Mendocino and Fort Bragg
Day 1
November 27th
The Drive from San Jose to Mendocino – 4 hrs on 101 and nearly 5 hrs on hwy 1.We’d done the Hwy 1 drive south of San Francisco multiple times and up north till Point Reyes. It made sense to Join Hwy 1 somewhere near Bodega Bay and drive all the way up.
The Sonoma Coast
It was rather uneventful until we started driving along the Pacific. I’ve stayed in Bodega Bay, camped on Wrights beach and covered all the beaches in between. The surf was always rough but never looked Dangerous. The sight of 20ft waves crashing into rocks and the ocean in front literally roaring was menacing. Ive never seen the Pacific in this Avatar. We had to make a stop at Salt Point, for old times sake. ( and also for a restroom break – yes, the campground has flush toilets)
The Drive upto Point Arena
The Road is reasonable wide, but a single lane each way. It took us up the hill and then down again. It was interesting for me coz nowhere on the big sure drive does the road go so high up the hill and yet by the bluff. Quite breathtaking – until the fog played foul. We drove past the Gualala regional park ( so the board read ). The plan was to stop at the Point Arena lighthouse. We stopped at the town just before , by the same name. It was time for a cup of Coffee from the only shop that was open that day – everyone else was eating turkey. Family owned little place. She named her smoothies after her kids! Perfect Mocha. Got the sugar just right. We couldn’t see a thing ahead of us on the road, but something made us turn left and try our luck with the lighthouse. The tallest one on the pacific coast. That was 15 minutes we were never getting back.
Sandrahla!
Continued driving through till we reached the house. The landscape looked pretty much the same all through – fog. Thank God for the Coffee. The keys had already been picked up from the Coast Getaways office on Little Lake rd. All we needed to do was to get home. Beal Ln can easily be missed ( But the GPS doesn’t, so that worked out well). It’s a narrow road and 33150 was somewhere near the end of the street. What is amazing is that Google has a street view of this! It is practically a Private Street leading to a pathway over the dunes to our private beach!!!!
Sandrahla was a beautiful home with a spectacular yard. Spacious and beautifully landscaped. There was even an outdoor deck with a grill and a hot tub. To the left as you go through the front door is a large living room and formal dining room; straight ahead is the family room with the 50" TV and another dining area that is open to the spacious kitchen, including a big island--enough room for anyone who wanted to play chef. the master bedroom had a huge bathroom suite each of the other 3 bedrooms were themed- Asian, Hawaiian, and Am. Indian. 4 beds and 3 baths for 4 families. That was a lot of room. The private dunes dunes and beach were on the Mackerricher State Park & Beach. Btw, i got the Asian room.
The Agenda: Unpack – eat – play. We did drive a long way. Couldn’t have spent the evening better.
Day 2: Friday
November 28th
BBQ Prep
Normally we would wake up early and head out. This time we decided to Chill. It was vacation time – time to just be. Also – Rain was predicted. The morning was wet. The nice kind of wet. We had planned to BBQ weeks ahead. Rain was not going to stop us. Right after breakfast, what we did was marinate. MDH Tandoori BBQ masala + curd + Corriander chutney. Simple and yummy. cauliflower, zucchini, onions, paneer and bell peppers. The only thing we were missing were the mushrooms.
Walk into the dunes
A deer checked us out from atop the dunes. We had to go! Prashant went out on a reconnaissance ( but without his camera), he came back and I went along with him on the second trip. This time, we brought the camera without the SD card. By the time we got back to retrieve it, the whole mob was ready. So we started on the expedition again. There were 3 sets of prints – Deer, Mine, Prashant’s. wild.
The combination of open spaces and kids is lethal. They went crazy. I had no idea kids could run so fast with their tiny limbs. We had to take turns running with them. I love baby metabolism. I want it. It’s amazing how a bite of food consumption can take them over the roof! The dunes were totally un-spoilt and beautiful. It started getting a bit windy and we headed back. The good thing was that it looked like it was clearing up. We hoped the morning drizzle was the last we saw of the rains.
BBQ
The men had an afternoon out with the grill and some wine. Lots of fun and great food.
