On the 13th, we stopped in the historic town of Mendocino for a while. It looked like a great place to spend a day eating and checking out the shops. Instead, we drove through and then checked out the cliffs on the outskirts of the village.
We then headed just down the road to our campground for the night, Van Damme State Park. After getting settled in, we threw the kids in the bike trailer and rode up the most serene little fern canyon. The trail was pretty rough for bikes, but the kids didn’t mind the bumps. We crossed several bridges as we wound our way up the canyon, with Cooper reminding us to be quiet as we crossed each one. Trolls live under them, you know, and she was quite concerned. The trail eventually winds up at a pygmy forest, which we learned means a bunch of fully mature trees that are only a few feet tall. We did not get to see it, however, as the trail was blocked by several downed trees at the 2.5 mile mark. No big deal. It was a great ride up, and even more fun on the way down. We also found more blackberry bushes that we raided before heading back to the campground, and then down to the beach.
While playing at the beach, we met a guy that had just gotten out of the water from diving for abalone. He had three of them, the daily limit. It is illegal to buy or sell abalone in California; the only way to eat them is to get them yourself, or even better, have a friend that will share. We were talking while he was showing his catch to Cooper and Brooks. Once he realized that we were staying in the campground, he invited us to stop by later to try abalone meat. Done deal. I was excited.
When it was time to go try the abalone we wanted to take them something to reciprocate, which ended up being a plate of bread and brie. The abalone wasn’t quite ready when we initially stopped by, so we dropped off the cheese plate and went back down to the beach to see what was left of the sunset.
When we returned, he fired the pan back up and cooked us a huge slab of abalone in garlic and butter, served with a slice of sourdough. The verdict? Good, but nothing out of this world special. The meat was tender enough to easily cut with the side of a spoon. It was slightly sweet, but mainly just tasted like garlic and butter, which is never a bad thing. Cooper was thrilled when he told her that she could have one of the abalone shells. They did look cool, very opalascent, and we intended on making it into a soap dish in Cooper’s bathroom. However, after about a week it smelled like we were carrying dead whale parts in the campervan, so we threw it away. She doesn’t know it’s gone, but she hasn’t asked about it either. So, sorry, Cooper. Now you know why you never had an abalone shell soap dish growing up.
Oct 14 – After a slow morning, we got on the road to continue making progress south. The coast was socked in with fog for much of the day, ironically making for some neat views. It was so thick at times that you couldn’t see the ocean at the bottom of the cliffs that we were driving alongside. We stopped at Stump Beach Cove to take a break from driving and to have lunch. There was quite a bit of swell coming in and the waves were peeling down the rocks on both sides of the cove. It was quite mesmerizing.
After that, it was more following the Coast Highway through towns like Timber Cove, Jenner, and Salmon Creek. After driving through Bodega Bay, we decided to stop for the night at Doran Regional Park. Even though it wasn’t a state park, it was still $35 for a basic campsite. Cooper and Brooks enjoyed having the run of the campground, first at the beach and then playing in a bush in our campsite. We left in the morning after paying an additional $7 to dump our tanks; the first and only time we’ve had to swipe a credit card for the poop pipe lid to open.
On the 15th, we made it to Napa. Jennifer was quite excited for this part of the trip. We took the advice we received from a few different people and headed for the Castello di Amorosa. It’s a winery in a castle, and it was well worth the visit. After walking around the castle for a while, we headed downstairs to check out the wines. Cooper and Brooks were given grape juice, bread sticks, and coloring books to keep them occupied while we did a tasting. The wines were good and we left with a bottle or two.
Jennifer wanted to check out one more winery before we headed to our campground, so we pulled into Trichnero for another tasting. We had the place to ourselves, and Cooper and Brooks played outside on the patio while Jennifer and I tried their flight of cabernets. More good stuff, but it all begins to taste the same after a while. We then headed to the Napa Valley State Park to get a campsite for the night. We grilled chicken on the fire before eating at our picnic table in the dark. The next morning, we headed towards San Fran to meet up with Jennifer’s cousin, Brian.
