When you're a Northern California resident, the North Coast is anything above Marin County (which sits just on the other side of the Golden Gate). We left Friday after rush hour(s) and proceeded across the Gate, had lunch in Mill Valley, and drove lazily up the coast to Gualala. This is a spectacular drive along the coast, but in our case it alternated pouring rain and gloomy most of the way. Still, you cannot beat the sheer cliffs up here, with the road precariously tacked onto them, unless maybe you get down to Big Sur. The wildflowers are blooming everywhere, bright orange California poppies mixed in with purple lupines. Dara had booked us into St. Orres, a place we stayed with Mom and Dad twenty years ago. At that time, they only had one separate cabin. Now they have quite a few, and we had one set back against the redwoods, with a view of the ocean and virtually no neighbors.
Dara told me she would surprise me on Saturday. After breakfast, we climbed back into the car and proceeded inland. All the rain was gone, and it was a clear day on the coast. I was left guessing the whole way: winery tours (the obvious choice), a visit to the fainting goats (great treat for the sadistic animal fancier), and the petrified forest all turned out to be wrong as we pulled into Safari West. I'm sure Kyla and Garrett will appreciate the fact that we arrived two hours early! It was a great tour. Dara had suggested going to this place to Garrett many times. You can stay the night, listening to the mating calls of the adax and giraffes (or something like that). We got waaaaay to close to things, let me tell you. I needed a macro lens on the camera when the Ostrich came by. They have a large collection of antelopes of various kinds, water buffalo, african mountain goats, giraffes, ostriches, watusi cattle, adax, and a bunch of other things I cannot name. It would really mix things up if they added a lion or two, but perhaps the tour would have been overly tense. As I kept mentioning to Dara when things came close, "Hey, I've seen Juraissic Park." After a family style dinner, we headed back to our cozy cabin by the ocean.
On Sunday, we headed farther north, to Mendocino. Mendocino is a funky little town that has often been used in the past to simulate a classic Maine seaside scene. I think this is where the scenery from Murder She Wrote was taken. When you get this far north, there is a strange mixture of ex-hippies and artsy types. We just wandered around, taking in the sights on the headlands, shopping, and eating. We picked up some wine and cheese for a fireside dinner back at the cabin.
Today we wrapped things up by taking a bit more rustic route over the mountains to Healdsburg. It's hard to imagine just how remote things are in the hills here. There is only a tortuous, scenic two lane road coming up the coast. To get from San Francisco to Mendocino probably takes close to five hours if you did it in one shot. Then, because of the mountains on the coast, there are very few roads running inland toward the famous wine country. In about 40 miles of driving, I think we saw one other car. (But, Kyla, the road was paved!!!). Everything was so green it made your head hurt. The leaves are all out in the vinyards. Healdsburg is kind of your quaint little wine country town, with redwoods in the downtown square, bookstores, and a variety of restaurants. After a nice lunch, we battled the traffic back down a real highway (101) to the GG Bridge and back home again.
Back to real life tomorrow. A few pictures to follow.
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