More pix of Willits

The 101 goes right through the centre of Willits. Love these signs that used to welcome you to every town along the highway. Now, only a few remain. (Most of these pix are A's.)

The Skunk Train

Skunk Train Logo

A & H boarding the Skunk Train, so called because in the old days people could smell it before they could hear it. Nowadays it doesn't smell and it's a four-hour excursion into the redwoods and back. A fun time was had by all.

H taking in the redwoods -- open observation car.

H and redwood

The Skunk Train's onboard musician. A reports he was a great entertainer.

A day in Mendocino

We took a day trip from Willits to Mendocino, over a windy but lovely road through redwood forests where even stopped for a geocache or two -- with minimal success, I might say, but it's always interesting -- gives you a view of something up close and personal. This is where a tick found H, so we were a little wary of getting too close and personal with the trees. 

A fell in love with Mendocino -- surprise! surprise! -- which hasn't really changed since the last time we were here, or the time before that, or the time before that, going way back to the sixties. . .  No big box stores, all one-offs, with lots of B&Bs, vacation homes, galleries, posters about theatre, concerts, and poetry readings, and lovely looks at just about everything. Seems like it would be a nice place to live.

Bulletin boards promote all kinds of performances. It's a small town, but has its own theatre company. Hmm, sound familiar?

Lots of these signs. Says something about the community . . .

Old hotel on the main street along the water. Just a cool place.

Lots of neat old buildings and great skies

And lots of wild calla lillies (everywhere in California, it seems)

And lots of water towers made into galleries and yoga rooms

Crow on fence. (This and those that follow are A's photos.)

Driftwood art

Exploring Mendocino headlands

H takes a rest

Mendocino Headlands

Wild mustard on the headlands

Some pix of Bodega Bay

H & A on the Headlands

Bodega Bay from the RV Park

Bodega Headlands

Bodega Headlands

A cold wind but intrepid campers will have their smores. Guess who stayed inside?

Crab pots line the harbour road. Crab is a major economic industry here.

Doran Beach County Park is where we stayed. It's on a spit of land jutting out into the bay, seen from the road to the headlands. Beautiful spot -- no hookups -- but beautiful spot.

H on the beach, Bodega Bay.

Hwy 1, through eucalyptus groves, a beautiful drive, albeit narrow and windy.

Small enclave on Tomales Bay on Hwy 1 between Point Reyes and Bodega.

St. Theresa's Church in the town of Bodega, a few miles from Bodega Bay.

Bodega Bay: Things You Can Do with a Fishing Rod Besides Catch Fish

1. Fly a kite
2. Catch crab

Who knew?

We found this out at Bodega Bay where we saw both of the aforementioned activities taking place. With a  little shrewd marketing, this could be come the pizza warmer of the millenium -- the next great idea! Don't tell anyone. We're gonna make a fortune. Unfortunately no one thought to document these extraordinary activities with photographs. But it's all true. And we can probably come up with even more useful things you can do with a fishing rod. I'm sure we can. Maybe.

As you will have noted above, after Point Reyes we took Hwy 1 north along Tomales Bay to Bodega Bay. It is a beautiful stretch of road, only an hour's drive, incredibly scenic, through fluttery stands of eucalyptus, past cozy little enclaves, and along the shores of the bay with oyster farms and charming restaurants on one side and rolling hills on the other. (Unfortunately, none of us are big oyster fans, but Peter assures us that for those who are, it's culinary heaven.) If it's you driving, you may find those tight curves and narrow bits a little unnerving, but if someone else is driving, it's a visual smorgasbord of delight.

