Our 6-month adventure continues as we travel south through Northern California.
Day 1: The Transition to the Pacific Coast in Oregon (day 133 of the overall trip)
We don’t have far to travel today, but we want to take the scenic back country byway. We are heading north to the southern part of the Oregon Coast to a little town named Gold Beach.
We head out of Mt Shasta on I-5 and while we typically don’t like interstate driving, this area of the country boasts very scenic interstates. Interstate 5 wasn’t crowded with traffic and very soon we’re at the turn-off to our scenic drives.
Galice-Hellgate Back Country Byway
Shortly after Grants Pass, we exit the interstate and head toward Merlin which is “The Gateway to Rogue”. The road bears the name Galice-Hellgate Back Country Byway, is about 40 miles long and travels through the Rogue National Wild and Scenic River area. The entire route is a narrow, winding, paved road and a portion of the byway is single lane with occasional turnouts. In Galice, we turn onto Bear Camp Road which is a mere 67 miles, but takes us over 2 hours to drive directly into Gold Beach. Official signage to Gold Beach is needed to make sure you don’t veer off onto a similar looking side road. As the route progresses, people have spray painted large rocks the words “Gold Beach” and an arrow. At one point we pass by a side road closed due to wildfires and we see one fire truck heading in that direction.
Gold Beach, OR
Best Western – Gold Beach
After a spectacular, relaxing drive in the back country, we emerge into the small town of Gold Beach, aptly named for the color of the dry sand in the sunlight. It has apparently rained here and all the sand we see is wet. We head to the SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western at Gold Beach and settle in. This was a really nice, roomy place with a great view right on the beach. It is 3pm on a Sunday and we want to watch some football. Rather than just ride around looking for a place, we ask the front desk clerk where to go and she winces, then recommends a “locals” place a little off the main road where she knows they have TVs. It is a little too far to walk, so we jump back in the truck and follow her directions.
Hunter Creek Bar & Grill – Gold Beach
Hunter Creek Bar & Grill is a small place with indoor seating for about 30 people total, including 8 seats at the bar and there are another 12 seats outside on the deck overlooking a mucky pond. The bar is full and we take the last high-top table in the corner. We order some quesadillas as an appetizer and it is twice as large as any we’re used to getting. It is enough food for the two of us without needing anything else. Tucked away in the corner, we don’t get any interaction, however we do have a lot of chance for people watching. Everyone seems to know everyone in here – truly a locals place.
The Seattle Seahawks game ends and much of the crowd heads out enabling us to move over to the bar. We barely have our butts in the seats when we meet two folks on our left, JJ and John. These two love Gold Beach and are proud to share all the special places in the area they enjoy going to. We learn of “Secret Beach” which requires a hike during low tide to an isolated beach, then waiting until the next low tide to hike back out. Sadly, we won’t have the opportunity to enjoy that but make note of it for a future trip. We learn of the Ruby Mountains in northern Nevada where John went camping as a kid and how the memory of the red sunset glow on the mountains impressed him. We take plenty of notes and are so glad to have met these two wonderfully spirited people.
Day 2: Gold Beach, OR to Mendocino, CA (day 134 of the overall trip)
After breakfast at the hotel, we walk down to the beach and stroll along it for a short while.
Transition to Mendocino
We have a fairly long drive today, probably longer than we should have planned for, but it is our fate. We are going to drive down Highway 101 to CA-1, a route better known as the Pacific Coast Highway, for 6 hours to Mendocino, CA. Six hours of driving doesn’t leave much time for sightseeing and this route offers so many options and so much beauty.
John claimed the 30-mile section from Gold Beach, OR to Brookings, OR is the most beautiful in the world. There’s still morning fog hanging low and the views of the coastline and the sea stacks aren’t in their full glory. It is a beautiful stretch, but as we continue further south, we see (in our opinion) far more spectacular views and wonder why he’s so fond of this first little stretch. We stop for gas in Brookings since we know the prices will jump by a dollar once we enter California.