Mendocino and the Headlands
Come evening and we headed out to Mendocino. We had to drive back south towards Mendocino and just followed signs to the Mendocino Headlands state park. Mendocino is a little peninsular village which sits on rugged bluffs overlooking the pacific. It is simply beautiful – with its New England style architecture, galleries, inns and shops. A survivor of the free spirit and the era of peace and love. The state park surrounds the village making it accessible to everyone. A much appreciated buffer. The meandering drive took us along the bluff. The views were expansive and ocean was as unruly as it was the day before. We reached the tip and parked. The car shook. We looked at a bird in the sky and it was floating in the same spot while trying to fly. Another gull was actually walking backwards. It was hilarious. We got out of the car only to be pushed by the strongest headwinds I have ever encountered. It was a struggle to stand in one spot. It was a struggle to take pictures. It was exhilarating. Cold, but exhilarating. No one survived long enough. We had to keep running back to the car and recover before heading out again. I’m glad I had that experience. Wouldn’t have wanted it to be otherwise.
In the Village
We drove into the village at stopped at Harvest Market for some local wine and cheese. ( and also some organic dark chocolate with raspberry). It was a nice little store. Definitely prefer to patronize this local store rather than the Safeway closer to Fort Bragg. We Strolled down, to grab some coffee before heading home. Coffee was at Moodys café. Quick and nice.
Day 3
November 29th
After a long night of Cranium, I think it was 11 by the time we left.
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse
South of Fort Bragg, closer to Russian Gulch State park is the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. It’s located in a vast nature preserve. It’s a ½ mile hike on a paved road to get to the lighthouse. Here, we could actually climb down into the rocks and enjoy the surf up close. We could only imagine how this place would have been last evening with all the wind. The “lighthouse Inn”, overlooks the lighthouse and is actually open for renting! There are 6 rooms and 3 cottages – each costing between $250 and $300 per night. It’s definitely worth a try! There is also the first light keepers house that is maintained as a museum, with all it’s antiques preserved. It was interesting.
It was time to grab lunch. I wanted to try Piaci, but it was closed. We should have closed in quickly on an alternative, something local. I would have liked to try Mendo Bistro. What did we do? We Had lunch at Round Table Pizza. I am not going to talk about that for obvious reasons.
Van Damme State Park
While Northern California is famous throughout the world for towering redwoods and Douglas firs that grow to be hundreds of feet tall, there are, however, trees that cant grow to even 10 feet tall! This is what the Pygmy forest walk told us. It’s nestled in the Van Damme state park, 3 miles south of Mendocino. The natural condition of the soil is the cause of their stunted growth. They’re 100s of years old, live in these harsh conditions just a mile away from towering redwoods and are still alive! Pretty cool. There was a nice little boardwalk and the place was surprisingly chilly.
Russian Gulch State Park
After following directions to the park, we drove down the road and turned into the road that took us to “picnics”. The picnic tables are located right before the parks most interesting feature : the blowhole. The relentless pounding of the mighty pacific has burrowed a 200 ft tunnel island. Eventually, a huge section caved in measuring 60 ft deep by 100 ft wide, creating a spectacular sight. You can actually look down into the canton and see the churning, bubbling sea as it crashes and thunders below. The views of the headlands are also quite spectacular from this park – 2 miles north of Mendocino.
Back to Fort Bragg
On our way back, we stopped at the pedestrian bridge, right off hwy 1, to get some shots of the sunset. The access to this bridge is tricky. Our guess is that it is accessible via a paved path from the backyard of the motel right next to it. We had to climb rocks to get there.
Day 4
November 30th
This was our drive back. We drove into Mendocino on Hwy 1 , along the pacific. This time, we were driving though Hwy 128. Right after we crossed Van Damme State Park, we were stunned by the dramatic tunnel of redwoods that led all the way to the Anderson Valley. Navarro River Redwoods State Park offered the most beautiful natural corridor I have driven through. Superb wines and beautiful scenery is what awaited us in Anderson Valley. It is best known for its production of rich pinot noirs and Gewurztraminers. It’s full of small family owned wineries that make small batches of hand crafted wines. We stopped by at Handley Cellars for tasting and brought back souvenirs. Wine, art and beautifully scenery blend seamlessly in this fascinating region of Mendocino County. We stopped for lunch at Boonville, right at the southern edge of Anderson valley. Freshly made roasted veggie sandwich and a pizza with parsley and caramelized onions. My mouth’s watering as I type this. To me, stopping there was the best decision we took that day!
The rest of the drive was rather uneventful and we were consumed by the moroseness of the impending Monday morning. We had a wonderful vacation, tons of pictures, memories and now, an entry in this blog!
