Joining the Human Race

On May 11, I joined the Human Race in Santa Rosa to walk for my non-profit, the North Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council.  It was foggy at the start, and nice and cool for the timed runners who took off first before us walkers.  I then followed, and am so very grateful to my family and friends for all of their donations--I raised more than $1600 in my walk, the best I've ever done! I have LOTS of thank-you notes to write!!!

Foot-sore but tired, I returned to the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds where I had camped the prior night.  My rig was all ready to hook-up and leave for the walnut ranch, so that is just what I did.

At the ranch, I found Laura, Chris, Deidra, Lincoln, and Parker all visiting Liz, so we had a nice visit before Chris & Deidra and the boys had to leave to go back to Santa Rosa for Mother's Day--we also got the bad news that Lisa, Deidra's mother, had fallen off her bike at Zion and broke her leg!  They were returning to California where they hoped she would get more pain meds and a complete evaluation.

Laura stayed the rest of the weekend, and streamed a movie from her tablet to the TV; we watched Hitchcock and Argo--good films. 

The next day, for Mother's Day we took a drive into the Hills -- the Starbucks where I bought the little ceramic fish made by the developmentally disabled no longer sells them, but we learned they are based in Sonora and called Watch, so we found where we can get them online.

We pushed on to check out Moaning Cavern, and decided that the steps might strain my sore knee, so after talking with the caged big white bird (parrot family) there, we photographed this fellow who was waiting to go zip-lining down the canyon:

Then, we found the trailhead to natural bridges, and walked downhill to the stream at the bottom, and the cool little oasis down there.  It was very hot, and getting quite crowded, as we hiked up.  I really felt the heat, and became a bit dehydrated.  Laura was so sweet that she moved the car up and met me as I emerged at the trailhead--my cold ice team ready at hand.  What a champ!