Redwood National Park
At Crescent City, CA we start to drive through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and then Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, two of three state parks located within the Redwoods National and State Park System. The combined park system contains 139,000 acres and features old-growth temperate rainforests. Together these parks protect 45 percent of all remaining coast redwood old-growth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres. Redwoods are the tallest, among the oldest, and one of the most massive tree species on Earth.
The road winds and curves to accommodate these stately trees. Their beauty is ominous as they tower hundreds of feet into the air growing right along the roadside. Just past Klamath, CA, we’re driving through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Here we take a minor detour off Hwy-101 onto the 10 mile Newton B Drury Scenic Byway that takes us through the most spectacular tall trees. Once back on Hwy-101 we reach the entrance to the National Park and turn onto Bald Hills Road. If we weren’t pressed for time, we would drive this 17 mile unpaved road the entire way, however, we only go as far as 3 miles to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail.
Redwood National Park was established in October 1968. In 1969, President Nixon dedicated this old-growth grove to Lady Bird Johnson to honor her conservation and environmental work. The 1.5-mile loop trail passes through both old-growth and second-growth trees. We stop for lunch, hike the trail and soon we are back on the road.
Further south around the town of Weott is the turn-off for the 31-mile alternate scenic drive known as The Avenue of the Giants. Professed as the most scenic road through redwoods, it is a slower route and sadly, we just don’t have time. And so we create another note for “future Harrison and Nancy” and continue down Hwy 101.
At the town of Leggett, we exit Hwy-101 and turn onto the infamous Hwy-1, aka the Pacific Coast Highway. The coastal views are just breathtaking mile after mile after mile. We pass through so many cute towns and much later than expected, we finally creep into the tiny seacoast town of Mendocino. What Google Maps showed as 6 hours of driving – all said and told – with stops turns, into 10 hours. Bad planning on our part to rush through this area, but we can only correct that on a future trip.
Sea Gull Inn – Mendocino
The town of Mendocino is rather small with a population just under 900. Though small in comparison to other towns along Hwy-1, the town’s scenic location on a headland surrounded by the Pacific Ocean has made it extremely popular as an artists’ colony and with vacationers. The town is peppered with old school bed and breakfasts and we’ve chosen the Seagull Inn Bed & Breakfast. The owner tells us this place was his great-grandparents home and it has been kept in the family all these generations. We stay in the room called “The Shed” because we literally have a shed that has been converted into a studio apartment. We hear the owner telling the folks checking in ahead of us about various restaurants and he mentions most require a reservation. We had researched a small Irish Pub in town and he lets us know it is one of the few that does NOT require a reservation.
Patterson’s Pub
We do a short walk through part of the town – which seems to be about 8 square blocks total (including some residential homes). With dinner time approaching, we head to Patterson’s Pub and realize there’s a short waiting line around the entrance. We poke our heads in to see if we can get bar seats and there are 2 seats across from the bar that has a narrow ledge by the window. We park ourselves there and the host tells us that as soon as a table frees up and someone leaves the bar, we can move to their spot – and he’ll ensure the bar seats go to us. The entire pub is rather small but full of personality. We enjoy a few beers and watch some baseball and finally, some women vacate their bar seats for a table and we swoop in. Dinner is pretty much what you would expect at a cute sea town Irish Pub and we leave happy and full.
Day 3: Mendocino to Napa (day 135 of the overall trip)
Goodlife Café & Bakery
Our Bed & Breakfast doesn’t serve breakfast until 9:30am – which is way too late for us. We opt to have breakfast at a local place, the Goodlife Café & Bakery. We arrive there about 5 minutes after it opens and there’s already a line. It is the type of place where you order at the counter, they give you a number, and then they deliver it to your table. They have both an outdoor and indoor eating area and we choose to eat inside. We watch as people stand in line to place their orders and we roll our eyes when people with dogs in tow are incensed when they aren’t allowed to eat inside with their dog. Our 2 breakfast sandwiches and coffee are good, but not sure we want to spend $40 for breakfast very often.
