This is the second time that we have to play catchup since we started. This post will encompass July 12-14. That will take us from our time going to Eureka, CA through our time in Napa, CA.
Friday, July 12 - this morning we left Medford, OR and headed for California. This is our first adventure to California, except for our experience 31 years ago flying through the LA airport on our way to Hawaii. Our foray into the golden state started as we crossed the border into the amazing redwood forest of the J.Smith Redwood Forest State Park. We stopped in the midst of these giant trees and did a two mile hike into Stump Grove, a grove of some of the biggest trees in that area. We then took a scenic drive through more Redwoods. The road twisted and turned until we finally ended up in Eureka. We checked into our hotel, got the car washed, the oil changed, and Lynn found the Lost Coast Brewery for our evening meal. After dinner we took a walk through old town Eureka and the boardwalk by the harbor, which was filled with fishing boats. As we drove through this part of California we kept saying how beautiful it was and that we could see why our friends, Amy and Jeff, really enjoyed their time there. The magnificence of the nature is truly indescribable.
Saturday, July 13- today was our first day of driving on the Coastal Highway, US1. We did manage to drive on the "Avenue of the Giants", as part of our journey to the coast from Eureka, again a trip of twisting and turning and single lane roads. It seemed like hours till we saw the ocean for the first time, and it was definitely worth the wait. When people say the coastal highway is beautiful and dangerous they are truly understating the obvious. We drove a stretch of the coast highway for about 3-4 hours, had a great lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean, and many more "white knuckle" experiences. We then made our turn east toward our destination of Napa, CA. The road was the most twisty, turny, up and down road I've ever been on. In the first 40-50 miles we passed by three cars and a motorcycle. It was probably the best Miata experience I've ever had (Terry B. and Tom H. would know what I mean) and probably the worst one for Lynn. We finally made it back to 101 and headed for Napa. We stopped in Santa Rosa for some wine country info and ended up, where else, at the local microbrewery, Russian River Brewery, for a beer and a glass. Finally we ended up at our hotel in Napa, unpacked, had some dinner, and settled in for the night,
Sunday, July 14 - this was our day to explore the Napa Valley wineries. We ended up going to the Andretti winery, the Mumm Napa winery, the V.Satturi winery and the Sutter Home winery. Each had it's own specialties. We had a great bottle of Reiseling with fire-oven baked pizza at the V.Satturi winery. But really enjoyed the wine at Mumm and Sutter Home, which is probably why we bought wine there. After we finished our tasting time, Lynn did some laundry, I went for a scenic drive through the downtown part of Napa, and then we went for dinner at "In & Out Burger" as recommended by Katie. It was pretty good. Lots better than Mikey D's. Tomorrow we head for San Francisco.
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