NorCal

our first stop north of San Fran was a little port town called Fort Bragg.  we decided to drive the rest of California coast side on Hwy 101 and it was incredible.  just the drive was awesome. 

to get to Fort Bragg from 101 you take CA 20 west.  it’s about 25 miles and takes almost an hour.  twists and turns through Redwoods, climbs and descents.  the entire time Ben and I had our mouths open in awe and I tried desperately to capture ANY of it in pictures and/or video and it just doesn’t capture the experience at all. 

once through the trees, the coastline in Fort Bragg was beautiful.  it was rainy the day we drove in, foggy and cold and wet.  I was a little worried.  luckily, the rest of our time there was dry and sunny.  the RV Park we found was down on the fishing docks in the harbor, which ended up being really cool.  a short walk under the bridge put us at the town’s one dog beach, so that was a win for everyone.  

our dog beach and persona tide pooling area ;)

she wanted me to take their picture ;)

we spent the week tide-pooling, walking harbor drive, visited glass beach and took a ride on the Skunk Train.  side note: turns out I'm COMPLETELY OBSESSED with tide-pooling.  like losing-track-of-time-and-my-children kind of obsessed.  also I slipped more than once on the rocks and have scars to prove it. 

Sophia and I enjoyed reading a Cat in the Hat book called Clam, I am! that discussed beach and tide pool creatures, the tides and the salt water.  We've read it a lot this trip and that made it extra special to find hermit crabs to fill our "bug catcher" here.  She watched them with such delight and giggled every time they came out to walk around. ;)

from there we spent one night at a county park.  first county park I was really disappointed with and frankly, was uncomfortable with staying there.  the ONLY perk to our night there was the crabs we found. 

on to Patrick’s Point State Park for the weekend.  AMAZING.  more tide-pooling, runs on the trails, projects on the beach.  dry camping only at this park, so we again tested our solar setup after running the heat all night both nights.  worked like a charm.  lot of hot tea times here to warm up after beach romps, also hot coin showers.  the bear box provided a lot of entertainment as well, logs always work too. 

Trail run view #1

Trail run view #2 - Wedding Rock at Patrick's Point State Park

The beach below our campsite.  

now, to Oregon we go. 

we’re all SO enjoying our time but also feeling like the timing will be right to see so much family this summer in Minnesota.  looking forward to lots of that.  

love you all, 

xoxox