Mendocino Headlands Trail
It is a glorious warm morning and we decide to take in some of the beauty of Mendocino Headlands State Park. The Mendocino Headlands features 70-foot bluffs with views of rocky offshore islands, tidepools, and sandy beaches below. The park surrounds the town on 3 sides and includes hikes and historical buildings. We decide to hike part of the 4.2 mile Mendocino Headlands Trail, a footpath trail we pick at the visitor center (closed at this early hour) that lazily hugs the high cliffs above the magnificent Pacific Coast shoreline below. As we walk, we pass 6 different artists painting works in progress of various views. This is a very beautiful, easy walk and we highly recommend doing this trail.
Mendocino to Point Arena
We hop in the truck and begin our transition to our next destination. Our journey has us continuing down the coast on Highway 1 for another 100 miles. The road presents beautiful coastal views around almost every corner. And there are LOTS of corners! For a main highway, we are surprised how many narrow, winding twists and turns this road has.
Point Arena Lighthouse
We stop at Point Arena to stretch our legs and explore the Point Arena Lighthouse area. The 23 acre “park” offers a short scenic coastal walk from the parking lot to the museum and lighthouse. The lighthouse is surrounded by water on 3 sides and still provides guidance for area boat traffic. It offers a great spot to watch Humpback whales when they are migrating during the winter months.
Point Arena Lighthouse to Napa Valley
After several hours on Highway 1, we finally veer off around Bodega Bay and head inland toward Napa Valley wine country. We take a route that lets us avoid the larger city of Santa Rosa. The scenic beauty of the coast changes over to large farms as we head east towards Napa and we pass by a surprising number of large dairy farms in this arid area of California.
Best Western Inn at The Vines – Napa
We’ve opted to stay at one of the high end Best Westerns while in the Napa region – Best Western Plus Inn at the Vines. It gives us a chance to cash in on a free night we’ve earned with various promotions and it is conveniently located in a fairly quiet area within easy walking distance to several restaurants.
Applebee’s
We are delighted to be able to walk to Applebee’s for an early dinner. It is actually rare that we seek out a chain restaurant, but after 4+ months on the road with NO chain restaurants, it just feels a little like home to go to Applebee’s. Our bartender is the delightful Andrea and her sidekick Taisha. We meet a few of the local guys hanging out at the bar for happy hour. We inquire about which wineries they recommend and Andrea mentions that her daughter works at ZD Winery. One of the guys at the bar chimes in that his mother works there too. Small world.
Day 4: Napa – A Day off (day 136 of the overall trip)
Today is a planning and catch-up day. This hotel doesn’t offer a free breakfast but gives you a $10 per person voucher toward breakfast at the Huckleberry’s next door. Note: $10/person covers half of our breakfast.
Napa is all about wines and wineries. We live in Northern Virginia Wine Country so it will be interesting to compare the areas. Also important to note is that neither of us are big wine drinkers. We’d rather be at a brewery than a winery, however, a place like Napa is something iconic to experience. As we start to figure out where we’ll go, we are quickly overwhelmed by all the choices.
Napa Valley is well known for producing some of the world’s best wines including full-bodied Cabernets, fruity Merlots, and buttery Chardonnays. The Napa region has well over 400 wineries, so we reach out to some friends that have been to the area to help us devise a plan. As we look, we learn something happened during the pandemic to the winery industry in this area – they instituted a requirement to have reservations for a wine tasting allowing them to control the flow of people. Most wineries offer on-line reservations but a few ask for you to submit a request by e-mail. Nancy finds about 6 that look interesting, but with reservation timings, it looks like 3 will be our limit. You can’t make a reservation for “today”, just for tomorrow and beyond. You can stop in and chance that there’s an opening, but we decide we’ll just do one wine adventure tomorrow. Over 400 wineries and we’ll visit 3 – because it isn’t about quantity, it is about quality.
