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Mendocino Coastal Bluffs - Surf and Seals
A couple of times the sea water washed over onto the seals and that set up a chorus of complaining. I guess it interrupted their sunning session. I had a pretty good sleep. It started sort of rough with the sound of snoring from the person beneath me drifting up through the floor, but my earplugs took care of that. I woke up at 6 in the morning because I wanted to get on the road early, but I was so tired that I drifted back to sleep. When I woke up around 7:15 I was annoyed that I hadn’t got an early start. I then found out it had been pouring with rain until about 7:10, so starting early wouldn’t have worked.
Today I drove down Highway 101 to Legett where I then took the old Highway 1 toward the coast. This was one of the slowest highways I have ever been on as it wound its way over two mountain ranges to get to the coast. The fastest I could travel was about 40 mph, but may times I was down to 10 mph in order to manoeuvre the hairpin turns. The new RAV4 behaved wonderfully and made the drive at least a little bit of fun.
When I broke out of the final mountain valley and onto the edge of the coast the
Mendocino Coastal Bluffs and a passing flock of pelicans
There were two of these groups that flew past while I was there. I loved watching them lumber along in the wind. The wind was so strong that they didn't have to move forward much to keep in the air, so they went by very slowly. I found it relaxing to watch. fantastic views began. I had to be careful not to get too drawn into looking at the ocean scenes as the driving was still a challenge. The road basically followed all the contours of the land and there were very few cuts into the hill or bridges to help straighten it out. What I did do is pull off into the many turnouts and outlooks provided along the road.
The best place I pulled off at was the Mendocino Coastal Bluffs viewpoint. The views of the waves pounding against the small islands of rocks just offshore were spectacular. I could see sea lions sunning on the rocks and while I was there two flocks of pelicans flew by, drifting along while heading into a strong wind. They are amazing fliers.
I took my time at that lookout and then continued on my way down the coast to Fort Bragg. There is a lot that I could say about this place. It had good restaurants, coffee houses, a railway and some interesting history. If you are interested you can read all about it on-line.
Fort Bragg link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bragg,_California If Les and I ever want to come back
More Coastline
Parts of the coast are lined with the sea stacks while others have these extremely long and open beaches. to visit this coast, I think we will make Fort Bragg a hub for our visit. I have a couple of specific thoughts on the place.
The much mentioned ‘Glass Beach’ at Fort Bragg was real. This has been created because a lot of glass and other waste was dumped there in the early 1900’s. Over the years the sea and sand have worn the glass into small, smooth beads. People flock to that beach and spend hours picking over what they can find. I picked up a few pieces, but I’m not sure I would spend much more time at it. Still, families seemed to be enjoying their time together finding beads. Evidently so much of the glass beads have been removed that the city is thinking of dumping more glass bits back on some beaches and let the waves do their thing to create more glass beads.
The other thing I noticed was that there seemed to be old man sitting on most of the benches around town reading books. They didn’t seem destitute or anything like that. They seemed like relatively well dressed, content men. But they were everywhere. I thought it was kind of
My Luncheon Tablecloth
Breast 'Food' anyone?
In the restaurant I ate at in Ft. Bragg, the tablecloth had a collection of old 'medicinal cures' from the early 1900's. I couldn't help but notice this one as it was right in front of me. I can't believe they could have any success marketing something like this. Get a load of the name 'princess'. Good grief! unique and neat.
I finally got underway again about 1 pm. I don’t have much more to add on the rest of the drive. All I could do would be to add more superlatives to what I’ve already written and that is just plain boring to read. The few images I’ve posted in this blog give some idea of the scenery.
When I turned away from the coast to head to my destination, San Rafael, I saw some of the rich farmland of north-central California. No wonder they produce so much food in this state.
I got into my hotel at San Rafael about 8 o’clock and off to bed in decent time. That was a tiring but memorable day.
DON'T MISS LOOKING BELOW AS THER IS ONE OTHER IMAGE THERE.
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