ocean – Sues Wanderings

House sitting in Scotland.

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 by Sue, posted in house sitting, Scotland

I was very lucky to land a 3 week house sit in Scotland this last May in a little coastal fishing village called Portnockie. Taking care of a beautiful border collie named Jesse ! So, as anyone reading my blog could see I was also in Ireland. My 3 posts previous to this are about Ireland. I had decided to make a 6 week trip of it. Spending 2 weeks in Ireland and 4 weeks in Scotland. Loved both countries. Here is the house I stayed in in Scotland with the adorable dog Jesse who was very sweet and smart and a great walking companion . Also, a couple photos of the village and the view from my bedroom window . Ocean was just across the road.

Portnockie is a very small , old fishing village in an extremely beautiful location. The coastline is beautiful and rugged in parts. Crumbling castles hanging off of cliffs. Green, green hills all around.

The owner of the house left me a car so I was able to see quite a bit altho many days I just enjoyed a long walk along the Moray trail which runs 72 miles along the beautiful Scottish coast.

People in Scotland are so friendly and helpful. Anytime I ever asked for directions or some information , whoever I asked would go out of their way to help me out.

The house sit was small but nice. Right across the street from the cliffs that go along the beautiful Moray coastline and a super sweet beach to walk on as well.

Having a car was great as I was able to explore some cute little villages along the coast and would sometimes run into surprises , such as ancient crumbling castles, ancient graveyards and such.

I loved Scotland and will be posting more photos and info about it in next post.

Carmel, Point Lobos State Natural preserve, and Big Sur.

October 12, 2018 by Sue, posted in California coastline

After The Hoedown which I talked about in last post, I had a quick 5 day house sit in Nevada city . Here is a post about Nevada city from a stay I did there last year. https://sueswanderings.com/2018/01/03/nevada-city-california/.

This time was a quick sit with Stanley and Lexie

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My next house sit is in Atascadero , CA. but with 3 days to play I decided to stop in Carmel on the Sea. I got a cute little Air BnB right near town and was able to walk to town and the beach. Carmel beach is beautiful with clean white sand.

The downtown area is cute and full of shops, restaurants, wineries, and gardens. However I find it a bit pricey for my liking. It is a very upscale town. I did hand out my petsitting card to a few people. Who knows. Maybe go back to petsit one day.

I spent one day at Point Lobos state reserve which is only a couple miles from Carmel and beautiful and wild. It is definitely worth a stop. I hiked the 5 mile trail along the coastline.

I also drove to Big Sur one day. I stumbled upon a wedding photo shoot while there. Here are a few of my photos.

What a spot for your wedding photos !

Some more photos of this beautiful stretch of coastline.

The California coastline really is amazing. North, central and south. South being more crowded and congested but still beautiful. Northern and central coastline are rugged and wild. Do your self a favor and get to the California coast.

Next stop is Atascadero !!

Point Reyes National seashore.

September 4, 2018September 4, 2018 by Sue, posted in California coastline

I recently had a few days free from house sitting and went on a 4 night camping trip to the coast. I camped at Samual P.Taylor state park which is a great location to camp and explore Point Reyes National seashore. I love this area. So much to see, miles and miles of hiking trails, beautiful beaches, Tule elk, whales, all kinds of birds, wildflowers galore in early spring. Samual P. Taylor state park sits nestled in a heavily treed area. Pretty campground with lots of nice, roomy spaces. It is $35 a night which is high but that is Ca. State park price. Some sites with electric, there are central showers and food boxes to protect your food from the many raccoons. The small town of Point reyes station is just down the road. And in fact there are many cute, very small old style coastal towns all along the coast here. So , besides visiting Point Reyes national seashore, it is also fun to just drive around .

Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71,028-acre (287.44 km²) park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue within the park. Clem Miller, a US Congressman from Marin County wrote and introduced the bill for the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from development which was proposed at the time for the slopes above Drake’s Bay. All of the park’s beaches were listed as the cleanest in the state in 2010.^[4

The northernmost part of the peninsula is maintained as a reserve for tule elk , which are readily seen there.[6] The preserve is also very rich in raptors and shorebirds .[5]

The Point Reyes Lighthouse attracts whale-watchers looking for the gray whale migrating south in mid-January and north in mid-March.

