Moodily beautiful shortest day in Mendocino. Molly didn’t like it as much as the dunes, but we had a good time. Lunch at the Mendocino Cafe. Then puttering and provisioning in town.
Couple of shots of Molly and companions
Then home for naps, lounging, and another spectacular sunset.
The trip up Highway 101 was lovely. Between towns, there are lovely expanses of chaparral, mountains, and cloudscapes.
Next we turned onto Route 20 No pictures of the surrounding redwoods because map here does not begin to do justice to the slalom-like driving required. Beauty everywhere, but keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel It feels like "the forest primeval "
Finally arrived in Fort Bragg. The house is fabulous- right on an estuary with the ocean's waves crashing audible from the deck. Our host says we can sit in thehot tub and watch bald eagles tomorrow. JoAnn and Molly arrived first and were there to greet us.
Molly called it a good day
Our flight was a bit delayed, but nothing too serious and we got out of NYC before the rain started. This handsome fellow showed the way to deal with such matters. He almost seemed to be meditating with his paws perfectly interlaced.
The rest of the flight was uneventful with smooth pickup of bags and car and we were on our way. A brief glimpse of downtown SF on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge and onto Highway 101 to our destination for night one - Petaluma which used to be a small town famous for chicken farms. There’s a little more going on now. We stayed in a Hampton Inn which was not the typical prefab affair. Instead it was in a reclaimed silk factory that made silk cords for parachutes during WWII. The breakfast room is in an outbuilding and pretty sweet, but the columned hallway felt a little eerie
We loved our place so much that we hardly left it Friday. Just hanging out on the deck alternating with working on a jigsaw puzzle (though I did make one foray to acquire wine and cheese for the evening deck sitting). Happy to spend hours watching the water, the sky, the light, and the marine life. Who knows what new level of relaxed we would have reached with another week?
Sadly we had to come home, but I found an all Aretha, all day channel on Sirius which made the flight better
There were some great bakeries and shops in town , including a sweet bookstore and a lot of outdoor spaces to relax. They also have an atrium "Piazza" that has small concerts and other events.
Don’t know what exactly their business consists of here
Despite our commitment to perfecting the art of lounging, Thursday we decided perhaps we should explore a little so we took a drive to Half Moon Bay. It would have been a lovely 15 minute drive ...
except we overshot and ended up in coastal farmland instead. We did make the acquaintance of some geese who demonstrated their right of way while a goat, 3 horses, and a llama looked on, cheering.
Finally made it to Half Moon Bay which was a cutesified, but pleasant little town. They had a fun spot for kids - an old ship cut in two surrounded by little craft stations. Looked like fun
By then it was time for lunch at Chez Shea with a sweet patio in back. I had grilled fish tacos while Linda tried the East-West fish taco - fish rubbed with harissa and served on pita with tzaziki. Both excellent.
Wednesday we had an even more laid back day - slowly, surely shifting to lower gears. Spent a good while sitting on the deck watching the birds, Humpbacks, and even a pair of dolphins. Linda took her new and oh so appropriate sweatshirt for a spin.
Then we mustered the energy to get ourselves into town for massages. While waiting for the other, each of us moseyed around the local farmers' market. Then back to the deck for wine and
cheese and more communing with our marine-dwelling friends.
Tuesday morning we suited up for the chilly deck, started up the fire pit and settled in for morning coffee. We were treated to quite a show - a pod of humpback whales was feeding right in front of us. Almost impossible to capture a photo because they’re so quick that they’re back down as soon as you train the camera on them, but imagine the scene: chilly foggy AM snuggled in toasty clothes, dancing flames and out on the water whales cresting and breaking through the water line straight up as they feed. [Linda tells me they swim around in circles to gather the fish and then launch themselves upwards to gobble as many as they can. ]
Pretty great!
In the afternoon, I drove down to Palo Alto to visit my old and much loved friend, Elisabeth. Once again could kick myself for not taking a picture , but as always, we started talking and I forgot everything else.