what seemed like an impact with the rock. In doing so, they would grab on to something and then clamber up the rocks to their colleagues.

It all looked rather like hard work but, if you are lowing on the pecking order (and with a bill the size of a pelican’s, who wouldn’t be) I guess you have to be innovative.

Flying in the Champ

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While I was with Eric, he suggested we do a little flying in his Champ. I haven’t flown a Champ before and Eric let me get some stick time. Most of the aircraft I have flown over the years have been pretty benign in yaw with not a lot of need to use my feet. The Champ is a different story. Plenty of rudder is required to fly it properly and I did nothing of the sort. A few turns later and I was starting to get a bit tidier but I certainly need a lot of practice to get comfortable with the aircraft.

Eric also flew some more dynamic maneuvers while I was shooting. I also grabbed some video clips. They aren’t a complete story but just a few clips so go the video below gives you a quick glimpse of what we did. Thanks Eric for a lot of fun and for reminding my stomach how long it is since I have flown anything resembling a dynamic maneuver!

Pleasanton

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Just a quick shot of our new location. We don’t actually live in Pleasanton but in Dublin. They are right next to each other and you would be hard pressed to notice the dividing line if it wasn’t an interstate and BART line. However, downtown Pleasanton is – well, how better to say it – pleasant. We stopped in town for a look at the farmers’ market and had lunch sitting outside a café. A nice way to spend time in October when you have lived somewhere that is a touch chilly by this time of year!

Pelicans

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The California coast provides a lot of different options for places to go to and things to see. We decided to take a day trip along the coast south of the Bay Area and started out in Santa Cruz. A little previous research had suggested some possible places of interest. Unfortunately, the weather that had been forecast was a little optimistic. However, even on a cloudy day, the ocean is a great place to be.

We arrived at one state beach and found an overlook that gave a view of the beach and a couple of rocky outcrops that were absolutely covered in pelicans. Not only were they on the rocks but there were plenty of them soaring about the area as well. Given how many were in the air, I suspect there wouldn’t have been enough space on the rocks for them all it once!

They would soar about in formation heading up and down the coast with our position being right under some of the flightpaths. At a distance, gliding pelicans look great. When they are just over your head, you become acutely aware of just how large they are and how, if they want to come where you are, you would be wise to move aside.

The formations flying around were fun to watch but almost as much fun was watching them landing on the rocks. With a spot identified, a lot of wing activity was required to bring them to a halt where they wanted. I could have stayed there for hours watching the fun.

P-40 Tomahawk

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Arriving in a new part of the world means a lot of new aeronautical experiences are waiting to be had. Those who have lived here a while know where the good things are to be seen but I don’t. Therefore, it is best to take advantage of the knowledge that is already there. Fortunately, I already know a few people out this way but also, courtesy of friends back in the Midwest, I have been introduced to some new people who are very familiar with the local aviation scene.

My friend Paul was in the area for work and we wanted to take a trip out. I dropped a line to Roger, one person that I had been put in contact with, to see what he could suggest. He said Sonoma would be the place to go. There are two airfields very close to each other and we shall hear more of one of them another day. On this day, we spent our time at Sonoma Valley or, as it seems to be more familiarly known, Schellville. They hold an open day once a month and this was one of those days.

We arrived and things looked pretty quiet but it was early in the day. We weren’t sure whether we had come to the right spot at first so made a quick recce down the street. Finding nothing (at least nothing that made us feel like we were in the right place!), we came back to where we had started and there on the ramp where, only a few minutes previously, nothing had been now sat a P-40 Tomahawk. This came as quite a surprise.

As we were looking over the fence at it, out comes a P-51 Mustang and parks next to it. Towing them around was a guy called Chris who willingly told us about the day, what he was planning to fly and a good spot for us to go and put our stuff which would provide a good view of proceedings and some shade and seating! Result. We had a wander around before getting ourselves in position for the planned flight of the P-40.

A guy from Silicon Valley was having the flight as a birthday treat. We watched them taxi out and depart before running in across the field. Then they headed off to fly around the local area. Not a bad start to the day!

