Clam Chowder (St. Leroy II) ~ West Coast RV Adventure 2023 ~ Day 16

If you know my Mom and Dad, you know they are pretty determined people. Once they set their minds to something, watch out! Well, they decided they were getting some of that award winning clam chowder. So at 9:22 am on Monday morning, Dad dropped Mom off at Spud Point Crab Company, and Mom ordered two of just about everything they had, including the clam chowder! With a bag full of good smelling stuff, we said goodbye to big Bodega Bay. Here’s a picture to give you a feel for it. 

 



 

As we headed north, we hit the Pacific Ocean again, and yeah, Mom was happy. Along the road there were lush meadows interspersed with lots of turnouts where we could look down on pretty little coves with rocky beaches.

 






 

Our first stop was Shell Beach, a small cove that we had to walk down a pretty steep cliff to access. We all made it though. I’m not sure why they called it Shell Beach, because there weren’t any shells. But there were lots of rocks and some big pieces of driftwood too. As we continued north, driving through Sonoma along the coast was just beautiful! 








 

We took a right turn inland and drove along the Russian River. Turns out, Mom made a directional error, which irritated Dad. I just kept my mouth shut while that realization took place. At least it was a pretty drive though. We turned around and finally got to Fort Ross. Then Dad’s mood got a little worse when the guy at the gate gave him the senior citizens discount without even asking his age!! Of course, Mom’s laughter didn’t help either. Mom made it up to Dad by feeding him what he said was an awesome Crab Sandwich from Spud Point in the LHOW for lunch. 


> 



A pretty garden in Guernesville. That’s how roses grow in Northern California. 




 

We had a great walk down to a point overlooking the ocean and saw huge harbor seals on rocks in the water. On the walk up to the fort, there was the biggest eucalyptus tree Mom had ever seen. The base of it was huge! In the fort, a lot of kids came up to me and wanted to pet me. I didn’t care much for the details of the Fort, but maybe you do. So did you know that the Russians explored all the way down into this part of Northern California in the 1800s? They brought Aleuts from Alaska down with them to hunt seals for fur and blubber. Boy, good thing they never made it down to that Elephant Seal beach we saw a few days ago! There wouldn’t be any Elephant Seals left!! They bought 48,000 acres for $25,000 and built Fort Ross. They also built the first wind powered grain mill on the west coast. Too bad they didn’t realize this land was a really bad area to grow wheat. They couldn’t keep the fort going, so they sold it to John Sutter for $30,000 a few decades later. 








 

Heading further up the coast, we stopped at Sea Ranch to see the iconic Sea Ranch Chapel. It was pretty weird, I have to say. Some artists designed it to look like a mushroom. Really? 




 

After a couple more vista points, the last stop of the day was the Point Arena Lighthouse. We got there right as they closed. Really? At 4:30? It saved Mom and Dad climbing a lot of steps though as it’s the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast. It sure was a pretty view from the parking lot. And we were pretty high up off the beach. Mom and Dad talked to Caitlin and David while we sat there watching the harbor seals on the rocks, the waves pound the shore and a raccoon scavenge for food. It was a great location for a phone conversation! 














 

Then we wandered north along coast enjoying even more beautiful scenery a little farther until we got to our campsite for the night. Mom and Dad just keep saying how pretty it is. Even I think it’s pretty! I guess views like these are why they wanted to go on this adventure. I’m sure glad they brought me along.







 

Our campsite was interesting. Dad said it was like a sardine can…I figured out what that means cuz the sites were SO close together. When Mom and Dad opened our slide out, it went over our neighbors picnic table. They were really nice about it, laughed and moved their table. But geez, we were packed in there. Yeah, and everyone had dogs, so you know I wasn’t really liking it at all. BUT, the RV Park had some pretty plants that Mom called rhododendrons AND it was right across the street from the beach! So of course Mom couldn’t wait to got see it. We just walked across the little two lane road and found the cutest little beach in a cove with a creek feeding it. Mom and Dad took their happy juice and chairs and we sat a while. This sitting is sure different that the sitting while we’re driving in the LHOW though. And having the beach right there made the sardine can campsite totally worth it! 



 


We got back to the LHOW and Mom and Dad had dinner. Dad said it was the BEST clam chowder he had ever eaten! So “Winner, winner! Clam chowder dinner!!” See, determination pays off. I’m going to remind them of the that when my Mayo dachshund “determination” kicks in next time! 

 

 

#HopeTravels

#MakingMayoMemories

#WestCoastRVAdventure2023

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Me to Texas ~ West Coast RV Adventure 2023 ~ Day 32-34 and Home!

Image
Well, by now, you’ve figured out that we’ve been home for over five weeks. Mom and I just had soooo much to do when we got home that we’ve been a bit slow finishing up telling you about the end of our trip. So here goes… We were up and at ‘em this morning cuz Dad said we had a ways to go today. We headed south through Utah and the ground started turning rocky, red and desert like again. We went along the border of Moab National Park. Mom said it was a teaser preview of one of our future Great RV Adventures. Your guess is as good as mine as to when we’ll take that trip, but I’ll be sure to let you know when we do. Anyway, it made for some pretty scenery.    As we got closer to and entered Colorado, it was as if we were on two different trips. Out the right window were the red rock formations, and out the left window was a beautiful view of snowcapped rugged mountains. It was crazy! God sure has a very creative but interesting sense of humor!   Our campsite for the night wa...
Read more

O Canada ~ West Coast RV Adventure 2023 ~ Day 25 & 26

Image
We woke up to beautiful warm sunshine and a glassy lake. In fact, the Lake was so still, that you could barely tell where the lake started and stopped because of the perfect reflection. So pretty! Sadly, we are leaving this little slice of heaven today. So I just soaked up as much sunshine as I could.  Leaving Lake Crescent, Mom took a bunch of pictures from the LHOW window because, this time, we knew we wouldn’t be back anytime soon.    We headed back to Port Angeles, for the second time in a couple of day, but this time we really were going to take the ferry to Victoria. Port Angeles was a cute little town. Mom would have liked to have shopped more, but we had to grabbed some breakfast before getting on the boat. They did have really odd looking “people” on the streets.    I was pretty excited for my first boat ride. And this boat was pretty darned BIG!  First they had Mom and Dad answer a bunch of questions, and then Dad drove the LHOW into the bell...
Read more
Image
Let’s Get This Party Started!   Hope Travels 2023 ~ The West Coast RV Adventure – Day 4 & 5    We woke up to a sunny, pretty day, and all I could think of was, “Let’s Get This Party Started!  I was checking things out even before Dad got the privacy curtain down. After we packed up and took a trot around the Kampground, we were off!     Dad said we had to make hay today, whatever that means. I think it means just drive a lot, because that’s what we did.     Time for my morning nap! We went by something called Hoover Dam but didn’t stop because Mom and Dad have been there before. Then we entered into Nevada.   We made it into Las Vegas. Mom said “no” to Dad’s “do you want to go put some money down on the tables” question, so instead we stopped for lunch and for something at a pet store that Mom said I’d need in Death Valley. I have no idea what that means. They had lunch at a yummy Hawaiian food place but I had to stay in the LHOW. Then we...
Read more