The "Dew Drop Inn" Chronicles

Yah, nice... I've been looking around for a dual light, Red & White and they have them with a dimmer too..

Kewl... Albeit a tad pricey ...

 

Of course you do, Evan! (I tease!)

 

did you make it ti Nepenthe for lunch?

It's not that far - you can still do it!

I also recommend stopping at Pebble Beach Golf Course and grabbing a bloody mary at the restaurant. Lovely view over the ocean and one of the holes. It's a PUBLIC place, so don't feel bad about stopping.

I bet no one has taken a pic of a TD at Pebble....

The RitzCarlton in Half Moon Bay also makes a good bloody and has nice ocean views.

 

Didn't do lunch at Nepenthe on this trip, the fog was so thick we missed the sign, no ocean view that day I'm afraid. We'll stop in next time we're through.

The last time I was at Pebble Beach was on business for the press junket for Tin Cup, do you remember that 1996 movie with Kevin Costner, Rene Rouseau, Don Johnson and Cheech Marin, Cheech was my favorite.

I was once on the quest for the ultimate Bloody Mary, I think the Santa Barbara Yacht Club won out, the best Sunday brunch and great ocean views from their on the beach clubhouse verandah.

We did go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Great aquarium, the fish and other sea life on display always look so healthy. They have a sea otter tank( they rehabilitate orphaned sea otter pups and return them to the sea) they have a living kelp forrest tank and a very large open water tank with a sun fish, blue fin tuna, sea turtles and fair size sharks. Well worth a visit.







Michael

 

A bit of gear that is proving almost as essential as our camp chairs is their side table. We use it several times a day as a table and a tray, it's convertible. The legs fold into it's own footprint and store there when in tray mode so you don't have parts to misplace or lose. It only takes a minute to convert. I had an old tray to start with so I ripped the legs from a scrap piece of teak that was left over from a boat project and presto we got a table/ tray. Makes a great cocktail table in the cockpit of our boat too.









Michael

 

Goodness gracious SNAKES alive!
Susan and I were hiking in the Fort Ord National Monument today, it borders the Laguna Seca campground, so it's so convenient, you don't have to drive anywhere, we just walked from our campsite to the trailhead. Anyway we came upon a small rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail, we sneaked around him and snapped this photo.



Then we hiked some more and saw this fella...



... which to me looks like a Sierra Garter snake but I'm no expert.

We hiked for a couple hours through the hilly coast live oak savannah...



So if you find yourself on the Monterey peninsula you owe it to yourself to visit this beautiful place.




Michael

 

Ode to a power post.

We camped for 6 weeks without a power post so when we got one here at Laguna Seca.. well I kept thinking I'd better break out the solar panel... nope don't gotta do that here... charge the trailer while we warm up the car... nope don't gotta do that here... charge the phones in the outlet in the washrooms... nope don't gotta do that here...do we have enough juice to watch a movie.. of course we do,we got enough power for everything, until we move of course.


Our "Toaster Poster" for times when you wanna heat water and toast at the same time

AREN'T POWER POSTS WONDERFUL!

Michael

 

When on the 101 through Salinas you'll see a sign directing you to the John Steinbeck Center, I've seen it many times thinking I'll stop in next time I'm up this way but I never did until now. I should not have waited so long, it's been one of the highlights of our visit to the Monterey area. The center does a good job of telling the life story of one of Americas great writers. I mean really when was the last time you went to a first class facility devoted to a writer, probably never. I love Steinbeck, you have to love the man's egalitarianism. I know that in our great land of ours all people are created equal, it just seems sometimes that some people are created more equal than others. John Steinbeck set the record straight, a towering humanitarian. So if your on the 101 through Salinas and see the sign for the center, just go, don't put it off till next time.

Michael

 

Dewey and crew broke camp at Laguna Seca this morning, we picked up the 101 in Salinas and crossed into Northern California late morning.


Fog on the Golden Gate Bridge

We took The Shoreline Highway to Bodega Bay and are now in a nice site amongst a grove of beautiful Monterey Cypress trees at Bodega Dunes campground.



Michael

 

Michael - did you enjoy the drive through San Fran? (I hated it)

 

Yes Evan the Bay Area driving can be unbearable. We've been through many times and it can be difficult in a car but towing a trailer...I wanted to see if we could minimize the pain so we woke up early and hit the road before daybreak. We got into San Francisco all right but got lost on the way to the bridge, so we had to use the iPhone to find it, which made me nervous because that phone can route you to places you don't wanna go. When Susan said to take a right on Lumbard, I thought oh wait isn't Lumbard the steep snakey street that you could never take a trailer through, it is but thank goodness that section is in another part of the city. Anyway we made the left on Lumbard and got onto the bridge ok.

