Memorial Day in Fort Bragg
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One of the things we love to do as a family is explore. Some of our favorite trips have been those that haven't been planned out, instead just driving to some unknown destination in search of fun things to do and see. In the past we have have found some favorite spots during these trips. One particular trip we made (before Jaidyn was born) was in search of redwoods. We packed up one Friday night after work, we made a quick stop at the grocery store for some goodies and began to drive to Northern California with only $35.00. (a bit crazy, but we were young), on the way there we ended up with a flat tire that cost us $11.00 to fix, but that didn't stop us we continued on our path with the remaining $24.00 in our wallets. At about 2 a.m. we arrived in Elk's Grove that eventually led us to our now MOST FAVORITE campsite Patrick's Point. The next morning we hiked Fern Canyon, the most beautiful place, filled with ferns and waterfalls. Then drove back home the following day, we even ended up with $5.00 to spare when we finally returned home. What a great trip that was!
So all week long we had been trying to plan a camping trip somewhere different. Through some suggestions from some friends we decided to go towards Fort Bragg, but everything was completely booked for the holiday weekend. So we decided to wing it (something we're very good at) and Friday afternoon we left Reno for camping somewhere in Fort Bragg. The sky was covered in clouds with thunder and lightening striking periodically. I couldn't believe of all the days we were leaving town, the day we finally have a rainstorm in Reno and we leave! I wait all year for this to happen. But on the way out of town there was this beautiful rainbow on the east side of the mountains.
We drove for 5 + hours, John's always great to drive through the night, he actually prefers it to driving in the day and rarely gets tired. As we were all dozing off in the passenger and backseats he was rocking out to his Itunes. As we got closer to Fort Bragg the road started to become pretty loopy and we all woke up, we must have all been quite tired because we were laughing at just about anything. But the best was when John pointed out a very large tree and said Holy Crouw look at that tree. (I guess he meant to say holy cow or holy crap but instead combined the two) He will never live that one down. At about 1 am and after looking and just not finding any campsites available we ended up at Pomo Campground, we set up camp and woke up to a beautiful green tree filled campsite.
then we decided to drive down an unknown road and there we found tons of wildlife!
At 5 p.m. we decided that it was probably a good time to start looking for another campsite. We headed south on Highway 1 and came to Camp Richardson, we ended up with a campsite right next to the river. It was filled with trees and there was a perfect fire pit, along with hot showers and running toilets hurray!! We began to start the campfire, and cook the hot dogs for dinner. About 1/2 into cooking dinner this very loud music started to come from the amphitheater nearby. We later found out that we were camped at a Christian campground, which wasn't a bad thing but we were going to be entertained throughout the night with very loud, mostly off key christian band, the music continued through the night until 10 p.m., we made hot chocolate, played a game of Uno and then when all was quiet went off to bed.
One of the things we love to do as a family is explore. Some of our favorite trips have been those that haven't been planned out, instead just driving to some unknown destination in search of fun things to do and see. In the past we have have found some favorite spots during these trips. One particular trip we made (before Jaidyn was born) was in search of redwoods. We packed up one Friday night after work, we made a quick stop at the grocery store for some goodies and began to drive to Northern California with only $35.00. (a bit crazy, but we were young), on the way there we ended up with a flat tire that cost us $11.00 to fix, but that didn't stop us we continued on our path with the remaining $24.00 in our wallets. At about 2 a.m. we arrived in Elk's Grove that eventually led us to our now MOST FAVORITE campsite Patrick's Point. The next morning we hiked Fern Canyon, the most beautiful place, filled with ferns and waterfalls. Then drove back home the following day, we even ended up with $5.00 to spare when we finally returned home. What a great trip that was!
FRIDAY- FORT BRAGG
So all week long we had been trying to plan a camping trip somewhere different. Through some suggestions from some friends we decided to go towards Fort Bragg, but everything was completely booked for the holiday weekend. So we decided to wing it (something we're very good at) and Friday afternoon we left Reno for camping somewhere in Fort Bragg. The sky was covered in clouds with thunder and lightening striking periodically. I couldn't believe of all the days we were leaving town, the day we finally have a rainstorm in Reno and we leave! I wait all year for this to happen. But on the way out of town there was this beautiful rainbow on the east side of the mountains.
We drove for 5 + hours, John's always great to drive through the night, he actually prefers it to driving in the day and rarely gets tired. As we were all dozing off in the passenger and backseats he was rocking out to his Itunes. As we got closer to Fort Bragg the road started to become pretty loopy and we all woke up, we must have all been quite tired because we were laughing at just about anything. But the best was when John pointed out a very large tree and said Holy Crouw look at that tree. (I guess he meant to say holy cow or holy crap but instead combined the two) He will never live that one down. At about 1 am and after looking and just not finding any campsites available we ended up at Pomo Campground, we set up camp and woke up to a beautiful green tree filled campsite.
