sonoma valley – 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.

Extra Pix

After our epic run from Barstow to Santa Monica Pier, and the End of the Trail sign, we were feeling mighty pleased with ourselves for doing that chunk in the early hours of the morning…missing all the commuter traffic. (we were just trying to beat the heat…the traffic was bonus…!!) We were back at the trailer for 8.30 am…..and collapsed back into bed and slept through the hottest part of the day.

The plan for the next bit of the journey….essentially the road home, with a few stops…was a couple of days at a KOA in Visalia California.

Visalia is the jump off point for Sequoia National Park. It seemed like a good idea to utilise my National Park pass and get a hike in….we had been sadly lacking much physical activity.

The best laid plans of mice and men however……it was still just too hot….low 40’s celcius…..and the bit of the park closest to the gate we would be accessing….was on fire……

So…Sequoia went on the growing list of places to go back to……in cooler season.

Next leg of the journey was north to the Sonoma Valley to meet up with a couple of high school friends of mine and a university buddy of Scott. They were telling us how hot it was but by that time…33 Celcius sounded almost chilly….LOL.

I booked a spot at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds….its reviews were mixed…but I have learned that reviews reflect peoples expectations as much as the reality of the place. We had a well shaded spot, it was clean, the showers were clean, the laundry was clean and the staff were helpful and friendly. Plus the campground was a stones throw from Santa Rosa and close to the highway so pretty convenient.

The big shock entering California is how expensive it is, gas , groceries…eye wateringly expensive….but the wine, good wine, incredibly inexpensive…..

I have been in California before…but I flew into LAX and really only saw the coast…..I had no concept of how mountainous California is. and the roads……the paved surfaces are mostly in good condition….but windy, twisty, narrow and steep…….and busy…everywhere is busy.

Two of my good friends from high school live in the Sonoma valley…conveniently for me just 5 minutes apart from each other.

The beauty of reconnecting with friends from ones’ youth….you may not have seen these people for may years…..but when they are people you have known for so long its like there was no gap. A bit of a homecoming sense…like finding your favourite old jeans at the back of the closet…and they still fit….

Our first foray out from Sonoma , on a recommendation from my good friend Paul, was a trip back to San Francisco to take a short hike through the Presidio on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It was a beautiful day and the view of the bridge and the beach from the trails is quite impressive.

It was a pleasant stroll down the trail to the beach.

….and the chance to get all the way down to the beach was very attractive

……..we got to watch these huge flocks of pelicans take flight…

There was a small boat beached just a little down from where we were. We were kept entertained by the arrival of a coastguard boat and their ensuing effort to (unsuccessfully) free the boat from the grip of the sand.