Napa, Tiburon, Sacramento, Caspar Beach, The Sea Ranch, and Trinidad, CA

On setting up in Rohnert Park, CA we realized that Wine Country RV Park wasn’t the best place we’ve stayed, but was a place we could use as ‘home base’ as we take day trips to visit friends and family in the area. We got there on Thursday, March 10.

Friday we descended on Sacramento to drop in on friends we’d made on our cross-country Amtrak trip 13 years ago. Anne drove the first leg of the trip. It would have been a 2 hour drive on the freeway, but we chose a route over the mountains and thru the woods of Napa. It was an amazing, scenic, and fascinating drive thru wine country, but it took us 4 hours. We didn’t care, but we overshot the lunch hour.

It was fun to see friends at their home in Sacto. They lived just off Hwy 80 in the city, but they had a very nice yard, lawn, etc.. The back yard was fenced in so Dixie could go free. Connie and Don were disappointed that we missed lunch, and ‘we’ chose not to go out to dinner. We wanted to leave in time to get back to our place in daylight so we left at 4:00pm and took the freeway. It was frantic, driving this high speed commuter (San Fran to Sacto) road at rush hour. About 30 miles from RP Anne found another way for us to get home, and we exited the rat race to drive thru more of the beautiful hills of Napa.

Saturday morning was laundry morning. We got that done, then at 2:00pm I left and drove 30 minutes to Tiburon, CA to visit a High School friend. Tiburon is an amazing place across the bay from S.F. and in view of the GG Bridge. Anne was happy to stay back, do trip planning, etc.. I haven’t seen Rikkii for 40 years and we had a great time. I met his family, and we went thru yearbooks and picture albums. Around 9pm Rik and I went out for a bite to eat, and I was home by 11pm.

We left Wine Country RV Park Sunday a.m. to visit and spend one night with my cousin Graham Bruce and his partner Martha. They live ‘way out there’ in Napa at the dead end of a bumpy Milton Road, past the bridge, by the marina, down on the Napa River, an amazing place. The clocks sprung ahead last night (right Graham?) and they expected us before noon. On arrival we parked the RV in their wide front driveway and we set up to spend the night.

As they like to say, they ‘live on a sponge‘. This is sea level. Water all around, dock and sailboat out front, tall grasses, vistas, bridges, wildlife, fauna, and perfect nature out every window. Vineyards are around the corner.

Graham and Marty do Jazz together locally, and we listened to some of their recorded music, he arranges and plays, and she sings. Grahams artistic creations are displayed throughout the home. Marty is a decorator, and the place is beautiful, tons of daylight, nothing extravagant, just pure beautiful, including pianos that come to life on a whim. These folks are real artists.

While there we were treated to brunch with momosa’s at Moore’s Landing on the river, and for dinner and breakfast at Marty and Graham’s home. The wharf outside Moore’s was active with a fishing tourneyment going on this day. Wonderful time spent with my cousin, and we planned to leave in the morning for Mendocino, CA and Caspar Beach RV Park.

Around 10am Monday we made our way out of Napa Valley back to Hwy 101. We traveled it for over 100 miles before exiting to Route 20 at Willits, CA which would take us to the coast at Fort Bragg, just north of Mendocino, to Caspar Beach. We chose Hwy 20 over Hwy 128, a more direct but treacherous route to the coast, on the advice of the office at Caspar Beach RV Park. Hwy 20 was no slouch though, mountainous with ‘S’ and switchback turns, in the dense forest, winding up and down thru Redwood and Cyprus trees and clouds. It was only 30 miles to the coast from Hwy 101, but it took well over an hour to drive it.

Arriving at Caspar Beach RV Park we were thrilled to be at this amazing place, at such close proximity to the Pacific Coast across the street. WOW. It’s a wonder of nature, surrounded by cliffs, roaring waves crashing in, spraying high into the air as they smash against enormous, what look like hotel sized jagged boulders, seen right off shore and in deeper waters. There was a small, rushing wild river running out of the mountains into the sea here.

It stopped drizzling as we set up, and as usual, we saw rain, clouds, and sunshine come and go. We opted right away (a no brainer) to spend 4 nights here. They offer an ’early spring’ special, buy 3 and get the 4th night free, plus they honor the 10% Good Sam’s Club discount on top of it.

We came to this general area because my childhood friend Rob and his wife Craven live in a town named The Sea Ranch, CA, 62 miles down on the coast (1 hr 40 min ride on the crooked Pacific Coast Highway, California 1) south of Caspar Beach. We arranged to visit them at their home on Thursday, and, we were pleased when Rob (and his Husky dog Osa) took a ride up to spend Wednesday with us at Caspar Beach. We had a great day running our dogs on the beach, having lunch, and reminiscing. This was an amazing day with sun, showers, big clouds, blue sky, and a hail storm. Wonderous! After all, we are in the Pacific Northwest, whatdayawant? Weather blows thru here like you wouldn’t believe. Just wait a minute……

OMG, it was an unbelievable drive down the PCH to to The Sea Ranch on Thursday morning. Rob and Craven treated us to lunch and then we climbed down 50 feet on a stairway built into the cliffs to the roaring sea below. Dixie and Osa had another day of running and playing together on the gray sand. My camera battery died on the beach, what can I say. At 4 pm we said goodbye, and we got back to Caspar Beach at 5:40pm. We went on past our place a few miles to Fort Bragg to do some shopping.

Our plan had us moving on Friday from Caspar Beach to Smith River, CA. It was an ambitious goal what with the slow, twisty-turny California 1 Hwy for the first hour or so. I didn't realize that when we switched back onto Hwy 101 at the extreme northern end of California 1 that the road would continue to twist and turn, up and down steep grades along the rugged coast.

We didn’t make it as far as Smith River, rather we exercised Anne’s contingency plan to stop in Trinidad, CA. The chosen park had 'no vacancy' tho and the office was closed. We drove around the corner and found several other parks almost immediately.

We stayed overnight amongst giant Redwood trees in Emerald Forest of Trinidad RV Park. Same weather conditions, wet, drizzly, then blue sky and sunshine poking thru while we were there. Giant rain drops pelted the RV roof during the night. An incredible place to spend the night though, but the dampness in these redwood forests is unprecedented, everything is soaking-dripping wet or covered with moss. We took great pictures in the evening and the morning when the blue sky broke thru the clouds.