Driving the Northern Coast

Weather has been cool but that is always a good time to take a drive and enjoy the scenery. We drove south to Jenner and then turned left away from the shore towards Guerneville. More twists and turns driving through trees that hang above the road, with the Russian River below.



Bridge over Russian River



                 Of  course this is Wine country, near Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino .  However, we have done a lot of wine tasting over the years and decided to skip it this trip. We'll catch that another time.
We drove back to Jenner and stopped at a small restaurant overlooking the River. It has great sandwiches and awesome views. You just order inside and take your food out on the deck.

We continued the drive back past  Ocean Cove. We wanted to check out any possible ways back to the 101 once we leave rather than backtrack south the way we came in. Several roads had signs that said they were not recommended for rvs and large trucks. It  looked like it was going to be a lot way to find a suitable road and so we will probably just go out the way we came in. We stopped to check out another campgroud while we were in this area which is in Mendocino county. Pretty campground where you are really in the midst of trees.

                                                            
  Went through Sea Ranch which has a lot of expensive looking houses with great views of the coast. Below is an interesting looking sculpture or building. Would liked to have seen it up close.

                                                          

Stillwater County Park

One day, we took a walk through part of the Stillwater Park which you can get to directly from our  campground.  Loving it this time of the year with all the spring flowers. We have almost always been up in northern part of Ca  in the fall so is a new experience.

                                                 

Northern Coast and Ocean Cove

We traveled onto Ocean Cove Campground just outside of Jenner, Ca which is north of Bodega Bay and south of Mendocino. Again these are areas we have spend time in. We have been lucky to find two new wonderful places to stay on the coast this leg of our journey. Avila Beach was one and Ocean Cove is another. Northern Ca beaches are completely different from So Ca. Here you drive on two lane roads that twist and turn through forests and often find yourself hugging the side of the road looking down at the beach far below. Ocean Cove is a campground I found looking at RV Reviews website. It is on a small island of private land surrounded by state and county parks. It offers camping on a bluff overlooking the Pacific.
The pictures below tell the story and they are all taken in our campground.



Picture taken from our site



                                                                         

Walk around Carmel

We have vacationed in this area many times over the years and love it. Last time we were here we spend time in Monterey and kayaked at Elkhorn Slough. As we only are staying one full day in the area, we decided to go into Carmel which we haven't done for awhile. Carmel-by- the-Sea is a charming seaside town. It reminds me of Laguna Beach, very artsy. Of course, also famous for it's one mayor, Clint Eastwood.
We stopped for lunch at Grasing's, one of many pet friendly restaurants and shops in Carmel. We sat out on the back patio and had a very enjoyable meal. I had blue crab risotto, which was made with pearl pasta, spinach, asparagus and tomato and a lemon cream sauce, Joe had sand dabs over a delicous salad and we both had a cup of corn chowder. They use local fresh ingredients and everything was wonderful. That and a glass of wine made a very nice time. We then walked through some of the town and then headed back to our motorhome.

                                                     

Marina Dunes

We have planned to go to Jenner but decided to make a short stop at Marina Dunes, which is near Monterey. Both Avila and Ocean Cove near Jenner do not have hook ups and Ocean Cove will probably not have Cell or internet service. So we went to Marina Dunes on Tuesday. It has full hook ups and cell service. Joe will be able to do a little catch up work and we will also do laundry while we are there. We have stayed here a few years ago on a vacation  where we spent some time in Monterey and also did some kayaking at Elkhorn Slough, which is near by.

Marina Dunes RV Resort is within about 15 minutes from Monterey and Carmel. Across the street are the Dunes and there is a path for a short walk to the beach.

                                                                
                                                            

Chilling at Avila Beach

We have not been doing much of any site seeing in this area. We will be heading to Monterey where we should be doing more of that. We have just been enjoying the views, the weather, taking walks on the beach.
We did have to do some shopping, which included getting a new kindle. Unfortunately Savannah knocked over my coffee which got into my kindle. I won't leave that combination together again where she can get it.
At first it wouldn't work at all. Once it dried out, most of the buttons worked except the menu botton which of course need to read anything. We got the new third generation one that is a little smaller, thinner and lighter. Once we got it home, downloaded the book I was in the middle of, "Visit from the Goon Squad", from the computer and was set to go. Good book, by the way. The author is Jennifer Egan and this book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year.
We went to the Farmers Market again on Friday. We took Savannah this time. Another nice time. Music, this week, was a group called Sparrows Gate. They are a folk group that is very Dylanesque. They were very good.
We also went back to Pete's on the Pier for some ceviche and beers. More spicy than we have usually had but very good.  Two pictures below taken from Pier

     Savannah has continued to have fun with the other dogs, playing catch with her ball and romping in the water                                            

Thar She Blows

We finally got around to taking the kayaks out. We haven't been out for awhile in the ocean. Even though they was that much of a wave, my boat got away from me when I was trying to get in it and when sideways and got dumped. Ugh, what a mess. After getting rid of most of the water and mud, made a second much more successful try. Joe and Savannah got in without any issues and so we paddled around the bay. We headed over to the Avila Pier and noticed a boat with a lot of people on it looking and pointing out to the water. Whales!!! We missed seeing some at Jalama but saw them this time. They were breaching the water and blowing water out their blow holes. Really cool. Especially as we were out in the water with them, though about a half a football field away.  Unfortunately we didn't have the camera, maybe next time.

Later in the evening we watched the news of the death of Osama Ben Laden. Congratulations to the President and Navy Seals and everyone who have been involved in this operation.