The PENguin Blog

 I have just finished adding a select dozen or so new pens for the holidays. A few teasers, and all can be found on the website,

 Title says it all.

It's been forever since my last travel post and we are in our favorite spot (or at least one of them) on the coast. Seems a good time to post. Any time you are in the area, a visit to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens will reward you with tons of beautiful plants, dramatic ocean vistas and the main subject of this post, flowers:

 Mostly Pelikans, vintage and modern, with a fine assortment of others. Most pens are in near mint to excellent condition.  I have not yet priced them, but see the attached spreadsheet and, as always feel free to contact me at  rickpropas@comcast.net

 So the final day of the trip took us through the Coastal Valley, into the western edge of California's Central Valley, and then home.  Again lots of driving, but it was punctuated by a couple of interesting stops. These images almost speak for themselves. Here is where the Pacific and North American plates converge, with predictable results Parkfield bills itself as the Earthquake capital of California, note the motto on the stack of the boiler Some views of Parkfield. No, this not the entirety of the lodge. It has about a dozen  rooms throughout the village Not a one street town No, this is not mass transit The historic school undergoing renovation. In truth, it is a pleasant crossroads. We are toying with returning on Mother's Day with our spouses for the bluegrass festival California's scenery is, for many folks, alien. We call it "green and golden."  Nowhere is it as clearly on display as in the central portion of the state. Rosa, who Sharon sent along to kee

 Not much here, really. We mostly drove, some of the time in circles (we're still perfecting our navigations of the backroads that we like). Our destination was Santa Maria and I was looking forward to some of the barbecue try-tip for which the area is famous, going back to rancho days. On the way we stopped at the Santa Paula airport and saw this small, experimental plane that Danny found intriguing. And as we came into town we were greeted by this: Still, dinner was good.