Painswick

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Another famous Cotswold village about which I knew nothing is Painswick. I am beginning to think that I am clueless about my own country! Even so, I managed to get us there (even if a little GPS assistance was involved).

Painswick is another of those old towns that boomed in a time before industrialization when the local production and access to a river meant it was well suited to commerce. Apparently the town flourished in more than one area if the local signs are anything to go by but if you want to know the details, Google will be more helpful to you than I. The town has an interesting selection of old buildings a winding streets but the area that was of most interest to me was around the church.

As befits a community that had a lot of cash, they had a big church. The idea of buying your way into heaven has obviously been around a long time! While the church is impressive, what really catches the eye is the topiary collection in the churchyard. There are many yew trees that have been trimmed and shaped together over a long period of time. The result is many shapes and archways across the paths all formed from the trees. The town may not be the booming center it once was but it still knows how to take care of itself and these displays really impress.

The rest of the town is worth a wander around too and that is what we did for a couple of hours. If you are in the area, pay it a visit. Then you will know as much about it as me!

Foggy Golden Gate Bridge

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Moving means you don’t always have a lot of time for having fun. However, when your move includes a time when you are in limbo between two places and staying in temporary accommodation, you actually have more time than you think. Sitting around in a hotel room can get old pretty quickly so scheduling some exploration makes a lot more sense. One place that a colleague had mentioned was out on the Marin headlands. There are a number of areas out there that caught my interest including one that wasn’t open on this day so will be the subject of a return trip and a future blog post I hope.

We had plenty to look forward to and the forecast was promising so off we headed. Of course, we hadn’t counted on the fickle Bay Area weather. Leaving the East Bay in glorious sunshine, we got to the Bay Bridge and drove into a wall of fog. I had chosen this route as I had yet to travel over the new bridge having seen it under construction for a number of years. This time I did get to drive over it but I didn’t get to see it! Oh well, on through the city of San Francisco towards the Golden Gate Bridge and straight back into the fog.

Again we drove over a bridge we couldn’t see. Then we turned out onto the Marin headlands. The drive up the coast took us out of the fog and into glorious sunshine. Looking back at the city and the bridge, it was a different story. Below us was a thick bank of fog. It also lay over some of the parts we intended to explore. As it happened, we explored some parts and saved others for another day. The fog didn’t thin while we were there. If anything, it got worse while we were there. Now we have a reason to go back – if we can forecast the weather better than we did this time!

Bleriot XI

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I was kindly invited up to Sonoma Skypark by Eric Presten to have a look at his Bleriot XI. This is a replica that Eric and his family built in a short time span and that spends a lot of time in Wisconsin. Therefore, it was quite unusual for it to be in California and in one piece. It was about to be disassembled so I was keen to see it before it came apart again.

Eric flies the aircraft occasionally but will happily tell you that it is not a particularly fun aircraft to fly. It has wing warping rather than ailerons which are not the most effective – particularly at the speeds which this aircraft operates at. However, it is a cool replica and one I would like to see fly at some point. Eric kindly had the aircraft pulled out for me to get some shots. Thanks for the great hospitality.

Eric is an aviation photographer himself and has an outstanding collection of images of more aircraft than I knew existed. He will happily sell you copies of his books so head to http://www.prewarpublications.com/Home.html to see his work.

Flying With Pete

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My relative Pete is the sort of friend I was destined to have. Pete likes lots of fun things but at the heart of it for him (aside from his family of course) is flying. Pete has been flying all of his life and today he spends his working time at the pointy end of a 747. However, in the mean time, he owns a Piper Arrow which he spends as much time as possible flying.

I have told about our trip in some previous posts. However, I didn’t ever show you the beast itself – I am talking about the Arrow rather than Pete. After we had finished our trip, he had to take it across to Bournemouth for some maintenance so I hung around long enough to catch him departing from Sandown. Here, then, are some shots of Pete and his plane. Thanks for a great time mate.