Friday April 15, 2015 Santa Rosa CA.
Something a bit different today
Today I decided to do something a little different. Steve suggested we check out the little lake near his place at Fountain Grove in Santa Rosa.
Wally’s to restock
But first I needed to go to Wally’s and restock my skin lotions for my skin burns which I did on the way to Steve’s house.
The O2 sensor for the car
When I got to Steve’s house, I pulled my car into one of the garages there as we were going to replace the cars O2 sensor as Steve had the tools to do the job right.
Of course all the bolts holding the shield onto the exhaust system where the O2 sensor was mounted where all corroded and frozen so I couldn’t get the shields off and out of the way to get a socket on the old sensor. We studied the problem and determined we’d have to unbolt the exhaust manifolds from the engine to drop it to get the special socket Steve had to do the job. Once we did that, the socket went right on and things went well and I got the job done.
Gee, my hands are burned worse than I thought
I washed up and in the process got my hands real hot in the sink and discovered my hands are fairly burned from the hot water burn I’m trying to recover from and they now hurt more. Darn. More healing to do. Unfortunately the healing process for the burns is going real slow, but things are slowly improving.
Steve takes me to a Lake nearby
Fountain Grove Lake is only about ten minutes from Steve’s house so we drove on over there and put the boats in at the ramp which is free and is run by the City of Santa Rosa.
This was the view just after we put the boats into the lake.
The lake isn’t real big, but it has different parts to it which make it seem bigger.
We paddled around here looking for a place out of the sun as by now I realized I needed to keep my hands out of the sun.
We paddled into this spot for a bit, but it didn’t have any shade so we moved on to another spot.
I noticed there were some black crowned night herons in the reeds there and tried to get a decent picture and this was the best I could do as they moved a bunch when we got close to them.
I found some shade here just in front of the earthen dam, so we sat for a spell just enjoying the day.
A couple pairs of geese swam over to the dam with their new families and got out to feed in the grasses there as we watched.
I’m not sure what this big place was, but it had a neat elevator coming down to the lake which was moving down as I watched. You can see the track with the box coming down it on the right side there.
There appeared to be quite a few geese families hiding in the reeds here. Eventually some of them came out to swim around a bit.
I couldn’t stay long as I needed to get over to the Bodega Bay area to pick up some meat at the Salmon Creek Ranch by four PM, so we had to cut it short and head on in to the boat ramp there in the trees.
Salmon Creek Ranch for meat
I just pulled through the second gate here on the ranch.
I drove up this road. I went by one of the big dogs that live with the goats which are up ahead on the way to the ranch house.
I pulled in here at the ranch house. These big dogs take care of the ducks. The ranch has duck eggs for sale.
I got out and walked over to the ranch houses looking for the daughter as I heard she would be there somewhere. I found her with some of the big dog pups. They were real cute, and I forgot to get some pics.
We went to the meat room and I bought a couple hundred dollars of meat which is all frozen.
Where’s all the kids
Of course we shot the bull a lot during the process. I put the meat in the car and then asked where are the new kids? I heard they had 21 of them so far.
We walked behind the ranch houses to this pen where we were greeted by some big dogs that look after the animals.
They had a bunch of these cute little kids in the pasture.
Bodega Bay from the ridge top
Eventually I left and decided to take the main road that went to the ranch in the other direction that went out on this ridge that overlooks Bodega Bay and this was my view from up there looking down on the bay.
The road eventually came down to the town of Bodega.
My brother has more work for me
I drove on home and put the meat away and was taking it easy when my brother Tom came by to inform me he had gotten a new pressure tank, so I could finish hooking up the new pump when I get a chance. You see those strawberries cost me. :O)
Of course I threw some of the meat on the grill and am just about to enjoy some of it with the big pot of black beans I’ve been cooking in the crook pot all day. Yummmm.
That was my day.
Indeed
Hi Candee,
The road is called, get this, Bay View Road. The south end of it starts just past where Bodega highway meets highway 1. Just past that going north, when you see the road to the trout farm, put on your turn signal for the next road which will be Bay View Rd. It’s a couple miles long or so and comes down in the houses on the north end of Bodega Bay.
The lake is called Fountain Grove Lake and is on the north side of Santa Rosa, just up Fountain Grove Road a bit on the left. I’m sure that is more than just a house, as it is real big.
I’ll be watching for that wave up there on the Pumpkin house. :O)
Looks like you might be interested in the big dogs at Salmon creek ranch too?
Beautiful photos Bob. Can you tell me what road that ridge is on, with the view of Bodega Bay? And where exactly is that spectacular house with the elevator?
We will be coming out next Wed. When you are kyaking in Jenner, I will wave to you from the deck of the Pumpkin House, (across Penny Island from the Cafe Aquaticus) I would like to drive out on the road that you came back on.