Mama Foley in California

my Mom came out to california at the end of october for what has become her annual "soak up all the sunshine possible before going back to snowy, ridiculously cold minnesota" trip. We did lots of hiking as always so she could walk among the redwoods and take in all the smells of the forest. We also took a road trip to southern california so i could attend a conference in san diego. we got to see some new sights along the way. the high was 65 degrees when my Mom left san diego...it was 20 degrees when she landed in minnesota. it really is no mystery why i moved here, right?!

some photos from our adventures...

 an acorn woodpecker cache at quail hollow

 bird watching at elkhorn slough (the highlights
were curlews, godwits, and avocets)

 curlew at goleta beach

 a visit to mission santa barbara - we drove down el camino real from santa cruz to santa barbara so this seemed to be a fitting destination

 mission santa barbara - a lovely, lovely spot

 pandas! we spent a morning at the san diego zoo

 a different kind of panda (red panda)

 and the main reason i dragged my mom to the zoo... the OKAPI! 

 seriously - did dr. seuss design this one? zebra legs,
ungulate body, and giraffe tongue. love it!

thanks for a fun visit, mom!

paddling the san lorenzo river

i am a bit shocked that it has taken me 15 days of the government shutdown to write a new post. we have been a little preoccupied with house projects. there are many blog posts now in the queue, including the house and our trip to croatia - but i will start with some low hanging fruit....and ironically, the most recent event on the list.

last saturday marked the first time in nearly fifty years that boats (non-motorized in this case) were allowed on the san lorenzo river within the city limits of santa cruz, california. a city ordinance banning boating and swimming was passed as a way for the city to avoid future liability after a child drowned while playing in the river. the ordinance has managed to stand to this day despite the fact that the river runs through the heart of downtown to the ocean, running next to the world-renowned beach boardwalk. 

i am currently on the board of directors for the coastal watershed council (http://coastal-watershed.org) - a great non-profit group with a fabulous executive director who spearheaded saturday's event (great job, greg pepping and staff!). with help from the santa cruz water department, the one day paddle event was organized to bring awareness to the river and the need to bring the community back to her. the mayor and multiple city officials joined the paddle and are committed to, at the very least, investigating the possibility of allowing recreation to flourish on the san lorenzo river within city limits. hooray for hope and new possibilities! as i was photographing the event, i could not help but notice how natural all those boats seemed on the river... hopefully someday soon it will be a frequent sight.

 there were a variety of vessels on the river -
river kayaks, ocean kayaks, stand up paddleboards, canoes

 santa cruzans ready to paddle! 

 taking in the lovely river sights

 paddling past the beach boardwalk

about fifty paddlers joined in for the event. what a great day!

family time

i got to spend ten days in minnesota in july, enjoying quality time with my family. i also brought an end to the heat spell that had been plaguing the state. you are welcome, minnesotans! birthdays, fishing, music, and visiting friends...it was a good visit. but as always, too short! the highlights in photos...

 alexandra turned three - which of course meant that she had to blow out her three candles three times. this was round #2. her awesome grandma made her a very pretty butterfly cake...just like the one i got for my fifth birthday! stephanie also turned a larger number than three - but she didn't want to blow out any candles...not even once! :)

 kieran fished as much as he could...

 and managed to catch a few that were of respectable size

 luke did some fishing as well, but seemed to enjoy swimming much more

 the whole crew, including dogs, joining in the swimming/fishing fun

 madeline and her brothers

 sweet madeline - who is officially taller than three of four foley women...but she is certain to pass stephanie in short order!

 my brother cruising us around the lake

a family outing on lake rachel

my mom and i had a picnic with my dad on the anniversary when, as my nephew says, grandpa got his blue wings. miss you, dad!

the sandhills of santa cruz county

there is a dwindling swath of sandhill habitat in the santa cruz mountains that used to be at the bottom of the ocean. we used to take biology students from ucsc to some of the areas to sieve for shark teeth (usually successfully). the habitat is threatened because historically there have been numerous sand quarries profiting from the unique structure of the sand. as it turns out, the sand around here has a high aluminum content, making it ideal for manufacturing silicone chips for our tech-nation on the other side of the mountains. many mining operations have closed, but the plants and animals that inhabited those areas are not able to out-compete the invasive species that have taken hold. 

however, there are still some areas that are being preserved. one such spot is above a regional park a couple miles from our house, quail hollow. each year the department of fish and wildlife allows the park to lead four tours of fifteen people each into the forbidden sandhills. i had a great fortune this year of getting one of those spots! many of the plants we saw are rare, threatened, or endangered because they are endemic (only grow in this habitat) to the sandhills. such a beautiful landscape...