SATURDAY- LEGGETT & FERNDALE
The campsite was filled with lots of families and kids and every so often you would see kids flying by on their mountain bikes. The one downfall to the campsite was that they had portapotty's and there really was no privacy as there were two campers camped right next to them (not a place I'd want to be), you could pretty much hear everything as it echoed through the campground. Since we got in so late, John went to the front office to pay for our site, it turned out that this was one of the most expensive campsites at $60.00 a night. So we had breakfast, campfire scrambled eggs, croissants and orange juice! YUM!! nothing's better than a campfire breakfast! We packed up our tent, loaded up the truck and headed north hoping to find a campsite in the redwoods or near the beach.
We ended up going to MacKerricher beach. The weather was perfect and we all had so much fun exploring. Including Dad, who decided to climb this old pillar (so that's where Jaidyn gets it)
From there we went to Leggett, California to the drive through tree park.
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Then off Confusion Hill! What a blast that was. We entered through the gift shop and started walking up a pretty steep hill. Jaidyn had to stop at the crazy mirrors..
then up the hill to the Confusion house, immediately when we walked up to the porch, I became really dizzy!
it really played with your mind as bottles of water would roll up, instead of down and everything was tilted. It took us awhile to adjust once we had left the house, and I had a headache for a few hours afterwards. It was so much fun though and Jaidyn wanted to go back.
We stopped by the peg house for some lunch, I ordered some BBQ oysters, they were huge and OHHH so incredibly good! Dad and John kept drooling over them and I finally gave in and shared them.
We kept driving north and eventually ended up in Ferndale. It was a cute little town filled with victorian homes and an awesome cemetary.
then we decided to drive down an unknown road and there we found tons of wildlife!
Deer
But the best was this little fox that kept creeping out of his fox den right as we would drive by. He stood and posed for a picture and didn't seem too frightened by our presence.
But the best was this little fox that kept creeping out of his fox den right as we would drive by. He stood and posed for a picture and didn't seem too frightened by our presence.
At 5 p.m. we decided that it was probably a good time to start looking for another campsite. We headed south on Highway 1 and came to Camp Richardson, we ended up with a campsite right next to the river. It was filled with trees and there was a perfect fire pit, along with hot showers and running toilets hurray!! We began to start the campfire, and cook the hot dogs for dinner. About 1/2 into cooking dinner this very loud music started to come from the amphitheater nearby. We later found out that we were camped at a Christian campground, which wasn't a bad thing but we were going to be entertained throughout the night with very loud, mostly off key christian band, the music continued through the night until 10 p.m., we made hot chocolate, played a game of Uno and then when all was quiet went off to bed.
SUNDAY- HWY 1 AND MENDOCINO
We packed up and started back south on Hwy 1. The coast was so beautiful.
Then we finally arrived at Mendocino, we had some lunch at the Bay View Cafe over looking the Pacific Ocean, it was absolutely beautiful. Mom and I shopped while dad, John and Jaidyn went exploring through a field of blackberry bushes to a grass covered cliff that overlocked the Pacific. It was very cold there in the 50's with a very cold wind that blew off the ocean. A shopkeeper there told us that Mendocino never gets any colder than 40 and any warmer than 60 degrees which makes for great gardening. The flower gardens were gorgeous. I just can't imagine not ever seeing the sunlight, the fog stays throughout the day and after a few days I think I would really miss the sun.
We continued down the coast and planned to go to Armstrong Woods. We parked and started hiking up a trail that lead to this beautiful grove of huge Redwood trees.
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We woke up this morning to a very hot shower! Yeah! Jaidyn protested and stated that it was cheat camping, but I didn't really care, I couldn't take one more day of dirt and smoke ridden hair. I had no hair dryer so I managed to use the hand driers to blow dry my hair. Too bad I don't have one of these at home, my hair was bouncy,shiny and healthy after using the hand dryer. We hiked around the campground and took a few pictures...
MOM AND DAD
We packed up and started back south on Hwy 1. The coast was so beautiful.
Then we finally arrived at Mendocino, we had some lunch at the Bay View Cafe over looking the Pacific Ocean, it was absolutely beautiful. Mom and I shopped while dad, John and Jaidyn went exploring through a field of blackberry bushes to a grass covered cliff that overlocked the Pacific. It was very cold there in the 50's with a very cold wind that blew off the ocean. A shopkeeper there told us that Mendocino never gets any colder than 40 and any warmer than 60 degrees which makes for great gardening. The flower gardens were gorgeous. I just can't imagine not ever seeing the sunlight, the fog stays throughout the day and after a few days I think I would really miss the sun.
