Fort Bragg, CA – 352 km

We left Newark this morning at 10:00 after an early get up (5:35 am) to go with Cathy and Eileen on their morning walk around the little lake and through the local park. We saw some nesting egrets and some nesting herons as well as lots of Canada Geese and goslings. This has been their daily routine for years. We have walked with them in the past. For some reason we don’t seem to walk as fast as they do. Could it be called retirement and the slower pace we are now accustomed to?? Could it be the long walk Eileen and Kevin had us do yesterday?? Anyway, it was a great start to the day.

The rather late start was to allow the morning commuter traffic to abate somewhat with the hopes that we would not run into severe slowdowns or jams. And it worked (just - as a car ahead of us blew a tire and pulled off onto the center median - we left him behind). We dutifully paid our $5 toll for the privilege of riding the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge which allowed us to see San Quentin prison and to access California HWY 1 to travel up the coast. We weren’t sure this was the best plan as it can be really foggy this time of year but overall it wasn’t too bad.

Beautiful Northern California Coastline

In spite of bits of fog/sea spray/drizzle it really it turned out to be an enjoyable ride. The scenery is awesome, the road very windy and not too busy though sure has potential to get clogged up as it isn’t possible to do any speed or pass with the up and downs and multiple curves. They do have numerous pull over spots though so that does help keep the traffic flowing.  The temperature hovered around 17 for a good part of the day but dipped to 11 as we were getting ready to stop.

We stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop in the Point Reyes area and also at Bodega Bay, where Doug taught at the research station while he was at U of C in Berkeley. It is supposed to be famous for its salt water taffy so we had to stop for a sampling at a local shop.

Ever Tried Margarita Flavoured Saltwater Taffy?

 

Bodega Bay

 Tomorrow we will continue up the coast, weather permitting.