Bad Knees Travel,

In all of the posts about annual stuff, I am not seeing this important date and time. It was the day and time chosen to end the Great War, the War to end all wars. Even today it is not without controversy. How to honor those fallen in war is difficult.  The HOW not the honor. I liked this inews article.   Make sure to read the whole thing as it presents many different sides to the same topic.  In this part of the world where I am sitting, men joined in companies based on their community. So a hard hit unit meant that one town, one village would lose large numbers of its young men in one horrible day. Every town has a war memorial. A wall with the list of the dead, a cross at the intersection. On these memorials there is usually an additional list of those lost in WWII. In the last two weeks, I see more and more red circles with a black dot. The lamp posts are often adorned with a poppy. The kids draw poppies at school (and are encouraged to buy poppy stuff.) Most people wear a s

There are notable museums around the world, but my joy is in finding the tiny local museum with the back story, the local story, the bits that nobody sees. Knowing this my daughter took me to this small jewel in Newtown. The Newtown Textile Museum is not open often, so finding this special weaving event was an opportunity to be grabbed. For the Bad Knees traveler there are a couple of notes here: It is not wheelchair accessible, and there are stairs. But as you take your time going up and down, there is a lot to look at. Parking is on the street, not always where you want it. There is a train that stops in Newtown, lots of small pub style and BnB accommodations within easy walking. The photos here are not necessarily my best, but I tried to get for you the best flavor of the place. And there are lots of photos that I didn’t take. Trying to keep up with two small excited people is sometimes the priority. Most of the photos here were taken by myself. Make sure to check their website

Distance: 2 .1 mile. Loopish Elevation: Flat. Wheelchair:  Yes Popular: but not crowded NO Dogs.  Bathrooms at the trail head. The Eureka area has such wonderful hiking opportunities. Kay and Nancy, my pole cat friends, took me out to   Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This place is an ornithologist's heaven. There are lots of benches to sit and watch birds and all sorts of other stuff go by. Trail Notes:   There are clean bathrooms at the trail head. This bird has found a good nesting site over the ladies loo.  Limited parking with little room for big vehicles.  You really, really should not even think of taking your dog out here. Their smell frightens animals away.  There is not a lot of tree cover on much of the trail, but it stays quite cool most of the time here on the bay. But wear a hat and/or sunscreen. You may get much more sun that you are aware. When the birds migrate north for summer, or south for the winter, this is one of the great stopping p

  Not every walk needs to be a full on Hiking Experience.  Sometimes just going for a walk with friends is a pleasure. Distance:  1.4 mile Loop Elevation : Flat. Wheel chair fantastic Popular, can be crowded at low tide Dogs OK Bathrooms More Info at   MacKerricher State Park   The parking is just north of Ft Bragg.  The boardwalk trail is 100% wheelchair accessible giving access thru an area that would be destroyed by too much foot traffic.  There are stair cases that lead down to wonderful tide pools.  There is letterboxing to be done here. If you have binoculars, bring them.  There are whales and seals, and all sorts of ocean stuff to see. I was an idiot and only brought the phone camera.  I am regretting not bringing the fancy zoom camera. Make sure to bring a hat.  You may want to sit and watch.  Th