Bodega Bay is a favourite spot of ours -- a legendary haven for those sailing south from Vancouver to Mexico, a working crabbing port, and a lovely spot to park the RV for a few days. We stayed at Doran Beach, a regional park on a sandy spit that stretches out into the bay. When the wind blows, it can be a bit breezy (understatement), but it has a beautiful shallow sandy beach and open ocean on one side with a small breakwater providing a bit of shelter from the offshore blasts. On the other side is the harbour, with a marina on one side and another at the head of the bay, so you can sit on a bench there and watch the boats going in and out and the birds doing what they do best -- mergansers, gulls, turkey vultures, surf scoters, buffleheads, sandpipers, grebes, loons, and others, all looking for dinner or enjoying a nice bob on the bay. A wetlands also stretches along part of the bay where we saw hawks, brandts, terns, western sandpipers, mergansers and egrets. (One merganser pair were fearless, pulling fish literally out from under an egret's legs. Exasperated, the egret moved to the other side of the stream and was more exasperated when the mergansers followed him over, continuing to poach and grab. Kind of like the Republican presidential circus. Not appreciated by the egret, but amusing for us. )A short drive around the bay and up and you're at the Bodega Headland, which offers spectacular view of open ocean and tall red cliffs and, occasionally, migrating whales. We didn't get to see any whales, but it's a stunning view and we got up there when the wind was very gentle, so it was all very nice.

There are no hookups at Doran Beach, which is a challenge for four in an RV, but we managed. However, we left Bodega Bay when the winds became tedious, only after lots of time on the beach for H, a little birding, some great clam chowder, and a nighttime marshmallow-toasting campfire before we packed it in. Northern California along the coast is really a wondrous place.

We're at the KOA in Willits now. The drive up yesterday was another pretty one, through Bodega, Sebastapol, and Santa Rosa. Despite a petting zoo, a mini western town, four playgrounds, mini-golf, hiking trails, and who knows what all, the advertised heated pool isn't open until May, the hot tubs are only available at premium sites and they aren't open either, and the wifi is the pits. I think the business model for KOAs is to add on as many amenities as you can think of, jack up the price as much as you possibly can, then add 10 per cent on top of that. We avoid KOAs as much as possible, but the Skunk Train is here, and one of us is nuts about trains, so here we are. Nonetheless, the wifi is the pits and so uploading photos is iffy. (Hmm, seems I've said this before.  Note to RV parks ... ) So sometime, some photos will appear.

Some pix of Point Reyes

At the north end of the peninsula . . .

There are a number of "historic ranches" on the peninsula, somehow overseen by the Park Service, who, I suspect, contract out to the people who actually run the places, which appear to be mostly dairy farms. They all date back to the 1850s. The one at the north end is not a working ranch and open to the public. Quite an impressive place with bunkhouses, a school house, this enormous barn, other outbuildings, and the original house, which someone lives in.

R, inside the original barn, a cavernous place if there ever was one.

Cypress tree in the rain.

Drakes Beach, where we hoped to see elephant seals, but they weren't there that day. Drake, of course, is none other than Sir Francis, who explored this area in 1579 or so. And on the way to Drake's Beach we saw . . .

... tule elk, who we hoped to see at the elk preserve at the north end of the peninsula. They were grazing on a cow pasture here at the south end. The black cow seemed totally unaffected. Moo.

Cows are everywhere. Businesses are named after cows. They are in the valleys. They are on the hills. It's a cow's world. And what are you doing on my road?

More pix of Pt Reyes (from A's camera)

Many deer seen all over Point Reyes. This one was part of a trio on the road to Drakes Beach.

Elephant seals on beach

H and fence at historic ranch.

I wish I could convey to you how amazing this was. The wind was quite strong and this hawk just hovered in place for several minutes at a time with the grey chaotic ocean below. It was so good for the soul.

A and M at the Pt Reyes lighthouse

The group at the historic ranch at the north end of Pt Reyes

Raven roosting atop a high rock at the lighthouse, despite the high wind.

Shoreline from Pt Reyes Lighthouse

Elk on road to Drakes Beach

Sign in Inverness, a small town on the west shore of Tomales Bay.

Sign in Point Reyes Station, a funky looking town where the real estate prices are astronomical.

One of many picturesque photo ops along the west shore of Tomales Bay, a great oyster area.

Bike in Point Reyes Station.

Decor in mechanic shop, Point Reyes Station.