Year End in Review Part I

Since I never got to sharing many of our walks and probably won’t get around to it now – I thought, I could show you my best pictures. You can find more trail details on my site or on the famous Google. In February, we walked to the north end of the trail along the

Poking Around Petaluma Marshes

  I was still not walking much in January this year, but we wanted to check how the water levels were doing at Ellis Creek and Shollenberger Park in this wet winter. Due to the drought for years the area had been painfully dry and not much use to migratory birds. Ellis Creek On the

Another Visit to Cornerstone – er, Sunset Magazine

Keeping with my dining out and short walks, we visited Cornerstone in Sonoma to see what had changed with Sunset Magazine moving in. Some of the gardens designed by various artists and landscapers, still exist. Tasting room, shops and restaurant Park 121 are still there. Sunset has taken over areas behind the second building. They also

Walking with a Cane

Six weeks from total knee replacement, I’m walking to restaurants and stores and physical therapy class/appointments. Last week in Petaluma. (For a previous walk go to Petaluma River.) And while we were having Fogust, it was sunny one afternoon and I was able to take a short walk on the boardwalk at Doran Beach. This

Dog Parks in Santa Rosa, etc

This post was originally published in 2010. I’ve updated and added more dog parks both new parks and new to me. A separate post discusses more parks in the Petaluma area. We have adopted a dog (mostly poodle) since this post went out. He walks on leash with us in many places. At dog parks, if there

Sunday’s Revisit: Petaluma Adobe

Petaluma Adobe is One Big Abode This visit was from January 2011. A beautiful spot with a good history fix. The hills are green again like this. Yippee! General Vallejo’s Petaluma Adobe was surrounded by a 66,000 acres rancho in the early 1800s. As a State Historic Park today, the grounds are small and a walk

Wetland in the Making – Sears Point

In October, the dike at Sears Point was breached to the waters of the San Pablo Bay. On December 5, Sonoma Land Trust had another “open house” to see how the wetland restoration was going. We crossed the track (general opening to the public is waiting a proper railroad crossing) and climbed the dike. This gave

Walking at Tolay Lake

Finally! We’ve been here for the Pumpkin Festival in October, but we made a real walk last week at Tolay Lake Regional Park. Part of putting it off was the long trek south of Petaluma but most was not being able to attend a permit session. Of course, as time passed, they put the process online.

Sunday’s Revisit: The Hills are Alive in Petaluma

Here’s hoping our hills will look this green again. This post from March 2010. We headed south, avoiding Hwy 101, admiring the green hills of Petaluma. It was doing its best to look like Ireland. Pastures and hills dominated our vision. Helen Putnam Regional Park, west of Petaluma is an excellent place in spring for

Sunday’s Revisit: No Racing at this Sears Point

Since this area is being breached today – as the next step in restoration to tidal wetland – I thought I’d share this post again. Sonoma Land Trust is holding a ceremony (pre-registration required) as the dyke is opened. It will take 24 hrs for the water to fill in the former farm. Trails will not be