The Russian River and the Pacific Ocean! We made it. Getting to the Pacific has been a goal of ours on our Vision Quest. Leaving the heat and dryness of Solano River and the Napa Valley we’ve landed in a welcomingly cooler clime. The breezes off the Pacific cool the air and scent it with salt and sea life, so refreshing. The Cassini Ranch is located on the Russian River about two miles inland from the sea. It is a huge, sprawling RV park built for families. We think about hosting a family reunion here down the road. The possibilities for family fun in and near the park are endless. Kids can romp all over the park without fear of getting hurt, for the most part. The river here is good for floating, swimming, and fishing and is a very beautiful stream with no tough stretches that I can see. There are quaint little towns along its banks custom made for boutique shopping. Then, there is the Pacific...Bodega Bay and the horse shoe beaches and cliffs This is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed, “The Birds”. The area is relatively close to San Francisco so that flying from Missouri to here would be somewhat easy. I can visualize the kids having a blast here and it could be a welcome relief from the Midwest heat and humidity. Maybe...someday. I’d love to see it.
Bodega Bay was a wonderful exploration for Diane and me. We collected small, colorful rocks along the beaches to make “treasure box” gifts for Ella and Ruby. Dash and Heidi were in dog heaven on the beaches, racing to catch seas birds and chewing on the odd flotsam the tide brought in. Of course, we gorged ourselves on oysters and seafood at the dockside cafes. Succulents of all manner grow on the hillsides facing the beaches here and they all seem to be blooming right now. There was a little craft market on the hillside next to our RV camp on the weekend where we bought Suni and Carrie hand made and painted silk scarves.
One afternoon we hiked along Bodega Head. It’s a peninsula that juts out into the ocean of Highway 1 with fairly large hills bracing against the crashing ocean surf. From the vantage point of the top of the head we pushed our eyes deep into the binoculars to view an island about a half a mile away. On it we could hear the bellowing and barking of California sea lions. We could see the largest of the males there pushing and shoving the other smaller males around while grunting insanely. Dozens of other seals and sea lions swam around the island in apparent joy scooping up the odd fish now and then for a snack.
Hiking further along the Head we found ourselves surrounded by blooming flowers on every side of the very narrow path. They grew waist high. Now and then we’d confront a group of coastal trees, branches blown and stretched over the tops reaching inland from the constant off shore breezes. They would form little caves where you could find relief from those very winds. The sun hung low over the western horizon threatening to set and leave any minute. Now, as the air cooled quickly and the wind picked up we decided to head back to the Jeep. We would find a little café somewhere for that rarest of treats to us, fresh seafood and chowder. We’d lately become on a semi-permanent search for chowder having had the best we’d ever tasted on a dash through San Francisco the week before. We relished the dish on the dock there but didn’t hang around too long as it was 100 degrees that day...a now frequently occurring issue.
Driving down the hill from the top of the Head we were confronted with numerous ambulances and police cars heading up from where we just came from. We swung around and followed, too curious to let it go un-investigated. Reaching the top again we found a crowd of people scouring the horizon searching for something. Everyone was hyper and running around trying to find, or see, whatever it was out there at sea. As it turned out, someone had reported a small lifeboat adrift a mile out. Thinking a boat had sunk and survivors were at risk, the local first responders did respond, and in a hurry. In the end, however, it turned out to be a Tsunami warning device anchored to the sea floor that looked for all the world just like a life raft. That being safely decided and it being nightfall, the dozens of folks assembled for the rescue and the onlooking piled in their cars and life resumed its coastal rhythms in time for dinner.