A Visit To Win

1st week of March

Weather varies from pouring rain 
   to bright sunshine - Welcome Spring!!!

Lat/Lon 39.72N 121.79W

After visiting Shannon in San Francisco, we went to Chico, California to see Charley's younger brother, Winfred and his wife Terry.

Win and Terry have a neat little 10 acre place where they grow walnuts.   

Below,… Charley walking in the rain, past one of the walnut groves. 

Pardon the spots on the picture, it's just a few drops on the lens.  

Please note Charley's "two-hat" approach to keeping his head dry.  

(He put a baseball cap over his Tilley hat because the Tilley has mesh sides.)

Win took us out to see the Honey Run covered bridge.  

(Silly me, I thought covered bridges were only 'back east'.)  

The Honey Run bridge was built, uncovered, in 1887. It was covered in 1902 to protect the driving surface from weather.  The bridge was built in three sections and has three separate roofs. 

It is 240 feet long.  It was used on a regular basis until 1965 when a truck crashed into it and damaged it.  Rather than fix it, it was decided that it was time to update both the highway and the bridge.  

After the completion of a new bridge, the Honey Run bridge was restored through private donations and is now only open to pedestrian traffic.  It is often reserved for weddings and family reunions.

The Honey Run Covered Bridge is the only 3 level, 3 tiered covered bridge still standing in the nation.

This is the 'old' road that comes out the far side of the bridge. 

The area around the park is minimally maintained and is, for the most part, left natural. 

The cliffs above the bridge look like they have been terraced with gorgeous lawns and landscaping, but they are completely natural.

Next Win took us to see the Centerville School, which was built in 1894.  It has been restored and is part museum, and part meeting rooms.  But it was closed when were were there, so we couldn't go in, but was still fun to see.

Loving western Oregon the way I do, and having spent the last few months on the desert, I was so excited to see moss again.  Look at this gorgeous tree!

This is a close up of the moss on the tree.  It is called 'curly hypnum'.  

It looks like tiny ferns but it is a moss.  

And this pink pond is covered with 'fairy moss',...  

which looks like moss, but is actually a teeny tiny 'azolla' fern!

It's quite colorful up close, but tends to look brown from a distance especially in winter. 

You can see paths through the fairy moss where three canvasbacks have been feeding.

Thanks for the big ziplock bag of walnuts Win!  They are so fresh and yummy, almost sweet.  

I eat them by the handful! 

It was great to meet Win and Terry.  I know Charley enjoyed seeing them again. 

Next - Off to Scott Valley where Charley grew up.