Day 98 – Wow, we were looking at the blog re the first trip we took after Rob retired earlier this year. Today, being the 98th day on this trip, is the longest we’ve been on the road ever. The first trip was 97 days. This one will be much longer. Cool! We think we could do this full-time. Lots of people do. Hmmm……
Up at 7:20 this morning, 39 degrees, clear & sunny once the sun came up. The girls again were enjoying the sun in the RV. We were very surprised that there weren’t a lot of people here. The weekend, a beautiful day, and not even the local fishing boats were going out. The parking lot here for parking the trucks & boat trailers was empty. Only one boat was launched & we were surprised when they came back shortly & then packed up and left.
We left here around 9:30 for our drive south to Point Reyes. First we made a side trip to the fantastic Wild Flour Breads, the bakery recommended by my cousin, Ann. Located in the tiny town of Freestone, west of Sebastopol, we’d read online that the lines of people can be out the door. It was busy, but not too bad. The big problem was what to buy – the loaves of bread are fresh-baked daily & herbs are used from their own garden outside (which you can stroll through while eating your scones). I got a meyer lemon & double ginger scone that was the best I’ve ever had of any kind of scone. Rob got his favorite – a sticky bun. We didn’t know that the sticky bun is big enough to feed four, and they sliced it for us. We got coffee and sat there and people-watched, enjoying the surroundings. To take home, we got a load of whole wheat sourdough walnut bread and a loaf of roasted garlic, olive oil, & rosemary sourdough bread. They were still warm from the oven. Oh my. Our car smelled heavenly the rest of the day.
We soon left Sonoma County and entered Marin County. The scenery on the drive was quite nice. Rolling green hills with lots of cows & horses, Cypress & Eucalyptus trees, wineries, & the lovely Tomales Bay with homes perched on piers over the water. Along Highway 1 it was quiet & serene until we got closer to Point Reyes. The town of Point Reyes Station is old & trendy & obviously very popular with the people from the San Francisco Bay cities coming up for day trips on the weekend. We stopped for a quick sandwich to go at a deli/grocery store & barely found a parking space. Throughout the area, the roads are fairly narrow, two-laned, and winding. Bicyclists have the right-of-way and it was a great day for biking. LOTS of bicyclists were out. We went to the visitor’s center at the entrance to Point Reyes National Seashore. Parking lots for the hikes & trails were full. We got excellent information on the hiking and biking trails for next week.
Bodega Bay, CA
We stopped at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, just south of Point Reyes Station, then six miles east on Sir Frances Drake Blvd. Drove through the one campground that was open all year and scoped out the campsites. Very few were big enough for the RV & the car, or if big enough, level enough for us. We’ve found that most of the CA State Parks we’ve encountered thus far are older & not really built for RV’s, more for small truck campers & tents. We wrote down the sites big enough for us & called to make reservations since a number of campsites were already reserved. Our favorite sites were already taken but we did get a reservation for a site beginning Tuesday next week. Mission accomplished, we headed back to the RV. Beautiful day.
When we got back to our campground, we found that most of the campers had left – weekend over. The tide was low and the birds were out, hunting for dinner. We sat outside by the Bay watching the very busy bird activity until the sun started to go down in the sky & it got colder.
Snowy Egret and Westefrn Gull, Westside Regional Park, Bodega Bay, CA
Snowy Egret, Westside Regional Park, Bodega Bay, CA
Westside Regional Park, Bodega Bay, CA
It got windy during the night and a continual thumping noise woke me up around 4 a.m. I took a flashlight & looked around the inside of the RV, thinking that either the girls were getting into something or I’d left the vent open in the bathroom ceiling (which clunks around if it’s windy). I noticed I didn’t need the flashlight – the lights from the fishing boats going out to sea were enough, and I wondered why so many were going out now & none went out yesterday. I couldn’t find what was making the noise but it continued to keep me awake. A problem for Rob to solve tomorrow. End of Week 14, Trip #3.