Nancy checks into ZD Wineries and submits an e-mail asking for a reservation on Thursday. FWIW, they never respond and so we don’t do anything but drive by it the next day.
We head back to Applebee’s for happy hour and an early dinner. Most of the same happy hour crew is enjoying beverages and conversations. Andrea and Taisha are working again tonight too – and that’s really the reason we came here 2 nights in a row. The ladies wanted to see the pieces of jewelry Nancy’s made on this trip. They purchase 3 pieces between them!
Day 5: Winery Hopping (day 137 of the overall trip)
One of the main winery areas is the town of St. Helena. The road layout, called the Silverado Trail, is sort of a hot dog shape loop with winery after winery on both sides of the streets on both sides of the loop. Each side of the loop is about 12 miles. Each winery tries to have its own personality but in the end, they mostly all blend together.
V. Sattui Winery
Our first stop is at V. Sattui Winery, a place recommended by our friends and 2 folks we’ve met over dinner two nights ago. We arrive around 11:30am, without a tasting reservation because we felt it was too early for that. They actually have a check-in station at the entrance where we learn they do have openings today for tastings, but our plan is to have lunch here. The place has lovely shaded grounds and some buildings you can walk around as a self-tour for free. Inside the tasting room and store, we stop by to purchase one bottle to have with some cheese and crackers we will also purchase. This winery is one of the few that offers food for purchase. Nancy had researched some of the wines ahead of time and we walk to tasting station to purchase the bottle she chose and he lets us taste it first. We make our purchase and head outside to sit in the shade, eat cheese, drink wine and people watch. We also learn these wines aren’t sold anywhere except at the winery – and this is common for many of the wineries in Napa. We have about an hour before we head to our next destination where we have booked a tour.
Beringer Vineyards
We arrive at Beringer Vineyards about 15 minutes before our 1:00pm scheduled tour time. Beringer is the oldest of all the wineries in this region having started in 1876. This is the first wine brand Nancy was introduced to as a 20-something, so the winery holds a special place in her heart. She and her first grown-up job boss, Mary, shared many a bottle of Beringer’s White Zinfandel over the years. We park the truck and sign in for our tour which includes one glass of wine each. The tour is self-paced and weaves through the grounds and the many building that hold artifacts from winery making here over the years. The tour takes slightly over an hour, perfectly timed to get us to our next reservation.
Castello di Amorosa
Our final winery choice today is Castello di Amorosa, at the northern end of the hot dog loop. It hasn’t been recommended by anyone, it just looked really cool on the website because it has an authentically styled 13th century Tuscan castle. We later learn the castle was built by the great-grandson of Vittoria Sattui (the “V” in V. Sattui). We start with our 2:33pm wine tasting (interesting precision on the start time). We each get to taste 5 wines so we pick 10 different ones between us. We learn our wine-tender is from Italy in a town about 20 miles from where a friend of ours lives. He’s a delightful man that loves his job here (going on 17 years) and as every good wine-tender does, gives us descriptions of each wine we will taste. We have bread sticks to cleanse our palettes between wines. Most of the wines we taste are in the $30-$60 per bottle price range, but we get to taste two that are over $100 per bottle. Honestly, we don’t notice any significant difference and poor Stefano is disappointed when we opt not to purchase any wine. After the tasting, we spend about an hour exploring the castle and the grounds of this beautiful place.
Dinner is at NapaSport Steakhouse and Sports Lounge that is within walking distance to our hotel. We just enjoy a quiet dinner experience at the bar and then head back to the room to watch a movie.
Day 6: Napa to Reno (day 138 of the overall trip)
El Dorado County Farm Trail
Today we will transition from the more pretentious Napa Valley region to the “Biggest Little City” of Reno, Nevada.