From its thunderous ocean breakers crashing against rocky headlands and expansive sand beaches to its open grasslands, brushy hillsides, and forested ridges, Point Reyes offers visitors over 1500 species of plants and animals to discover. Home to several cultures over thousands of years, the Seashore preserves a tapestry of stories and interactions of people. Point Reyes awaits your exploration.

Point Reyes is one of my favorite places on the Northern California coast. It is only an hour from San Francisco yet so many people do not know of the beauty that is there.

Pet sitting in Fort Bragg, Ca.

April 20, 2018April 20, 2018 by Sue, posted in California coastline

I just recently got done with a 16 day house and pet sit in Fort Bragg, CA.

Years ago when I traveled to the east coast I would tell people that I was from California and some would say Oh, Los Angeles? or isn’t it all city and desert there ?? So, many folks who have never been to California don’t seem to realize that Northern Ca. is so diffferent and in fact are amazed when I tell them that where I come from is snow and some years, tons of it. I am from Truckee, CA. in the high sierras.

So, Fort Bragg is on the northern Ca. coast which is pristine, dramatic, beautiful and not at all like the more crowded Southern Ca. coastline. A lot of very small towns scattered along the Northern Ca. coast. , redwoods, and dramatic cliffside windy drives that you better pay attention to while driving. Fort Bragg is one of these small seaside towns

The house I stayed was in the woods. The dogs where Nelly and Dougall.

Anyone who knows border collies knows they are dogs that need exercise. Both dogs have competed in agility competition. They where both sweet and we did a daily 2 hours walk sometimes at the beach and sometimes around the neighborhood. Nelly is obsessed with chasing other critters and there are a LOT of deer around there! I had heard that there was also a mountain lion sighting as well as a fox sighting. So, one day she was totally obsessed with something out in the yard and managed to dig a hole under the fence and get out. Her colar was also hooked to the fence so no tags on her. Ughh. The owner had warned me that she has gotten out at times but they didn’t think she would. Needless to say, I was beside myself for the 4 hours she was gone. I could sometimes hear her barking down below what was a steep embankment behind the house. When she did show up she was a filthy mess with all kinds of debris stuck to her beautiful plume of a tail and full of stinky and mud. It had just rained a couple inches. So glad to have her back !! She got a bath and looked spanking clean. I also patched up the fence and kept an eye on her when in the yard.

Losing someones dog while house sitting is my worst nightmare for this job. Here are the dogs. Dougall sitting up. Nelly the smaller whiter one.

Some photos of the beautiful coastline along the Mendocino county coast.

In Fort Bragg there is a waterfront area called Noyo Harbor with a few restaurants, fishing boats, whale watching trips ,etc.. I went there a couple times , once for dinner at the Wharf restaurant and one day for lunch to a place call Jangles Rough bar that has some nice music on sat. and Sunday afternoons. I have to say that I was lucky to have the nice weather while I was there. Often times the northern coastline is foggy for a good part of the day. It was sunny most of the times with 2 days of heavy rain.

Noyo Harbor

I have a friend named Sue who lives about 30 miles from Fort Bragg in a town called Willits and she came over a couple times . We went to the botanical gardens which is lovely and right on the coast and also dog friendly. We also went for a hike to the pygmy forest in Jug Handle state park. Really, everything in this area is amazingly beautiful!

thick forest in Jug handle reserve state park.

lighthouse

With Sue and her daughter Paula at botanical gardens

Beautiful cedar tree in botanical gardens.

I was told by a few people not to miss the Pacific star winery which they said has the most beautiful view along this coastline and great for grabbing a glass or bottle of wine, bringing a picnic and just hang out in one of their many Adirondack chairs overlooking the coastline. If you are lucky you will see some whales !

They where right . I would have hated to miss this spot. So beautiful !!!!

I will end this post with some photos of the grounds of the Pacific star winery.