 an acorn woodpecker granary! how cool is this?! 

the acorns were stashed in holes all the way to the ground.

i'm not exactly sure why no other critter was stealing these!

the whole ponderosa pine was covered!

 fields of silver lupin

 i was too busy taking photos of other flowers to catch

the name of this one (oops!) - perhaps a Clarkia of some sort?

 bonny doon spine flower (endemic & endangered)

 sandhill poppy (distinct species from CA poppy)

 birds-foot fern (endemic)

woolly dandelion

 

 sandhill habitat

catching up: spring in yosemite national park

taking a detour back to april, pete and i, with our friends andrew and jenny, spent a lovely weekend in yosemite hiking around and enjoying the spectacular scenery. 

yosemite falls

on the hike up - and he says he is afraid of heights! ha!

 andrew, jenny, & pete at the top of the falls

 half dome

 post-hike recovery in the meadow

 sunrise on el capitan

the ever picturesque yosemite valley

Kamchatka, Russia

sorry - this took longer than i imagined to get posted. but here we go!

two days after matt and michele got married, i hopped on a plane to petropavlovsk-kamchatsky, russia. thirty six hours and four flights later, our entourage arrived on the kamchatka peninsula, the far eastern bit of the country (just across from the aleutian islands). we were invited on this adventure by wwf (the world wildlife fund) to do a science exchange with students and professors at the kamchatka state technical university. the central government is giving them more freedom to develop courses so they wanted to hear about research and classes in marine ecology, conservation, and fisheries. giving an 80 minute talk with slides in russian and a live translator is definitely something to experience! 

giving my marine conservation lecture - note the translators on the
right in the front; text on the slides is russian; attendees were
listening to the translators through headphones

 university building where our lectures were held

the department has a little museum showcasing many species

of fish from around avacha bay and the bering sea

we arrived wednesday afternoon; figured out logistics on thursday; gave talks on friday, saturday, and monday; and flew out tuesday. whirlwind. we did get a chance to do a bit of exploring around town. the city is nothing to write home about, but the scenery surrounding it is pretty spectacular. we got glimpses of the volcanoes and mountains that surround the town on three sides. we got some fresh snow while we were there as well, which took the industrial edge off the town for part of a day.

 shops near our hotel

garages - that seem difficult to access in the winter

nearly everyone in the town lives in apartments like those shown 

here - hence the rows of garages in the previous photos. 

there are very few houses.

 SERIOUS snow blower. yikes.

 statue of peter and paul - whom the town is named after - 

and the mountains in the distance

 apparently a relatively recent tradition in russia that started in 

st. petersburg.  after getting married, couples affix a lock in a 

public location. all these locks have dates and many with names. this 

is just a subset of them.

 lenin, of course

 the regional government building

 boat house (ocean is just behind me)

 frosty morning

 the industrial port

avacha bay

on our off day, we had an adventure unlike any other i've ever had...we went dog sledding! i was really nervous, but it was fun (even in my dansko clogs). for the little sled we had, it wasn't too different from water skiing, in terms of turning the sled. stopping the dogs, well...that is a different story. but all the dogs were sweet - i wanted to take one of them home with me. they didn't pull too fast because it was warm out for them (32 F). okay by me! we also learned a bit about the native culture around kamchatka and had a delicious reindeer stew to close out the day (yes, the vegetarian just said the reindeer stew was delicious).

 spencer and me (spencer is responsible for getting 

me into this whole russian adventure)

 learning about clothing and cultural practices

 seal boots. they looked really warm!

 dress up - kamchatka style!

 my favorite girl! i wish she fit in my suitcase...

 puppies! one of the few words i learned in russian (outside of hello, thank you, please, etc.) was dog - sabacca. this guy - sabacc-ito. i bet no one ever imagined a mix of russian and spanish. :)

dog sledding!

taking a break to cool the dogs down

although it was a whirlwind, it was a fun trip. i only created one incident when i didn't preweigh my apple at the grocery store. oops. stern russian lady yelling at you in a language you don't understand is a bit intimidating. but i did eventually get the apple. i survived the food scene okay. i brought lots of snacks with me that got me through the hard meals, particularly breakfast. 

most importantly, our talks were well received by the students and the professors and they seemed very grateful. i hope to have a chance to go back in the summer (five hour flight from anchorage!) in the future and see some of the natural wonders that were covered in snow. i mean, my visa is good for three years... :)