We want to avoid driving in Sacramento, despite our GPS’s wishes to route us through there. Thankfully we have detailed maps with us and we find the El Dorado County Farm Trail to the south the city. This county offers a plethora of opportunities to see historic landmarks, gorgeous farm land with cows, sheep and agricultural crops.
Placerville, CA
We stop for lunch in the quaint historic town of Placerville. The town is fairly busy for a mid-week day and we find a parking space after driving the 6-8 block length of town. We walk back toward town and stop for lunch at Brick’s Eats and Drinks and we feel right at home. We eat an amazing appetizer that is jalapenos stuffed with chopped artichokes & cheese and then split a delightful sandwich.
After lunch we walk through town and learn more about its history. The town popped up in 1848 shortly after gold was discovered at nearby Sutter’s Mill. It was called Dry Diggin’s back then because miners would dig up loads of dry dirt and then put it through water to extract gold. In 1849, there were several hangings in town and it got the nickname of Hangtown. In 1854, after pressure from the temperance league and local churches, the town was incorporated as Placerville. At that time, it was the third largest town in California was a central hub for the Mother Lode region’s mining operations.
Placerville, CA to Genoa, NV
We get back in the truck to head toward Reno, but we have one more stop to make along the way. You can definitely tell we aren’t by the coast any longer as mountain views spring up ahead. As we get deeper into the mountains, we see a lot of evidence of wildfires with loggers cutting down recently burnt trees and the rebuilding of homes that have recently burnt.
Genoa, NV
The oldest bar in Nevada is located in the tiny town of Genoa, about 25 miles south of Reno. It has been open since 1853, 11 years before Nevada became a state. Famous folks like Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, John Wayne and even Raquel Welch have visited “Nevada’s Oldest Thirst Parlor”. As you know, we love these old west saloons and since we didn’t make it to this establishment on our 2012 romp through Nevada, it is a priority for today. The side trip to Genoa only takes us about 15 miles out of our way, but it seems worth the detour into the glorious Carsen Valley. The road is beautiful with scenery in all directions. To our surprise, as we get about 1/2 mile outside of Genoa, traffic suddenly slows and we find ourselves driving with a plethora of motorcycles. We soon start to see tented vendor booths lining the sides of the road – obviously, there’s a craft show of some type in town this weekend. As we near the Genoa Bar & Saloon, our hopes of being able to stop in dwindle. Not only is there no parking anywhere, but we assume the place would be packed.
Just as we get to the other end of town, Nancy sees the motorcycle cop behind her has turned on his lights. She pulls over wondering what she could possibly have done wrong and the cop approaches and asks “Is everything alright, M’am?” She assures him all is fine and tells him they had come to town to visit the historic saloon, but guesses that isn’t going to happen. He goes on to tell here there is a craft festival here this weekend and tomorrow the town will be walkable only, no vehicles. He finishes by saying he just wanted to make sure I was OK – and that whole interaction was strange!
Reno, NV Apartment
We head out of town and up the highway to Reno where we find out VRBO rental for the next 3 days. Reno is the smaller “sin city” cousin of Las Vegas – a mecca of casinos. We normally don’t stay in cities, and we especially don’t hang out in casinos. We’re trying to remember why we choose to stay in Reno instead of one of the smaller surrounding towns – but neither of us can recall why. Our apartment is in the section of Reno known as midtown, about a mile away from downtown.
Day 7: Reno (day 139 of the overall trip)
We spend the morning catching up on our posts and Harrison goes for a walk to see what’s in the general area of our rental.
Virginia City, NV
Two weeks ago, we learned that a friend of ours will be in Reno at the same time as us. We met Scott back in early June on the ferry from Juneau to Haines and ended up hanging out with him for the 2 days we were in Skagway. He sells and delivers firetrucks and ambulances and is in Reno for a Firefighter Conference and Expo as an exhibitor.
