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Published: July 10th 2011
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Day 3 started early again as we had one of our longer drives up part of Highway 1- the coastal Highway- to Eureka. We decided to have breakfast in the extremely charming town of Yountville (Best croissant of the trip so far goes to the Bouchon Bakery). This was another recommended place to stay in the Winelands and given the amount of restaurants (The French Laundry, Bottega, Bouchon, Redd and Bistro Jeanty to name-drop those that were recommended to us), the closeness of some great vineyards and the general cuteness of the place, we would come back here if staying for a longer period of time.
From Yountville, we decided to travel to Eureka via the Silverado Trail; passing a good chunk of the Napa wineries. This trail was formerly one of the most important trade routes in the area in the 19th Century and a hot bed for highway robbery! Today it's a great road to travel and see some of the most notable wineries in California; it includes Mumm, Opus One and Stags Leap as some of the more glamorous and expensive refreshment stops.Unfortunately we were on the road well before the opening time of 11am so we
didn’t get a chance to sample. Next time…and with a chauffeur.
Onwards to Calistoga (somehow missing the Ol’ Faithful geyser, darnit) and on to Mendocino where we hoped to do some whale watching but, stupidly, I hadn’t booked and it was Good Friday. So no sea kayaking but it was nice to take a detour through the pretty town of Mendocino – all pastel hues and clapboard. Just north of Mendocino we turned onto the Point Cabrillo Drive in the hope that being closer to the sea, we would get a better view. We did just that and along with that and Highway 1, we covered a large chunk of what is known as the 'lost coast' - think lots of bleached, bone-like driftwood on grey sand framed by jet-black jagged cliffs. Beautiful...and then a bit monochrome.
A good few miles of homogenous scenery later and we headed back inland for the 101 Redwood Valley Highway with a quick rest stop at the Drive-Thru Tree. Colour had flooded back into our lives by this point, in spite of the shade of the 250ft trees. The forest floor in the areas that get sunlight is carpeted with some amazing
flowers and plants which, when the sun hits them, look almost luminous.
Past the Humboldt Redwoods State Park (AKA the Avenue of the Giants) we headed back towards the coast with another quick stop at the Humboldt Bay Wildlife refuge where I had hoped to see some of the otters famed for living there. Also, they were not to be seen but it gave us an opportunity to stretch our legs amongst bird-infested wetlands. Very peaceful and not at all a good preparation for the town of Eureka. We went from watery calm to bail bond and bike shops within a few miles!
Our closest restaurant for the night was Marie Callendar so it was a quick carb overload and off to our bedroom with a fabulous view of the Fashion Outlet Mall car park. It was a clean and convenient stopover, but won’t be returning.
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