Home Again

We stayed until Monday as it isn't often you get to camp on February 29th.  Well, were were there this morning anyway even if we didn't spend the night and come home on March 1st.

It was another beautiful day with clear skies, 70 degrees and no wind.  We got the best of it as the forecast is for rain on Tuesday with it some wind and colder weather.  The rain isn't supposed to reach our home until Wednesday night and it should be clear and 70 here until then.

We really enjoyed the trip over to Bodega Bay but there is a correction I was told to make.  The scones that I said were chocolate, cherry and goat cheese were actually chocolate, cherry and coconut.  The Wildflour Bakery is in the little town of Freestone at the intersection of the Bodega Highway and the Bohemian Highway in case you get to the area and want to check it out.  Only open Friday thru Monday.

We are thinking and planning our next outing as the hills are green and the wildflowers are popping up everywhere.  It will be in the Sierra Foothills.

Bodega Dunes State Park

Today the plan was to go to Duncan Mills, Occidental, and the little town of Bodega where the movie "The Birds" was filmed.  Plans have a way of being altered.  By 10 am Linda had a migraine and retreated to the bedroom.  She usually brings some medicine for the occasional times it happens but forgot to put it in this time so she just needed to ride it out.

After lunch and getting some fresh air she felt well enough for us to take the trail into Bodega Dunes State Park from the RV Park.

Along the trail to the State Park there is a bell tower in memory of Nicholas Green a seven year old boy from Bodega Bay that was killed by robbers in Italy in 1994.  The plaque provides details.

Some of the bells have the names of the organ recipients.

The sand dunes that the park derived its name.

There are many nice campsites in the park with many long enough to accommodate larger rigs.  There are no hookup in the park but the restrooms are nice with flush toilets.

The tree cover would certainly limit solar collectors.

We camped here with a neighborhood group when our daughters were little and had a great time.

During off season we might consider camping in the state park if it wasn't for the fact California now charges $35/night with no hookups while Bodega Bay RV Park is $45 with Good Sam discount for full hookups and you can walk right into the park.

Tomorrow we will return home as we have other commitments.  It has been a great break from retirement as you rarely get a day off.

Fort Ross

The Mexican restaurant last night turned out to be very good with all of us enjoying different entrees from the menu.

Somehow we picked the right weekend to come here.  As I had said before the weather was great and on top of that the park is only half full if that much.  They had said that the weekends on either side of this one were already fully booked.

This morning was fantastic clear blue skies with little or no wind.  Again we enjoyed the morning taking care of a few thing we wanted to get done and then the girls made their lunch and we made a run back to Spud Point Crab Co. for some more chowder.

Today was Fort Ross State Historic Park which is about 11 miles north of Jenner, CA.  We had been there years ago and it consisted of the old Russian church with the rest being ruins or just foundations.  Not much to see.  Highway 1 that used to run through the middle of what once was the fort has been rerouted and much of the fort has been restored.  The entrance is through a very nice visitors center that has a small museum and a room showing a video of the history of the fort.

We arrived in time for the 2 pm tour which consisted of a lecture and then a tour of the warehouse building.  Fort Ross was established by the Russians to support their fur trading and to supply colonies in Alaska with supplies.  Agriculture didn't work out as planned and the number of fur animals declined with intense hunting so the colony was failing to make a profit.  At the same time the Russians made a deal with the Hudson Bay Company to supply the Alaska colonies which ended the need for the Fort Ross Colony.

The history continues with the subsequent inhabitants which was also very interesting and learning many thing we weren't aware of.

The first building was offices and the armory, the far on is the Russian Orthodox church.

In the warehouse with supplies that it would have contained at the time.  Note the Russian printing on the barrels.  There were some Russians in the tour group that read the labels.  One that our guide didn't know they said was rock sugar.  They also described making concentrated tea and then diluting it with hot water when ready to drink it.

This one was translated to rock sugar.

This was the fur storage room in the warehouse.  In addition to sea mammals such sea otter and seals, there were pelts from fox, coyote, bear, sheep and other animals in the area.

To the right is the fur press which compressed the furs to be bound in sealskin bundles for shipment. The sealskin bundle was waterproof and contained a variety of furs.  By mixing the type of furs in each bundle the insured against losing all of one type of fur if a bundle was lost in shipment.

The building in this picture was for the single soldiers and officers.

View back to the offices/armory and the church.

This is the cove where the ships would come into a wharf.  There was also a slide/chute to load timbers onto the ships.

Marine Research Facility

Our friends wanted to take us to a little place they had found years ago and return to often when they were in the area.  It is a little bakery at a fork in the road out in an area of dairy farms.  The bakery is only open 4 days a week and everything is baked in a wood fired brick oven.  When we got there the place was very busy and the variety of breads and scones was amazing.  They provide samples of all their goods for tasting and it didn't take long for our purchases to increase substantially.  Each sample seemed to encourage us to add another item to our bag.  My favorite was the chocolate, cherry and goat cheese scones.

We returned to the RV Park to drop off our purchases and let the dogs out for a walk and wound up spending more time just sitting and enjoying the sun.  After a while I was ready for one of the main attractions for chowder lovers; the Spud Point Crab Co.

 Lunch was a pint and a half of clam chowder with Linda and I splitting a crab sandwich.

After lunch we went on to the Marine Research facility out on Bodega Head.  They are only open on Fridays from 2-4 pm to visit and they give tours during that time.  We arrived just before a tour was to begin.  The research done here is on invertebrate marine animals like abalone, clams, mussels, urchins, along with many, many others.

View from the back of the center

Tanks that contained various creatures such as urchins, starfish, etc.

These tanks contained eel grass that had a Hare Snail that cleans the grass to allow it to gather the most light.

This tank contained urchins and star fish and maybe some other things.

All in all a very interesting visit and we learned some things and had some misconceptions corrected.

Tonight we will try the little Mexican restaurant next to the park entrance.  The office staff recommended it so that could be good or they just wanted to send business that way.  I am somewhat leery of recommendations of nearby businesses as they haven't always been the best.  Nothing ventured nothing gained.  Besides there is light drizzle this evening that was in the forecast so no point of going far.

Winter Getaway to the Coast

We are off to Bodega Bay, CA and will meet some good friends there for four nights to enjoy the coast and see some things that weren't open the last time we were here.  The forecast was for some nice weather in the low to mid 60s will little wind and partly cloudy skies with only a chance of some showers.  This time of year that is unusual as it is usually very windy and cold.

The drive over was pleasant with all the nice green pastures with lots of dairy cows, sheep, and some goats as we traveled Sonoma county.  After the drought-parched hills the past year it was a welcome sight.

We arrived at Bodega Bay RV Park about 12:30 and our friends pulled in less than a half hour later.  The park is well maintained with a friendly staff that continually check the grounds and facilities.  There are a number of pull-thru sites in the center two rows and back-in sites down each side of the park.  The upper sites are full hookups with the lower sites just electric and water.  There are un-serviced site at the bottom of the hill.

Our site

Friends in the next site

 Pull-thru sites

 Back-in sites

There is a trail at the back of the park that connects to the State Park.

We spent the remainder of the day enjoying the sunshine and visiting.  Great way to spend a winter day.