Rhonda Bracey: At Random

LONG trip today. We left Santa Rosa, California around 9:30am this morning, heading up the 101. We turned in towards the coast at Cloverdale, heading for Mendocino, crossing the Mendocino County Line which was made famous in a song somewhere, sometime…

The drive to the coast was very narrow and winding, but also very beautiful. Lots of Californian Oaks with dripping mosses and lichens. The day was glorious. Mendocino was as pretty as ever, and as it was the first time Char had seen that part of the Californian coast, she was as taken with it as anyone who sees it for the first time.

We continued making our way up the coast (Highway 1 at this stage) until we rejoined Highway 101 at a tiny spot called Leggett, where we took the car through the drive-through tree. (photos to come…). Then we followed 101 to Eureka and beyond, until after some 9 hours of driving we arrived at Brookings, OR, where we grabbed a room for the night. In total I drove some 337 miles, and there’s another 333 to Portland tomorrow…
Some of the highlights of today’s trip:

• Magnificent redwoods
• Lush green forests
• Brilliant coastline
• Raging oceans
• Very winding roads
• Lots of rain in parts; beautiful sunshine at other times; cloudy for the rest; some fog in places
• Very cold wind!
• Expensive fuel ($3.79 average in northern California, but only $3.50 immediately over the border in Oregon)
• Smooth driving and handling in the Mazda6