one more trip to streetbike named desire

needed to get a box to ship the bike home and had a chat with the owner this time.  decided to take more pictures to remember the place.  it's a beautiful store.

canoeing in elkhorn slough

http://www.elkhornslough.org/

what's a slough (pronounced "slew")?  well according to merriam webster, it's a place of deep mud, a swamp.  this was our afternoon program after the roaring camp railroad visit and i have to say, this was one of the best outings we had.

we kayaked in for about an hour and a half before turning around.  it meant that we did not manage to go  that far upstream, but our guide was excellent and he pointed out lots of stuff that was really educational and fun.  i am doing this blog update many months later and so i have forgotten most of what he said but good memories about the crisp air, the paddling of the kayak in thankfully quite calm waters, and spotting of various wildlife still linger.  oh and there was an indian family who was on the same guided tour but they had some trouble and in the end, the mother decided kayaking wasn't quite her thing and gave up.  the rest of the family carried on.

these were sea lions... i think.  they smelled. bad.  from far away.  not a very lively bunch.  there were also seals in another part of the slough.

a huge jellyfish that was right next to our kayak.  it was the size of a small umbrella.

this is a wild plant (think it's called pickleweed) that can be found on the banks of the slough and it's edible.  can't recall what it tasted like but it was crunchy.  pickleweed turns a brilliant red in fall.

pictures of the wildlife that can be seen during the journey.

this was of course, NOT, the famous French Laundry restaurant where reservations have to be made months in advance.  I'm guessing it really is a laundry.  Thomas Keller would not be amused...  Keller is a world famous chef who was a technical consultant on Ratatouille, the animated feature by Pixar.