Traveling North

Our destination, once we'd crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, was Olema.  It is the town closest to Point Reyes.  We talked of Muir Woods, we talked of the light house, we talked of more elephant seals and sea lion rookeries...and then we got detoured.  Instead of the Shoreline Hwy, we were sent along the Panoramic Hwy.  Up Mt. Tamalpais.  winding winding back and forth, up and down, 20-30 mph.  It took SO long, there was NO WAY I would back track to Muir Woods!  NO WAY.

Olema is a cute blink in the road.  We stayed in the Point Reyes Inn, and saw this across the street.  Quaint.  We had our best meal on the road at the Farmhouse Restaurant, next door.

 The next morning, we were told that the road to Point Reyes was being renovated, so we couldn't see anything there, either.  We took a loop through some tall trees near Olema, to make up for missing Muir Woods.

Our next destination was Mendocino.

Had we known how slow we would be traveling, we might have skipped the tree loop or stopped someplace sooner.  We looked for a place to stop in Bodega Bay, but there was nothing on the highway.  We found a restroom just past Bodega Bay, at a Snowy Plover nesting area.  I didn't see any snowy plovers, but the view was intensely beautiful.

 I pointed out view points, and we pulled over for pictures.  This guy ruled this table.  It was his, marked and everything.  ;)

 We stopped at Fort Ross, the furthest south Russian settlement on the west coast.  It was fun to poke through and see a CA fort, so different from the stone structures we explored in Scotland.

 Back on the road, we watched for cows.  We saw a single deer on the road.  The cows stayed on the hills, where they belonged.

We stopped for food in Gualala, around 3pm.  It was the first food place we'd seen in HOURS.  We split a pizza, BBQ for him, Mendocino Veggie for her.

 We pulled into Point Arena Lighthouse 10 minutes before it closed for the day.  I snapped a picture and off we went, since we missed the tour window.  We eventually made it to Mendocino, just before sunset.

 And all along the roadside, near houses, near fences, in the middle of nowhere, the Naked Ladies were madly blooming.  They were EVERYWHERE.  It was like Johnny Appleseed hit CA and planted Naked Ladies instead of apple trees.  Quite the spectacular display of pink.  Apparently August is the month that they strut their stuff.   Lovely!

And I guess I'll leave you with that, as this is getting a bit long.  We still had a few places to land before heading south again.  Stay tuned, we'll catch up eventually.