The grade leveled off a bit as we climbed at least a thousand feet within a half mile distance. What we found is a very unique park because of its companion attraction, the Mazda Raceway. The raceway appears to be two full rounds of track, one disappearing because the hill it ran around. There were stands, loudspeakers and advertisements. Although most of the campers were associated with the races that were taking place that weekend (including a classic car race, it was quiet in the evenings. In parts of the campground there is an 180 degree view of the Salinas Valley with its beautiful interspersed oak trees and lush green hillsides. Luckily, the last campsite we looked at was the one that met our requirements, so we settled in. We planned to go to church the following morning on our way to Monterey. I detached the truck and we headed out the next morning. Once we worshiped, we headed off to Fisherman's Wharf. Now I should have known better, but the parking was impossible on a Sunday afternoon and the one spot I found, our truck was too BIG to fit it. We decided to visit Cannery Row instead and found a spot on the street to park. I suspect both places are similar, giving some attention to history but most of its activity is tourist shops with items made in China and other far-East areas. The next day was more interesting- a trip to the Monterey Aquarium - something worth seeing for sure! Most notable are the seahorses that look like like pieces of seaweed. We left on Tuesday to visit Louise's sister, having never been to her home in Clayton. Her backyard faces the Mt. Diablo State Park and she has an unobstructed view of Mt. Diablo. It's summit is only 3,849 ft., but from its summit it can see the second farthest distance in the world, second only to Mt. Kilimanjaro. For those who are interested and know the general topography of this area of the west, the claim is, on a clear day after a winter storm, on the summit you can see past the golden gate bridge to the Farallon Islands, North to Mt. Lasson, South to the Santa Cruz Mtns. and East to the Sierras and Yosemite. I wished we had the time to find this out for ourselves, but maybe another trip another time.
We were anxious to get back on the road after we enjoy an great evening with Louise's sister. We had stayed in Vallejo for the night and then aimed our sites for the coastline again. We drove through Petaluma on the way to Bodega Bay. We were really impressed by the unexpected beauty of Petaluma with its lushness, its flowers and its varied landscape and homes. I thought I could live there, close to the big cities of San Francisco and Oakland, but away from the hustled and rush. On our way to Bodega Bay and our eventual stop for overnight at Anchor Bay, we stopped in a delightful little, little town for lunch. The town of Tomales we found because of a confusing sign and wrong turn, but what a delightful road we found and a town that could be on a postage stamp replete with a deli, a post office, a general store, a town hall, and a garden center. Clean, quaint and friendly would describe it well. Some buildings were dated from the 1870s. No stop lights, no stop signs, but plenty of life. A simple treat, and yes, the food was good too.
Something you need to know about Louise and I (and now my dad, Floyd) is that for the most part, we like traveling without a lot of plans we need to follow. We hold general ideas of direction and destination. Toward the end of our day of travel on some roads we did not plan we headed up the coast south of Bodega Bay. Having just passed Anchor Bay, we made a quick decision at the bottom of the small turning hill to turn left into an RV park, finding ourselves nestled in the Red Woods and kissed by surf and sand. Really. It is The RV park is owned by twenty individuals, each having a rig parked year round, but only used seasonally. They allow overnight guests and we were one of them, maybe the only one when I think about it. $45 is steeper than what we want to pay for a night's stay, but it was magical trailer-housed between two large and towering redwoods and within a 100 yards from beach's edge with clifts to the right and left. We enjoy and evening and a morning. -Kevin
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