Cloverdale/Healdsburgh KOA, Northern Sonoma County, CA
Today we decided to head back south, through the countryside that we had missed while driving in the dark. This would be our first major lesson learned about van travel. Optimizing for the most driving and distance travelled in a day results in arriving at a destination in the dark. With the limited daylight hours, along with the sun setting below the hills, essential driving daylight ends at 4 or 4:30 PM. We were rethinking our future travel plans.
Returning to the drive on Rt 1, our plan was to head south, in the daylight to see the beautiful coastline and popular seaside town of Fort Bragg. We would then head to Healdsburg in Northern Sonoma County as we were not finished exploring wine country and wanted to check out some of the wineries we passed in the dark.
I heard a startling voice. "Dear!" I replied, "What?" I quickly looked at Van pointing to a big racked dear on his side of the road. Oh, deer!, not "DEAR?!" Whew. He wasn't upset with me.
In Fort Bragg, I knew we were in a unique, arty, CA place, when I saw a very sweaty, barefooted male pedestrian, fully dressed in jeans and carrying a yoga mat waiting to cross at the crosswalk. It warmed my heart as I then knew that wearing my birkenstocks with no socks in mid November would be just fine.
We found Eggheads, a breakfast place on Main St. via Yelp. There was a bevy of people waiting. When we asked how long the wait was, we were handed a spiral notepad and a pen to sign our names, then we became the keepers of the pad.
Realizing we were the eighth party on the scribbled list, we decided to take a quick stroll around the block to discover some arty shops I would have visited if I was with my daughter Monica or a Fab or five. Instead, we found the most amazing hardware store that had everything from old fashioned penny candy in big whiskey barrels to guns (next to a sign that said Firearms Not Returnable). We found a few trinkets on our list - command hooks for the gear garage, a checkered picnic table tablecloth (our next stop is a KOA after all) and some household staples.
We returned to Eggheads to find that our position on the list had not budged. So off we darted across the street to TCB. A coffee, shortbread and oatmeal cookie from a nearby sidewalk window would suffice for breakfast.
We headed back to Rt. 20, eastward into the redwoods which we'd missed when we drove west in the dark. The fog cleared as the sun peaked out between the tall redwoods densely packing the meandering and hilly two-lane road. Surprisingly, traffic and road construction made for an even slower drive than when we were driving in darkness two days prior.
We stopped at Lumberjacks, a chain restaurant I equated to Denny's with the exception of being "Where the Big Boys Eat." Van enjoyed the vibe of woodmen, chainsaws and tools decorating the cozy log cabin interior while we ate lunch. There were were also interesting "rigs" in their parking lot.
After a short ride and nap for me, we made it to the KOA, our first. The atmosphere of vineyards and hills as a backdrop to the pool and gardens was not what I expected with a KOA. This place will likely set a high bar if we do stay at any other KOAs along our trip.
After backing in to our spot, we re-arranged the location of the picnic table, set up my new checkered plastic with felt-lined tablecloth with handy clips.
We took Quinnbo for a walk to see the property and checked in with a nice lady who gave us a map of wineries in the area. She recommended two wineries - Francis Ford Coppola and Ferari Carneros. She recommended we go tonight as Saturdays are usually a "zoo."
We hopped in TCB heading for the 101 again. The Alexander Valley in Sonoma is quite different than Napa Valley with vineyards everywhere. They cover the landscape in the same way cornfields carpet the fields of northwest Connecticut. They stretch for miles with the variations of golds, reds, ambers and greens. Fruit and olive trees rise above the vineyards sprinkled throughout the landscape.
We visited Francis Ford Coppola winery as the campground manager advised we didn't need a reservation. She was not right. There was a group of women from Ohio who offered to let us join their table, but that did not fly with the hostess. It was a very elaborate place that felt like it should have been in Italy, not CA. Oh well. No chanelling the Corleone Family this afternoon.
Instead, we happened on a lovely storefront tasting room in Healdsburgh, a bustling town full of interesting shops, wine bars and restaurants. Again, I would have loved to be with Fabs to explore some. Van and I tasted four lovely wines served by sommelier Stefanie, who was originally from Los Alamos. NM. Again, she was surprised by our home port and was also glad to hear we were heading to Silver City for Christmas. Los Alamos is nowhere near Silver City, however it seems New Mexicans have just as much cameraderie as New Englanders!
Upon finishing our tasting, we headed back to camp in time for some Trader Joe's chili and some gas station wine Van picked up when he filled TCB on our way back to camp. (When we were in Provence, the convenience store rose wine was so delicious, that Van thought the wine country gas stations might be similar. I am not sure the same logic applied, after drinking it. I guess he's saving our wine tasting treasures to share for the holidays.)
Today was another jam-packed day. We were hoping to see stars after the fog cleared. Stars or no stars, thank you TCB.