We continued down the coast and planned to go to Armstrong Woods. We parked and started hiking up a trail that lead to this beautiful grove of huge Redwood trees.
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On the way up the trail we couldn't help but tease Jaidyn a little. I took a small rock and threw it up in the trees. Jaidyn said "what was that?" we said "I don't know" Then she ran up to be with grandma and grandpa. Dad took another rock and threw it up in the trees it came tumbling down the hill. Jaidyn said "oh my, what was that?" Dad said "It's probably the rock bears." Jaidyn said "what's a rock bear?" Dad said "it's bears that throw rocks at you" So of course we had to continue it all the back to the car, throwing rocks when she didn't see us. When we finally reached the end of the trail the last rock was thrown and Jaidyn ran so fast to the car, yelling hurry get in the car, that's just rock bears are creepy!" Poor kid she's always getting teased by mom and dad.
So we left Armstrong woods and headed back to Highway 1 to find another campsite. We drove for quite awhile, most of the campgrounds were full. Finally we arrived at Ocean Cove Campground. We found an awesome spot near the Pacific and pitched our tent. It was really, really cold! Miserably cold in fact! Everyone was hungry so since it was the last day, I thought I would cook a dutch oven full of extras, potatoes, eggs, cheese, bell peppers, onions and some croissants to top it off. It was absolutely HORRIBLE! I am definitely not a camping chef, but everyone was so hungry that we all ate it. It was so cold that after dinner was done we all took our plates and ate in our tent.
So we left Armstrong woods and headed back to Highway 1 to find another campsite. We drove for quite awhile, most of the campgrounds were full. Finally we arrived at Ocean Cove Campground. We found an awesome spot near the Pacific and pitched our tent. It was really, really cold! Miserably cold in fact! Everyone was hungry so since it was the last day, I thought I would cook a dutch oven full of extras, potatoes, eggs, cheese, bell peppers, onions and some croissants to top it off. It was absolutely HORRIBLE! I am definitely not a camping chef, but everyone was so hungry that we all ate it. It was so cold that after dinner was done we all took our plates and ate in our tent.
MONDAY- BODEGA BAY, POINT REYES AND RENO
We woke up in the morning in search of tide pools and seashells. The campsite we stayed at was right near the Pacific but there was no way to get down to the beach, it was pretty much all cliffs. So we packed up and headed down Highway 1. We ended up stopping at Goat Rock Beach. This happens to be the most dangerous beach in California.
Poor Grandpa carrying Jaidyn up the hill.
It was still pretty cold and there were no shells to be found, so we drove a little farther south and ended up at Schoolhouse Beach. This was an excellent place for tidepools and all sorts of unusual sites.
We woke up in the morning in search of tide pools and seashells. The campsite we stayed at was right near the Pacific but there was no way to get down to the beach, it was pretty much all cliffs. So we packed up and headed down Highway 1. We ended up stopping at Goat Rock Beach. This happens to be the most dangerous beach in California.
Poor Grandpa carrying Jaidyn up the hill.
We spent quite a bit of time at this beach looking at the sea life and watching the fishermen. There was a family of Asians that were equipped with flour sacks, gathering mussels off the rocks and around the shore. The beach was not sandy but filled with small pebbles of assorted colors (deep greens, maroons and browns), it was beautiful. We took a bag of pebbles home as a souvenir and Jaidyn was able to gather a few sea shells.
From there we drove further south on Highway 1.
John and I were craving us some bbq oysters, so we ended up in Marshall, CA at at nice little restaurant (I can't remember the name), the food was really good, but not as good as the bbq oysters I got at the Peg House a few days earlier. We left the restaurant drove through Point Reyes and then headed east toward Novato, Vallejo and then home to Reno. What a fun trip we had but we were so happy to finally arrive home, where there was sunshine (fog for the past 2 days) and warmth (freezing for 2 days). We even had a little hitchhiker that managed to work his way into the passenger side of the vehicle.
From there we drove further south on Highway 1.
John and I were craving us some bbq oysters, so we ended up in Marshall, CA at at nice little restaurant (I can't remember the name), the food was really good, but not as good as the bbq oysters I got at the Peg House a few days earlier. We left the restaurant drove through Point Reyes and then headed east toward Novato, Vallejo and then home to Reno. What a fun trip we had but we were so happy to finally arrive home, where there was sunshine (fog for the past 2 days) and warmth (freezing for 2 days). We even had a little hitchhiker that managed to work his way into the passenger side of the vehicle.
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