California coast – OsteoPraxis on the road

These down days in California…..we actually stayed in one spot for a couple of weeks….were very welcome. It doesn’t take long to learn your way around, correct highway exit for the campground or grocery store and back road home from there, or just being in the correct lane to make that turn without trauma in the endless congestion.

We did a rare ‘divide and conquer’ day where Scott drove in to SF to meet up with an old university pal…..and I stayed in Sonoma and spent the day touring wineries in Paul’s 1957 baby blue Thunderbird convertible. I know….you feel bad for me…..!!! (Editor, her ladyship slipped very easily into the movie star lifestyle, while I trekked around Downtown SF with Derek. Hit all the tourist spots and ended up in the ‘Tenderloin’ district, only scary if you didn’t grow up in Fife.)

Paul has always been an automotive enthusiast…..but he has collected some real gems. There’s the restored 1943 Ford GPW, very similar to a Willys Jeep……which is an experience….( Scott got to drive….I didn’t dare…..)…..and the T-bird which is truly a thing of beauty.

Both vehicles arouse the same kind of response from other drivers on the road….and pedestrians in the town……they turn heads and illicit many smiles and waves. Reminded me of driving my Mini or pulling the Airstream, People just love to see these icons.

It was great fun…..and a terrific excuse to go for ice-cream in the town square where we were joined by one of Paul’s vintage car friends ….with her rather supercool car for a bit more head turning….

…..and in truth…the winery trips were on foot. Paul, very conveniently, lives 10 minutes walk from two very acceptable California vineyards. I’m not actually sure there are any I would turn down.

All very civilised I have to say….!!!

Our next trip out in Sonoma was a gem of a trail up through the grounds of the old Sanitorium, the “Sonoma Developmental Center” which closed in ~2018. Its original name when it was founded in the late 1800s was the somewhat non-PC “California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children”.

After an epic effort by an army of volunteers the grounds of this former centre were cleaned up after many years of neglect and added to the neighbouring Jack London Historic State park in Jan of 2024.

The trail through the grounds reveals a more compassionate approach to care than the name of the place might suggest. Play areas, outdoor activity areas….and wilderness camp areas for both residents and staff. Not all residential care was cruel and inhumane.

It was a lovely afternoon hike/walk….mostly shaded..and through some big ( if not giant) redwoods….always such impressive trees. There were many which had burned out in the past and several new trunks were emerging from the old root stock.

Thanks Paul for another great day out……and some lovely memories.

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OOOO…the pick of iconic spots to visit in California. One of the picks that seemed obvious was Bodega Bay. I’m not sure if there are any spots on the Californian Pacific coast that are not spectacularly beautiful….. or that don’t have an almost eerie Deja vu vibe …… ( there cannot be much of the landscape here that has not featured in multiple movies and tv shows)

Bodega Bay was no exception.

We drove up to Bodega Head to follow the trail around the clifftop looking down into the bay. It was lovely…and lovely to bask in that cool sea breeze.

The first part of the trail looks down across the bay back towards the town….and many tourist beaches. ( You can almost see Tippi Hedren running for her life through the grass…!! Yes this where Alfred Hitchcock filmed ‘The Birds’)

Looking down we could sea the walrus on the rock island in the distance and watch the fishing boats come in….

…further along we stopped to watch the seabirds flying, diving and doing general seabird stuff…..

The Pacific coast is something else……the clifftop view along this path is wonderful.

…and here is a classic blogtographer picture….can you spot me standing out on the point ( well not quite…but as far as I dared go…!!!)

Next choice for the day was a trip out to Point Reyes.

Point Reyes is another US National Seashore and had been recommended by a couple of different people.

First stop in the park has to be the visitor centre. The US National Park Rangers have , in our experience, have always been tremendous resources for the best spots to go to…..and Point Reyes was no exception.

The ranger directed us first to Drakes beach as the most likely spot to spy some walrus…..that sounded good so off we went.

We did not realise until we arrived…that Drakes beach is the actual beach where Sir Francis Drake landed the Golden Hind in 1579 during his circumnavigation of the earth ( which is why its called Drakes beach…!!!)

There was no one else on the beach that day…..we walked to the end of the beach….but no walrus to be seen…darn…. lovely walk tho.

On the walk back some young families arrived and put their kites up in the wind….

Back in the truck…next ‘must see’ spot at Point Reyes is the lighthouse.

It’s a bit of a hike from the parking lot up to the visitor centre and then down stairway to the lighthouse…

313 steps down to the lighthouse. The further down the steps you go…the more aware you are that you have to go back up…LOL….

Down at the lighthouse itself, you could see the whales breeching out in the bay….fabulous…!!!

…a passing sealion put in a performance….

The climb back up wasn’t that bad….LOL….

A grand day out indeed. As we hopped back into the truck for the journey back to Santa Rosa, it would seem the adventure was not over. The check engine light blinked ominously on the dashboard (sigh). We had just enough time to make it back to a AAA garage in Santa Rosa before they closed. The fuel pump we had installed in Arizona, 6 days previously, was faulty….needed to be replaced again…thankfully under AAA warranty…b/c the job in Arizona at $870USD….in California….$1760USD….oooufff…!!!…that felt like a bullet dodged….!!!

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