The first site of the Pacific Ocean on Marina Dunes beach made us cheer with joy. The waves, the wind and the intoxicating smell of salt water was what we had been yearning for since we first launched Ladybug. And now Bernadette and I were standing shoeless in the sand on the edge of this beautiful blue sea. This is where California dreamin’ begins.
Our entire trip along the coast of California has been one dreamy experience after another. After Marina Dunes, and a brief visit to Pebble Beach where I could dream of golfing there one day, we headed north to Bodega Bay.
Bodega Bay is about a two hour drive north of San Francisco. It is a small town hugging the coast with spectacular beaches close by. We strolled along the rugged beach at Salmon Creek where people assemble rustic lean-tos from scraps of drift wood and huddle inside to protect themselves from the cool breezes. I tried to get Bernadette to huddle inside one of those lean-tos, but she just insisted that we keep walking the beach.
Bodega Bay can also be quite misty. In the early morning, great waifs of mist float slowly through the pines giving the area a somewhat creepy feel. In fact, this is why Alfred Hitchcock chose Bodega Bay as the location for his film The Birds. That was the first “scary” film I saw as a young child and I still get the heebie jeebies if I see more than one black bird fly by. You can still see the home that was featured as the school house where all those tiny kids and their teacher were being attacked by the birds. Just don’t go knocking on the door or the owner will throw something at you. (So I discovered.)
A short drive away from the coast is the picturesque town of Santa Rosa. This is where I had the most delicious cheeseburger in my life. (There I go, talking about cheeseburgers again.) When I was ordering, the waitress actually asked if I wanted half a cheeseburger or a full cheeseburger. Who asks a question like that? So, naturally, I ordered the whole cheeseburger. It was a monster! All eight ounces of cheeseburger! I was in Heaven.
Santa Rosa is not only home to good food, but also home to the Charles Schulz Museum. Anyone who is a Peanuts fan, or even if you are not, should spend time there. We saw Charlie Brown and all of his gang, plus his best friend, Snoopy, who happens to be Gordie’s favourite cartoon character.
Beside the Museum is the famous hockey rink called, Snoopy’s Home Ice. Born in Minnesota, Charles Schulz not only had a passion for cartooning, but also for hockey and skating. He built the rink for family, friends and the community and over the years, Snoopy’s Home Ice has attracted celebrity skaters and visitors and is a haven for young and old folks in the Santa Rosa area who have discovered the fun of slicing around a rink. On the day of our visit, there was a learn to skate program taking place for more than two dozen adults. That was really cool and as I watched the lesson, I started dreaming of playing shinny on that ice with the Silver Seven and all of our children and grand children.
Our next stop was in the town of Garberville, California where a short drive away was the stunningly beautiful “Avenue of the Giants”. This 35 mile drive weaves through massive Red Wood Trees that are over 1,000 years old. It is an exclamation point on the beauty of nature and the importance of protecting its many gifts. Hopefully, the following photos give you an idea of these impressive giants. If you stare at them long enough, you will fall under their spell and start dreaming of a California adventure of your own.
