Tradewinds Lodge Fort Bragg

Peace out Santa Rosa... Maybe we'll meet again.<br> <br>After two nights at Claire's Rob and I packed up the car for the last time in Sonoma County.<br><br>Started off our day with breakfast with Claire and Flick. Piner Cafe.. Wish I met you earlier. After I stuffed my face with french toast for the second day in a row. Rob opted for the pancakes. Never in my life have I ever seen a pancake so big. Seriiously it had a 14 inch diameter and was about 2 ...

... it seems to mean anything that doesn&#8217;t involve beards, hats and rhinestones. Then again the music choices (OMD, the Mode, ABC, the Ballet, the Banshees and so on through classic eighties British music) are what I collect on my iPod under the &#8216;indie&#8217; genre which is just as inaccurate and meaningless. Best moment of the day was hearing the Jones (ok that doesn&#8217;t work) Howard Jones again for the first time in an age.

... all over town, sitting on the beach and poring over maps.<br>Lovely time. Lovely sunny day in the high 60s. There are charming shops and a super, raw foods cafe I ate lunch at Living Light Cuisine. Sadly the library was closed, in fact due to budget constraints it only opens 4 days a week now. <br>I feel ready to take on the mountains again.

Sometimes you just slow yourself down and it's a good thing. I had been very efficient in getting all my gear packed on the bike and was looking forward to the redwood highway when a couple started chatting in the Hiouchi Motel parking lot about this and that. <br>When we wrapped things up and I headed out onto rte 199 south I did not get more than 4 miles or so when I saw a woman out on the road ...

... on Route 1 and follow the coast line up visiting all of the small coastal towns. This was a great plan and it was definitely fun for about the first hour or two but after a grueling 5 to 6 hours of what seemed to be over a thousand left and rights turns that boarder lined a case of insanity. Alright enough of my complaining the coast line was very beautiful and all in all we had a great drive up but it was a very long day.

... don't know why he just wanted to help the Brits that arrived a little bit before us. He did finally offer tastings, for a price. <br><br>On the way back to Little River, we stopped to see the Point Cabrillo Light Station. It's about a half mile walk from the parking lot to the lighthouse, but worth the time. The lighthouse is one hundred years old this year ...

... offered by the hotel/motel option. The drive south from the OR/CA border was again shrouded in fog, but we made it a fun day for the kids by stopping at the wacky tourist traps that line the coast road. First up, the Trees of Mystery in Klamath which offered giant statues of and by Paul Bunyan, with Babe the blue ox guarding the entrance. A 1/2 mile walk through the redwoods followed by a ...

MJ got up circa 9am and read an excellent book about a guy and his family taking a Bill Bryson journey type thing along the Union Pacific rail route between Omaha and SF. It's kinda like my blog but has much more in it about American history. Chrissie got up circa 11am and we went into town for a Denny's brunch which was yummy. MJ had the usual Grand Slam Extra. We then took a walk along the road nearest the ...

... were allowed out for meals, and work if they had earned it. I went in to the 'black hole' and tried to imagine what it would be like with nothing to look at or hear for days on end. I like hearing about the prisoners who had escaped (three of them) and thought about whether they were alive or had died whilst trying to swim across the bay. I also like hearing the former prisoners, and how they had been affected/ disciplined by the prison. After that I watched a short ...

... Bud Dry and entered into conversation with Nick. He is a California native who grew up in Fort Bragg. He revealed that the fort for which the town was named has been gone for many decades. By odd coincidence Nick did his military basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After undergoing advanced training he became a Green Beret and served in Vietnam. Now Nick is a commercial diver. He supplied the following information about Fort Bragg,California. The town's ...