Emily and Linda’s Travel Blog

The first 2 days in Berkeley were not too eventful. We settled in to our sweet Air bnb house just off Shattuck near the Gourmet Gulch, as it’s called - home of Chez Panisse and the Cheeseboard collective as well as a lot of other restaurants and food purveyors. It's also near Downtown Berkeley and close to rapid transit and buses. Our house is a tupical Berkely place - we have the floor at the top of these stairs. A little sparse in that it has nothing on the walls and lacks some basics like a coffee maker and iron, but still a great place to hang out. 

We had some good meals- at the Casa Latina Bakery and cafe on San Pablo

And a cute spot right up the street called Crepevine

We also made a pilgrimage to REI for  some walking and rain gear.  Mostly we just chilled other than that. Got a new puzzle (500 ) pieces this time, having learned our lesson with the last one. 

We woke to a beautiful sunny day, making it that much harder to leave. 

Jo headed north to Humboldt County while we turned south to go to the Bay Area. On the way we stopped in Windsor, CA , a town neither of us had heard of. Sweet downtown area with a town square, lots of restaurants, and even a decent sized non-chain bookstore. 

We stopped into KC's Restaurant. "What kind of food do you want?", I askedLinda as we drove in. "I don’t know.  Something light", she said.....

Until she saw "The ultimate, grilled cheese sandwich " with four cheeses and bacon. Oh well, maybe a salad for dinner. 

The puzzle we had taken on was a Diego Rivera mural 1000 piece puzzle. Beautiful earth tones (which we soon realized were repeated in many places). Lovely picture that we looked forward to completing  

However, we soon learned that 1000 pieces is a really big task, especially when the dastardly puzzle cutter provided pieces like these with no clear axis and offset seams

We tried for 3 days and got about half way - even with Jo's excellent organization of similars and the tally of which calla lillies were complete (you can see tiny post its on the box to designate which were done).

But eventually we had to accept that it had to go back in the box for another day. Still we had some good times chatting, cursing, and congratulating each other when we finally found a needed piece. Puzzles were often part of holiday gatherings in our family growing up. In these days of individual screens, it was good to recall a quiet, shared project that brings everyone together. 

Spectacular day. Best weather so far. Warm enough to have Christmas dinner ( for those who care - roasted chicken with appkes and rosemary, roasted parsnips and beets, and sauteed brussels). out on the deck....

.... and to try out the hot tub.  

I read on the internet that an Icelandic tradition is to give books on Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas reading and eating chocolates. No idea if it’s true, but seemed like a good idea so we exchanged books and Jo brought Leonidas chocolates to complete the ritual. Very enjoyable whether ethnographically correct or not

We figured out that the 3 of us have known each other for 44 years. Great way to spend Christmas Eve. 

We went to the famous Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino

One of the great things about having a whole house on vacation is getting to cook. Jo made a great pork and black bean chili. 

I served as sous chef

After dinner, we started a new project. Maybe 1000 pieces was over-ambitious. We'll see. 

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