Well, here we are in southern California & slightly beyond the middle point of our trip. One month ago, we were still in northern California, camping below Fort Bragg near Mendocino. We were getting ready to move further south along the rugged northern CA coast to Gualala. Small towns, redwood forests sometimes, but almost always a lush forest of some kind. Cliffs over crashing waves along empty beaches. Rivers meeting the Ocean & spectacular scenery. Oh yeah, wine country & fabulous bakeries, we mustn’t forget that! During the month, we enjoyed more of the same, visited with a cousin in Bodega Bay and another one & her husband in San Jose, we lost a beloved uncle, and we each celebrated birthdays, Christmas, and the New Year. We eventually travelled back inland to avoid the winding roads at cliff’s edge and discovered, much to our surprise, that the Central Valley below Sacramento was really pretty in a different way, and that birds of a feather, flock together. We’ve encountered forest fires and their aftermath, the mudslides, torrential rainstorms & long periods of dryness, scenery going from mostly green to mostly brown, and warmer, but still comfortable, temperatures. Most noticable as we travelled south was the increase in traffic, smog, & the amount of people due to the size of cities & their sprawl outwards. It does take you twice or three times as long to travel from one place to another. Rolling hills change from green to brown to covered-with-houses. Ocean views change from cliffs and wildness to busy beaches and fancy homes. The air is not as clean. Noise is an issue. But we lived here for many years and we must say in all fairness, that anything you need is available to you. You want a health food store? A fish restaurant? A museum or an aquarium or a botanical garden? There’s plenty to do in the cities. You just have to fight the crowds to do what you need to do. We will adjust. The temperatures are ideal for us. This is winter? At home there’s many inches of snow & ice-cold temperatures. Anyway, we’ve seen orchards that make us want to stop and pick an orange off a tree. We are going whale watching on Saturday! We have favorite restaurants to visit and friends & family to see. The month upcoming will be different for the first half here in Long Beach, but we’re open to new experiences. We’ve travelled 843 miles in the RV last month, lots more miles if we add what we travelled in the car, too. Went much farther this month in order to reach So. CA by January 9. We stayed 12 different campgrounds. We enjoyed seeing the relatives & enjoyed our time at wildlife refuges photographing and stalking the birds. Want to clear your head and worry less? Spend some time following Sandhill Cranes…..