A digital dream with an album by Rhonda Dedyne\nKen Burns and Ken Ladouceur may not know it, but they have one thing in common – besides their first names, that is.
\nThanks to each of them, we discovered some wonderful treasures on our recent “Out West” fifth wedding anniversary trip – and we have the photographs to prove it.
\nWe had often talked about Yosemite National Park – Wayne more so than me, to be honest. It’s one of those places he’s always wanted to visit. The Half Dome, El Capitan, Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove – and all those towering waterfalls: Bridalveil, Upper and Lower Yosemite, Nevada and Vernal – have been part of Wayne’s vocabulary for years. Ditto for fly fishing there – which he managed to do at Bridalveil Creek that feeds the falls which bears its name.
\nAfter watching Burns’ documentary earlier this year on the history and development of our country’s national park system, those names and places came alive for me, too.
\nWe had to go.
\nYosemite was an addition to our initial, anniversary travel itinerary that was built around tickets we had for practice rounds to the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach – a site on our mutual “must see” list. Watching a major golf tournament at Pebble Beach is second only to Augusta – at least in my mind, although Wayne says it’s claimed the top spot for him. I readily acknowledge that it is a truly beautiful course. Photographs don’t do justice to those harrowing seaside fairways and greens. Add in Tiger, Phil, Ernie – and an all-time favorite, Tom Watson – and Pebble Beach certainly lived up to our expectations.
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\nBut, I digress.
\nBack to the other Ken’s influence on the trip.
\nActually, Dr. Ladouceur doesn’t even know that he played a role in our planning, but hiking at Point Reyes National Seashore would not have happened without him.
\nWe’d never heard of the place, and probably would remain clueless to its existence, without Dr. Ken’s birthday. Since the superintendent enjoys cycling, the school board decided a biking gift certificate would be a great idea. We chipped in and I placed an on-line order to Nasbar, a biking outfitter.
\nA few weeks later, a magazine I did not order arrived in the mail. “Outside” was a freebie thank-you, it seems, for the gift purchase.
\nThat particular issue included a story and wonderful photos of lesser-known national parks, “America’s Great Parks: Where to Find Paradise and Beat the Crowds.”
\nPoint Reyes literally jumped off the magazine pages and captured our imagination.
\nSo, thanks to the other Ken, we spent two days exploring this lovely national seashore that’s located just north of highly touted – and super busy – Golden Gate National Recreation Area by San Francisco.
\nWe loved it.
\nSteep cliffs drop down to the Pacific where the surf pounds away; hiking trails wind through dunes covered with grass and vegetation that’s part of the Tule Elk Preserve; Point Reyes Lighthouse perches on an overhang jutting off the south end of the point – the walk down its 308 steps and three inclines is equal to a 30-story building; and elephant seals bask in the sun along the protected shoreline of Drakes Beach near Chimney Rock.
\nPoint Reyes turned out to be a photographer’s dream, as did one other area that we will most definitely return to someday – Big Sur.
\nLike Pebble Beach, it’s another name and place that never fails to conjure up mental snapshots of sheer beauty – God’s handiwork on display.
\nThe drive along California Highway One from Carmel to Big Sur is – indescribable. Words, and photographs, simply cannot capture the majesty of the Pacific shoreline in that area. A unique seascape.
\nNow, back home, those digital images have to suffice.
\nThey help us hear the sound of surf crashing along Big Sur’s shores; feel the noiseless breeze blowing through the Giant Sequoia trees at Mariposa Grove; and smell the Pacific’s salty goodness at Point Reyes.
\nThat’s more than enough – for the immediate future, anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"