Scott meets us at our rental around 11:00am. It is SO good to catch up with him as we spend a little time figuring out where to go today. Before we head out, he gives us a quick tour of the ambulance he’s transporting. Since he hasn’t been to the historic mining town of Virginia City and we know that town has some good little hangouts, we hop in the truck and head that way. The first part of the drive out of Reno is interstate, but soon we’re on the direct road to Virginia City, a 13.2-mile road called Geiger Grade, that climbs to 6811 feet in elevation with winding, dangerous switchbacks. We marvel at the views of the valley below as we climb.
To our surprise, when we reach about 1/4 mile outside of town, the traffic suddenly comes to a crawl and as we creep along the road, we soon realize there’s a motorcycle event here this weekend. Sure enough, Street Vibrations has an event location here in Virginia City. We learn Street Vibrations is in Genoa, Virginia City, Carson City, Tahoe and Reno. The road is lined on both sides with hundreds of parked motorcycles and we roll our eyes knowing it will be a challenge to park the Brown Beast. As luck would have it, Harrison spots a few parking places down a side street near the main hotel in town. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy, we park the truck and start walking up the hill to the party.
Virginia City was developed as a boomtown with the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver deposit discovery in the United States. Gold was also discovered nearby, and Virginia City grew at an unprecedented rate.. It peaked in population in the 1870’s with an estimated 25,000 residents in contrast to its population just under 800 today. It was considered the most important industrial city between San Francisco and Denver. The town included a 6-story, 100-room hotel with Nevada’s first elevator, three theatres, an opera house, four churches, over 100 saloons and numerous brothels. The Great Fire of 1875 devasted the town with over $10,000,000 in damages and a square mile of buildings destroyed leaving 8000 people homeless. The community rallied and rebuilt the town in just over a year.
It is around 12:30pm and we start walking up the left side of the main drag of town. Not only are hundreds of motorcycles parked on both sides of the road, but even more are riding slowly on the road in both directions. It is loud with the rumble of all those motorcycles revving their engines and blaring music. There’s even a cop to stop traffic at one crosswalk, although the traffic is so slow, it really isn’t needed.
We pop our heads into the first bar we find and grab a beer each. We’re allowed to walk around with open containers as long as they aren’t glass. We slowly meander up the street which Is lined with food and beverage vendors, in addition to all the regular souvenir shops. We stop in here and there to look around and to refill our glasses. We’d guess that 90% of the folks at this event are motorcycle folks and most of those are Harley riders. They are a friendly group where even some women will show their boobs if someone gives them some cheap beads.
It takes about an hour to make our way to the top end of town. We start heading back down on the other side of the street and pop into a great bar with a live band. The band is Alias Smith, and they are really rocking the house! Despite the wall-to-wall crowds on the sidewalks, the inside isn’t as packed, and we find a high-top table to the right of the band. We settle here for 3 full sets and grab chili cheese dogs and more beer. This band is fantastic – and interestingly enough, we learn after this party, they are playing at an area homecoming dance tonight.
The Ride Back to Reno
Somehow, the time is 4:30p, and we decide to head back to Reno for dinner. We start our way down the winding road and the idiot drivers are now out in full force. We even get passed on a blind curve by a motorcycle. About 3 miles outside of town, we see several people in the road directing us off the main road to a side road. We assume there’s been an accident on the main road. About a mile later we pass a motorcycle accident on this side road. This detour isn’t well marked and there’s no one to follow except our GPS that takes us on a Mad Hatter ride for several miles on dirt roads. We get back on the main road and pass not one, but two more accidents. As we ride past the second one, Scott and Harrison remark the person on the ground looks dead. Motorcycles are twisted and people are just standing there. As we continue down the road, we start to pass several emergency vehicles making their way up the mountain to the accidents. We read the next day that indeed, the one cyclist was killed on impact when driving too fast and hitting a guardrail.
