Off on the first part of our summer trips! A little warm-up before we head to Glacier and Yellowstone via Portland in July. Started the day with rain and knowledge that the drive was only an hour and a half away. Took almost all day to get ready due to the rain being on and off, and loading up for two weeks makes me always reconsider all my planning decisions. On top of it hubby had last minute work obligations that were unknown in the morning which added to my constant decision changes. Finally got away with a short break in rain which allowed us to hook up, lock up and drive.
Dinner and wine softened the evening. Luckily the rain only continued until just at daybreak, although sleep was a bit of a noise struggle with the rain, we still managed to make it a sleep-in-morning. Never would have thought we would stay in Redding (so close like a backyard), but if we did it would be at JWG again. It’s clean, quiet, easy access to the freeway and the Sacramento River view can’t be beat. The birds, fishermen and boats all create an interesting story to watch throughout the day. Wedding attending is always fun, and it’s the reason for the first stop of our two week trip.
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| Driving to Sugarloaf Ridge State Park was traffic challenged through Highway 12. Had a stop where a dude in the oncoming traffic, also stopped, engaged us into discussion on how we liked our Airstream. The road up to the park was crazy narrow, steep in spots but short, and to get into the campground there is a dip over the stream that might cause issues for larger trailers over 25ft. The park run by volunteers, has a great meadow, full of families and is quiet. We had just enough time to set up before family joined us for a Father’s Day bbq. Site 9 is right by the bathrooms, but in the shade and along the creek. In the morning we sat in the meadow drinking coffee and watched a batting session between a dad and his son. | |
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| It was a short drive to Wright’s Beach, just a little under two hours and along Highway 1 North where the road can be narrow and driver challenged. I had heard great things about this place from fellow Airstreamers and Instagram. Our site wasn’t the best – a drivethru and on the inside of the loop- never our choice, and I guess I didn’t care when I originally made the reservations – I was just happy to get a site. However, beach sites are always designed close together so neighbors add or subtract to the ambience of the campground. In the future we would only stay here if we got 5, 6, 7 or 8. Weather was windy but clear and it was a quick walk to the beach. And we hooked up with some campers from Colorado and played ladder toss. | |
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On Tuesday we awoke to a calm ocean and walked the beach wishing all days could be this perfect. After breakfast we drove north and hiked the scenic .7 Mile Vista Point trail, then headed towards Fort Ross. We purchased deli sandwiches just north of the fort, brought them back, had a picnic and then walked through the grounds. The day was bright blue, with a bit of wind, and not to busy. It’s amazing to see the fort and the timbers used. The views from the fort are million dollar worthy with beach access for those wanting a hike to cove bathing. It has had a lot of changes such as moving the highway out of the middle of the fort, to rebuilding three of the structures with redwood from Humboldt Redwoods SP (where I worked at one point). The visitor center is beautiful and has a good interpretive section, movie room, and gift shop. “The ocean were the roads for the fort” and one can understand this with the lack of services unavailable it could still be true. Even the road we took from the south has a gate in two sections when most likely the weather creates unpredictable situations on the road making it unsafe. |
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| Windy Wednesday, and destined to be a drive and look day. We toured Bodega Dunes and then walked to the dedication to The Children’s Bell focused on a child killed in Italy (I can only imagine the grief). On to Doran Beach and checking out the county camping, lunch at the Tides, and then onto Bodega Head. The wind was brutal and watching a sailboat make its way out of the bay was questionable. Don’t know the outcome but we were glad we had the Cloud to come home to. Enjoyed reading Funny in Farsi, listened to the Giants win against the Pirates by a point, ate bbq pork chops, enjoyed salad and a Pinot. Sleeping in a windy Wednesday night. | |
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Leaving for Olema on Thursday was bittersweet, as the beach weather was perfectly calm, and everyone else appeared to be leaving. Coffee on the beach, and one of those beach breakfasts when everyone around seems to be making the same menu -pancakes and bacon. Driving down Highway 1 was easy and gorgeous! Tomales Bay is a pure cloudy crystal blue surrounded by a natural sage green and everywhere one looks it’s a postcard view. When we arrived at Olema Campground (private with electric and water) we were a bit overwhelmed by the size of the campground and emptiness. After deciding that we needed more sun we appeared at the office asking to move, and were told the campground was full and we were unable to move and that the site we had was one of the best in the park. This might be true once Friday night commences. We visited Point Reyes National Park and the visitor center then walked the Earthquake Trail, drove into Point Reyes Station and brought some food, then settled into an Airstream evening. |
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| Up early but with a leisurely coffee, fruit and granola we planned the day. Our focus was the Estero Trail to Sunset Beach. It was a beautiful hike and easy. We started through meadows, into pine forest and then hit Home Bay first and I could stayed there all day watching this Osprey try it’s best to get a fish and I’m sure perform for us. The trial then moves into Drakes Estero and there is a lot of pelican, egret action. Then we took a wrong turn and ended up on the Drakes Head Trail where we ate lunch in a windless ravine with a million dollar view as it was windy! We realized we were on the wrong trail and backtracked. Back on the Sunset Beach trail we were once again looking into Drakes Estero and one viewpoint provided us with a pod of seals resting on the shallow waters. One element of Drakes Estero and all the bay waters we have seen is the different variations of blue due to depth and plant life. Hiking down to Sunset Beach which we never set foot on but saw (the trail ends), was gorgeous – a beach you can’t get to. Eleven miles later we were back to our site and relaxing with a few beers, amazed at the swelling of campground residents. Olema was gently packed. | |
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Family time, bike ride and shopping were on the agenda for Saturday and the campground was humming! It was guys bike riding on the awesome Marin Bike trials, and girls shopping in Point Reyes Station. After sandwiches from Farmhouse, off we went. By four o’clock we were headed to Marin General to the emergency room. Hubby had hit a ground squirrel rut on the trail and broken his collarbone. We watched the entire Giants game in the ER – they lost-as we did. Now we are in a pickle…how to get the Airstream home….and a summer to think about. |
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