Monthly Archives: May 2011

The Beautiful Mendocino Coast

Mendocino – The cutest little village on the ocean! Originally established as a logging port in the 1850s, Mendocino has successfully preserved its New England-style clapboard houses. Of course, all the wonderful shops were housed in these historical buildings with a view of the coast that is to die for. If you are looking for beautiful, very expensive, one of a kind hand made wood pieces – they have just the shop for you! There are also hand painted silk scarves for $350, estate jewelry, and endless art pieces depicting the coast at various times of the day. But, each time you step out of the shop – there is that million $$$ view that you don’t have to pay for. So – who can complain?!?!?

Two of the best finds in the town – and maybe the trip:

For Gary there was the photo/toy store – “Out of This World”. A great combination don’t you think?? Toys for no matter what age! Needless to say this is where Gary spent most of his time while in Mendocino – checking out yet another camera. Pleased to say he saved his wallet and emerged without any packages – whew;-)

For Elizabeth there was the “Gallery Bookshop”. Oh my goodness! Many hours could have been spent here but, I escaped with only three books. Our book club’s next read is “The Legend of Colton H. Bryant” by Alexandra Fuller. In the past two weeks two Barnes & Noble stores had to look it up only to tell me they could order it and have it shipped! First they had to look it up – then they had to order! (Like Magic has an address!!) The title was barely out of my mouth at the “Gallery Bookshop” when they said “Oh what a great book – I love Alexandra Fuller!” Then proceeded to take me directly to it. All the way back she raved about Fuller’s first book, “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight”, an autobiography of Fuller growing up in Africa. So, of course, I bought them both. In the conversation it came up that this was a ‘book club‘ read – so, then I asked if they had our next selection – “Just Kids” by Patti Smith. She looked at me and said “Who makes your selections? These are incredible books you are reading and very unlike book clubs! Do you always read non-fiction?” At that moment I was VERY proud of our Book Club and VERY happy to be a member – and still felt like a Goddess!! Also, very happy to support the ‘local’ bookstore – this wonderful little gem almost in the middle of no where! Take a look at gallerybookshop.com!

Well – stomachs were growling by now so the Historic Mendocino Hotel called for lunch. Food was nothing special but the historic hotel had its charm and that wonderful view again.

Fort Bragg was our afternoon destination. The surrounding area was designated the Mendocino Indian Reservation back in the late 1800’s and housed the Pomo Indians. Fort Bragg was established to watch over the reservation and maintain peace among the Indians – really! The Fort was not in existence long, but is now the main town around – the Safeway, Starbucks, Radio Shack, a manicure – all the things we needed for today.

A move 20 miles up the coast was in order for the next couple of days – hoping for a better view! Magic did really well up this stretch of Highway 1 – considering the narrow, winding nature of the road – SO, it only took us 2 hours to go the 20 miles! And, at the end of the drive – THIS is what we were looking for as a camping spot on this beautiful California coast!


Soooo, what do ya think… a Corona or a Cialis commercial?
Great views from our camp spot.

We did manage to pull ourselves away from this view for a morning hike on the Grove Trail in Leggett – which had its own sites of the majestic redwoods.


Taking a walk through the Redwood Grove at Standish-Hickey State Park.

The Redwoods’ version of the twin towers.

AND – to drive thru the “Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree” –

Last time Gary did this was in a 1955 Chevy station wagon.

No problem, you have and inch on each side.

While on the coast, the weather has cooperated wonderfully and given us the most beautiful days! It has been sunny first thing in the morning – no fog to burn off. And, the fog has NOT rolled in at night – so the stunning sunsets have been visible in all their glory!

A beautiful end to the day.

But, today we say good bye to the coast for a few days and head inland a bit into the Redwoods – which will provide another kind of beauty and interest.

More in a few days – From Magic, this is Elizabeth and Gary reporting;-)

A GREEN Dot Day;-)

Today was a really FUN day – and the kind we really love. Only about 130 miles – but 4 hours. “Why?” – you might ask. Because the road was a “green dot” road (ie – a scenic route), which means beautiful, very narrow, two lane, tree covered – and just to make it really interesting – Napa Valley threw in a bike rally. But, we loved every minute of it – and Magic performed wonderfully;-)


Narrow – 2 Lane – Sharing with Bicycle Rally.
Tree Covered – Working our way to the coast.
Lunch time at our version of a McDonald’s drive thru.
Narrow – Damaged – But Beautiful Stands of Redwoods.

Mid-afternoon – after a month and a half on the road – we reached the coast of California, the primary destination of this Spring trip. Our home for the next couple of nights is adjacent to the beach just north of Mendocino –

A few shots along the cove adjacent to our campground.

Good Night

Tomorrow Mendocino and Fort Bragg will ‘entertain‘ us – and reports will follow.

As I am writing this, we are listening to the President informing us that Osama Bin Laden is dead. Another reason to celebrate this day – and at the same time remember that horrible day in 2001. All I can say is “Thank God – Justice at Last!”.

Peace to all of you – Elizabeth & Gary

The Spectacular Yosemite Valley

WOW! Somehow a whole week has passed since we last posted here.

During this last week, we have played three days of golf on a couple of beautiful courses. If you are anywhere in the neighborhood of Yosemite be sure to check out the Sierra Meadows Country Club in Ahwahnee. And, if around Sonoma – check out Eagle Vines –


A great day of golf at Eagle Vines.

We also spent a couple of wonderful days in Yosemite.

Entering the Park.

We had another great ‘parking’ spot for Magic –

Enjoying the Lakers in the great outdoors.

Yosemite National Park was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890 and is a park about the size of Rhode Island situated in the Sierra Nevada’s. It is famous for its incredible valley, but the park includes five distinct areas that attract nearly 3.5 million visitors each year. Unfortunately, three of the areas – Glacier Point, the Tioga Road and the Tuolumne Meadows, and Hetch Hetchy were closed due to snow in their higher elevations. So – we spent time in the Valley and Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.

The valley is seven miles long and one mile across and was formed by glacial erosion over hundreds of thousands of years. The walls of the valley are draped with waterfalls that were running full due to all the snow and precipitation this winter and early spring and, therefore, were simply beautiful! The Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls – the signature fall in the Valley – combine to drop almost 2,500 feet making this the tallest waterfall in North America.


Upper Yosemite Falls.

Upper and Lower Falls.

Just outside of the Valley is one of the most photographed vistas in the world. Here one gets a classic view of Yosemite Valley, including El Capitan (on the left), Clouds Rest (in the middle where the clouds are ‘resting’), Half dome (coming around clockwise), Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Fall. We spent quit a bit of time here just taking in the sights! (Gary does get a little bit of slack for the phone thing — as he got an offer on his Mother’s house and was trying to move the deal along while there. This is a good thing.)


Channelling Ansel Adams?? … Not.
You’ve gotta see this view!!
Can we park Magic here?

The elevations in the park range from 2,000 feet to 13,000 feet. So while the Valley was quite nice, Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias was back in the snow! This eliminated our anticipated hike;-(



Shoulder deep snow in the Mariposa Grove.

Our stay in Yosemite had to come to an end and we moved on to the Napa/Sonoma area for a few days. Surprisingly, there was no wine tasting – just visits and dinners with friends;-) Oh yes – and one SLEEPLESS night watching THE WEDDING!!

Tomorrow we head toward the coast.

More later – E & G