Reno Evening
Once back in Reno, we park the truck and go looking for a place for dinner. We are staying in Midtown and head toward Downtown, walking about 3/4 of a mile as the sun sets and the skies get dark. Harrison had scouted a few places which turn out to be “bar/beverage” only. We’re tired and hungry and decide to turn back and have Thai at the place we passed about halfway back. Thai Chili was a small little place, but we’re all able to order something to our liking. They deliver Nancy’s dish first, then 5 minutes later deliver Harrison’s dish and 5 minutes later deliver Scott’s – interesting but it did mean our meals were hot on arrival!
A wonderful day catching up with our friend Scott. He has to spend time tomorrow afternoon setting up for a Fireman’s Conference, so it is unlikely we’ll have more time together. He’s such a great travel buddy and we’ll be looking for more opportunities to run into him again! We say our good-bye’s and it is off to sleep.
Day 8: Reno (day 140 of the overall trip)
Today is a day of rest for us. We spend the morning sleeping in, working on our blogs and photography and catching the Washington Commanders game in the room. Since it is Sunday, we plan to catch the second round of NFL games somewhere in town. We head to the downtown area, and it soon becomes “casino land”. As we near the sign proclaiming “Reno, the Biggest Little City in the World”, we pop into a souvenir shop to find a shot glass and ask about a good spot to catch a game. The answer we get is that every casino will have a “Sports Book” area where the focus is betting on the games while watching 12-24 TVs showing every live game on, in a variety of sports.
Our first stop is at the El Dorado Casino (owned by Caesars) where after weaving past hundreds of slot machines, we get charged $8.50 for a Coors Light. No thanks on having seconds there, so we transition to a place near the Riverwalk. Wild River Grille isn’t a casino, but a restaurant and bar with 2 TVs showing football, so we park our butts at the bar and get a beer for $6.50. Although, it is worth noting – every restaurant, bar, gas station and store has at least one slot machine. We also enjoy an appetizer, but decide there’s must be somewhere less expensive for drinking and watching the game. Sure enough, we find Club Cal Neva – Reno’s Best Bet that advertises $2.50 Coors Lights 24/7 at every bar area inside. Much better! We get 4 tacos for $10 at the Sports Grill and several of those inexpensive beers as we watch the Sunday Night NFL game. Since we’re on west coast time, the “night” game starts at 5:30pm and is typically over by 8:30pm.
Summary
Mendocino is a beautiful town worth an overnight stay. The whole drive down the coast and through the Redwoods is awe inspiring. If you are really into wine – Napa and/or Sonoma are the places to go. We have many spectacular wineries in Northern VA where we live AND we’re more brewery folks than winery folks, so we doubt we’ll return. We do love Virginia City and I’m sure we’ll be back there (cuz we still need to stop at the Genoa Bar & Saloon) – but since we aren’t casino people, we doubt we’d stay in Reno.
Up Next
We’ll be heading “Into The Desert”. Our last six weeks in Alaska were filled with temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s – and splattered with drizzle and rain. We almost feel like we missed our summer, so we’re heading to the land of “hot and dry”.
Prior Legs of the Journey
Part 1 – The Trip to Key West is located here.
Part 2 – Cross Country to Bellingham Washington is located here.
Part 3 – The Alaska Ferry Inner Passage to Juneau is located here.
Part 4- The Alaska Ferry Inner Passage to Haines & Skagway is located here.
Part 5 – Haines to Fairbanks Alaska is located here.
Part 6 – Three weeks in Fairbanks is located here
Part 7 – Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean is located here.
Part 8 – Denali National Park is located here.
Part 9 – Denali & Richardson Highways (Central Alaska) is located here.
Part 10 – Wasilla Alaska Area is located here
Part 11 – Homer Alaska Area is located here
Part 12 – Seward Alaska Area is located here
Part 13 – Girdwood Alaska Area is located here
Part 14 – Kodiak Alaska Area is located here
Part 15 – “Back to the Lower 48” is located here
Part 16 – “The Volcano Legacy” is located here
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