Coast of Northern California October 5-9

    We left Bandon in the rain and it rained pretty much all day. We slept in Eureka which is a rather ugly town divided by Route 101 which goes through the heart of town. We stayed at a Best Western Plus which was okay.

We drove into the old Victorian district which is said to have one of the largest concentration of Victorian homes. One, the former home of a lumber baron, is now a private club. We did find a good Indian restaurant, Tandoori Bites, which had a pretty unappealing outside, but very good food. They told Mark how to make paneer cheese at home as they have to make their own because it is not available in Eureka.

   Mendocino Day One

Mendocino, the walk to town from our hotel

   The weather was lovely today which was a nice surprise. We drove down 101 to Route 1.  We stopped by to reminisce at Richardson Grove State Park in the redwoods where we camped with the kids when they were young and also with Christine and Ken years later. We walked about, ate a muffin and looked up Eel River where we had swum years before. Sadly, it is now closed to swimming because of toxic algae.

Route 1 was probably a mistake - it was 25 (at least!) miles of hairpin turns and twists and turns. Both of us felt motion sick, but Mark more than Barbara because she was driving. We were both really glad to be done with it. 

Richardson Grove

Mendocino

Good Life Cafe

    Mendocino, California, Day One

After the harrowing drive, we pulled into Hill House at Cabot Cove in Mendocino. We are in a Victorian room. The town is in severe drought with many water restrictions.

Last time we were here, we were camping somewhere out of town with Christine and Ken. 

The woman who checked us in said that some of the crew of Murder She Wrote, stayed here, hence the name. We drove into town and had a good late lunch at the Good Life Cafe sitting outside in a tent. The town is incredibly Covid conscious and has made many arrangements to keep people safe. Every place requires masks and there are many outdoor venues.

After lunch, we walked a lot of the town and down to the beautiful cliffs. Then we went to the grocery store for a few items and drove some more of the cliffs.

Mendocino, Day Two

Today we walked down to the Good Life Cafe for breakfast - Barbara a breakfast tostado and Mark spinach scramble. mmmm Then we walked back and took a drive - first to Big River State Park under the bridge where we walked along the river and later to Little River State Park where we watched people go out rock cod fishing in small kayaks. We learned that collecting of abalone has been halted for 10 years here to give them a chance to recover.

We took another walk to the headland where we saw brown pelicans, ravens and oyster catchers. (We walked over 3 miles today) And, for dinner we went to Mendocino Cafe where we ate outside. (All restaurants are outside here for Covid) Mark had rock cod fish in a sandwich and Barbara had an Asian veggies/tofu stir fry.

One Day in Monterey

    We left Mendocino and drove to Monterey. The first part of the drive included the first section - Rt 128, some twisty turny. We are in a rather standard motel, but it's quite expensive for what it is. We walked along the harbor to Fisherman's Wharf which seemed a bit honky-tonk. We are too tired to drive out to Carmel. We went to a mall and got some good tuna poke