I think sneaking through the city early Sunday morning before people are even awake is a good strategy, it worked for us this time.

However our decision to get on State Route 1 at Tamalpais Valley on a Sunday morning was not so great. That section of the one is very narrow, steep and twisty, even more so than the Big Sur section and it was thick with weekend bicyclist that we could not pass safely, so at times were only doing bicycle speeds until we could pass safely. It was murder, with traffic backed up behind us. We did not see another RV on that section of road. The road straightens out and is fine after Point Reyes Station. I will not travel this section again towing Dewey, I'll go round.

Michael

 

Michael, The fog on the Golden Gate can be beautiful. Sue and I were crossing the Bay Bridge Sunday morning about 8:30am. A thick finger of fog was moving into the bay and all you could see of the G.G. Bridge was the top of the two towers. Sue told me to keep my eyes on the road.

Evan, I agree, driving in SF can be a nightmare. We always plan our trips around commute times, avoid at all cost. A single accident on the Bay Bridge or 101 south can tie up the city for hours. Went to a Chris Botti concert last year, allowed 1.5 hours for a 30 min. drive. Ended up taking almost 3hrs due to a multi-car accident on the 101 south traffic was reduced to one lane. The city streets were jammed and we missed half of the concert.

Jim

 

Jenn, our Mini is the wagon version so we carry almost everything in the car, what doesn't usually fit are our camp chairs a thermal bag of produce and a case of beer.

Michael

 

We are really enjoying our stay at Bodega Dunes campground. We are sitting fireside listening to the fog horn (it sounds day and night, fog or no)in Bodega Bay and the crash of surf from the ocean. The sky is a starry dome, we are well protected from the fierce wind coming off the ocean from the substantial dunes and grand stand of Monterey cypress that envelopes us.

We toured around today, so nice to drive these mountain roads not towing Dewey, zoom zoom! Saw the schoolhouse from the Birds movie in Bodega, went to Occidental a Russian settlement from the 1800s (this part of California was colonized by Russian sea otter hunters not the Spanish) saw the Tides restaurant also from the Birds movie and went for a long walk on the beach.



California sea lion


Bodega Bay fishing wharf


Bodega schoolhouse

Michael

 

Thanks for the Bodega report. Hope you have a chance to hike through the dunes to the beach. I really like that walk.

How about the CHOWDAH??



FYI, this is the chowder place. They have the best in Bodega (and I'm from Boston, so I know my chowder!).

http://www.yelp.com/biz/spud-point-crab-company-bodega-bay


-al

 

what's a "yeahbut"?



I just realized that my comment may have been misunderstood. I didn't mean that there is chowder in Bodega that is better than any in Boston (or in Cedar Key). Only that the best chowder IN Bodega is at the place I mentioned.

and it IS pretty good - better than just about any on the west coast that I have had, but not sure it's better than Legal SeaFood in Boston, the Barnacle up in Marblehead, and probably 100 other places between Providence and Bar Harbor.

But when you're in Bodega Bay....

 

This is fabulous, quiet a few clam chowder recommendations from around the country. I'll bet there are other chowder experts inhabiting this forum, anyone else like to chime in here.

Al, yes we have been hiking through the dunes on the way to the beach each day...


Bodega Dune

...how else are we going to walk off our chowder.

I would have to agree with you the chowder at Spud Point Crab Co is first class and may be the best in the area...


The Spud Point Crab Co


The cute marketing


The chowder


The chowderhead

... when in the area of Seattle I almost always lay my money down for chowder at the Ballard Market... best I've ever had.

Michael

 

Susan and I broke camp at Bodega Dunes this morning and continued heading north on California Route 1, we finally got a fog free day, beautiful blue skies with just a hint of the misty, misty.


No fog on Route 1


Route 1 rest stop


Northbound on Route 1

We stopped at Russian Gulch SP just north of Mendocino and discovered the campground was closed so we continued north past Fort Bragg and got set up in campsite # 86 in MacKerricher SP campground adjoining the ocean, I'm listening to the crash of waves on the beach as I hunt and peck this post on my iPhone.


MacKerricher campsite


MacKerricher State Beach

Michael