Gualala

My trip up the California coast with my girlfriends from Texas took us to Gualala.

Gualala, usually pronounced wa-LA-la, is said to come from a Pomo Indian word meaning "where the water flows down."

This is an interesting quote because I've always heard it pronounced Gua-la-la as in Guacamole. That doesn't really work either huh, you say Wacamole and I say Guacamole, hhmmm. I guess it goes either way. The name makes me think of that old Jonathan Winters skit where he says "I come from Quasiland, island of the singing shells" Sorry, I digress.

We drove up on a cloudless sunny day. While crossing the Golden Gate bridge we saw no fog, this is a rarity. The first day in Gualala on the beach was also sunny and warm You can see I have shed my layers down to shorts and tank top. This beach was littered with abalone shells and all sorts of nature's treasures (see the two abalone shell pieces in the shadow of the bird book?)




we stayed on this beach all day, scavenging, having lunch (which always tastes better outdoors!),and lounging in the sun. Overhead the pelicans kept flying by in their uniform fashion. We also saw ospreys, hawks, turkey vultures, and of course seagulls.




We rented a condo unit in the heart of the town which all of three or four blocks long. If you're interested in going, this was a very nice place and reasonably priced. This is a mosaic along one of the blocks.






The next day the fog rolled in so it was a bit chilly. We drove to Salt Point which is where the previous pictures were taken that Beryl asked about. Here's another pic of those unusual rock formations. You can tell how cold and windy it is by how I'm bundled up, very attractive too, I might add.






On our return from that enchanting place we went into Santa Cruz to the flea market and then downtown where we saw this mime. She was good, didn't move a muscle!




At the days end, the night before my friend were leaving to go home, Devra took this photo of Diane standing on my deck. I already miss them terribly!



(most of these photos were courtesy of Devra)