Two days in one post with this one!
Wednesday 16/9/2015
We woke to rain this morning in soggy Red Bluff. The breakfast was good though, I really do love those cinnamon rolls at the Holiday Inn! Our first stop for the day was the small town of Anderson just up the road. There is nothing to recommend Anderson other than it’s name but Neil just had to stop and take a photo of the Welcome to Anderson sign. Apparently there are also towns named Anderson in North Carolina and Indiana… and Neil has informed me that we will be going to them too some day!
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| Roadworks in the rain |
From Anderson we set off northwest over the mountains to head to the far north coast of California. In fine weather it would have probably been an interesting drive but the weather was miserable, the rain persistent , the skies dark and the mists rising from the valleys. In the early part of the drive we queued with many other cars and trucks to be “piloted” through and enormous section of roadworks for over 20 minutes. They are working hard to turn a narrow, winding road into a much more straightforward route by cutting through hills and building embankments across valleys. We were very fortunate to arrive at a good time and were only delayed by about 10 minutes, but it was possible to be delayed an hours or more if you came at just the wrong time.
Eventually we finally came down from the hills and saw our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean again since arriving in the country.
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| The Carson Mansion |
At the town of Eureka we stopped for a look around the old town and to have a much needed coffee. Eureka has one of the finest collections of old Victorian houses in the United States, many of which were owned by the lumber barons that made their fortunes here in the 1800s. The grandest home of the lot is the Carson Mansion, which is now a private club.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fancier house with its turrets and spectacular decorations. Neil said it reminded him of the Munsters house, and I can certainly see the similarities! Personally I preferred the little pink House across the road. The streets of the old town have been nicely cobbled and their are trees and gardens planted which really make it an attractive place to wander even on a grey day.
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| Old Town Eureka |
We carried on north up the coast to visit the Redwoods National and State Parks Visitor centre. On route we passed through our first glimpse of the great California Redwoods, but it wasn’t til we’d driven back south and inland again to the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park that we really saw the best of these enormous trees. They streaked up into the sky, crowding the narrow road to the left and right and I’m afraid it’s just nor possible to convey their height in a photograph.
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| The Avenue of the Giants |
The rain was still dripping down as we drove along and we only stopped in a few places, in one place there was a huge stump lying at the side of the road which helps to show the width that some of these trees achieve. This one was just a baby too!
Not far south of the Redwood groves we turned onto Highway 1 right at it’s most northern point to start our long drive down the coast, but first we had to reach the coast. What followed was the most winding 22 consecutive miles that we’ve ever experienced. Thank goodness neither of us gets carsick, this road was an absolute doozy! Neil really got his exercise steering the car around the constant tight curves and I think I have bruises on my upper arms from constantly bracing myself against the curves!
It was a relief to finally hit the coast again for the remaining drive down to Fort Bragg, where we stayed for the night. It was also a relief to see the bath under the window, overlooking the view of the ocean. The perfect place to rest our weary muscles.
Thursday 17/9/2015
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| Small boat heading out to sea. This view was from our balcony. |
I slept like a log last night! It was lovely to wake to sunshine this morning and to see the small boats heading out from the river under our window. The first part of the drive down the coast was lovely. We stopped in to see the Mendocino Headlands State Park which had some great views out over the rocky and wild coastline. The northern Californian coast is not for the faint hearted, the water is cold and there are not really many beaches, but it’s very scenic.
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| Mendocino Headlands State Park |
I was also tickled, both yesterday and today, when we passed through several groves of Eucalyptus trees. I was reminded of Mum’s story of seeing the gum trees on the west coast of California when they had been living in the USA and feeling a wave of nostalgia for home. There is no mistaking the gums, they are SO different to American trees, it was lovely to see them. These were mainly Blue Gums that were introduced into California around the time of the 1850s Gold Rush.
The sun continued to shine until we approached the town of Point Arena. In one of our stops along the highway we’d seen the fog starting to flow in from the sea across the coast. The summertime sea fog is notorious in San Francisco but I hadn’t realised it could extend this far north. It was a doozy! We shortly plunged right into it and for the next hour or so it hung over us like a damp blanket. Every now and again we’d veer inland and find ourselves in bright sunshine again but the entire coast was obscured by it. We knew the ocean was out there but we just couldn’t see it!
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| The fog just starting to roll in |
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| The rest of the coast drive looked like this! |
We stuck with the coast road all the way down to Bodega Bay ( the town in which Alfred Hitchcock set the movie “The Birds”) but by that stage we were sick of the grey and decided to strike inland for some sunshine. This took us to the town of Petaluma which sits just on the edge of the Sonoma valley wine country. We passed a few vineyards but instead of wine tasting we stopped in at an Outlet Center for some coffee and a little shopping. A couple for t-shirts for me and a nice Van Heusen blazer for Neil made it a worthwhile stop!
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| Dinner view of San Francisco |
From there it was only another 4 minutes drive to Sausalito, the pretty bayside village that is tucked at the feet of the Golden Gate bridge and looks across to San Francisco and Alcatraz. The Hotel Sausalito is a cute little boutique hotel right on the water and within a short walk to heaps of restaurants.
We chose the Spinnaker restaurant and had a delicious dinner watching the sun set over San Francisco and spotting sea lions popping their heads out of the bay under our window. The sun is supposed to be shining tomorrow when we head across the Golden Gate to revisit the City by the Bay, can’t wait!