We are currently in the gold hills of California near the town of San Andreas. The abundance of turkeys in this area is amazing! Today we were sitting outside beside the motorhome and I saw a turkey fly by behind Louise, along the main entrance to the park. It landed within view and then circled around the motorhome next to us and back up the road behind me.

We went to look and there was a whole flock, more than 20 turkeys. They were just across the road from us. This flock wanders through the park on a regular basis. I got up early last to play golf and looked out the window and they were moving through the empty space right next to us.

Louise and I played golf at a golf course near Valley Springs one morning last week. When we reached the 14th tee, there across the fence from us, less than 50 feet away, was a flock of turkeys resting in the shade. We teed off and they didn't move. We had a great time playing golf.

At our daughter's home there are turkeys in their yard almost every day. The other day, Louise and I were there in the afternoon. Our granddaughters weren't home, so we settled into a couple of chairs on the back yard patio. There was a small flock of male turkeys (gobblers) in the back yard. They moved away from us but didn't leave the yard. As we sat quietly, they moved back and forth through the yard. They left the yard after about two hours.

We went bicycle riding yesterday. We did 17 miles on the American River Trail in the Sacramento, CA, area. At the western end of the trail is Discovery Park. Discovery Park is right across the river from the location of Sutter's Mill, which is where gold was discovered in 1849. That started the California Gold Rush. I knew the history, but never knew where exactly Sutter's Mill was located. It turns out we've been by it many times. It is almost directly under the I-5 bridge over the American River where it meets the Sacramento River. We had great weather, cool and sunny.

Louise blew a tire shortly after we turned back toward the car. Fortunately I had the tools to change the tire and a spare tube with us, so it just delayed us for a little while before we were back on the trail. As we returned to the car, a flock of 20 hens crossed the trail in front of us. We were less than 15 feet away and they calmly kept crossing the bike trail.

I've seen flocks of turkeys in other parts of the country but they are always wary of people and sightings are brief. In my experience, turkeys are seldom observed at close range. It is certainly not true here in this part of California.