Raincharm’s Weblog

Today was a travel day. Not too long in the end. Five plus hours from Crescent City to Mendocino. Primarily along Highway 101, and Highway 1.

Spectacular views. Rugged coastline, beaches, even a few dunes. And redwoods! Again. Including the Big Tree.

Highway 1 is the slightly shorter route to get to Mendocino. It is also some of the most intense driving I have done on a sunny, dry day. Through the redwoods up and down and incredibly windy. Curves labeled for 15 and 20 mph, even one at 10 mph. And cars/trucks going in the opposite direction would appear at the last moment. And no shoulder to speak of. Luckily, there were few cars going our direction, so I didn’t feel any pressure to push my comfort zone. And this went on for miles. Roughly 22 miles by my map reckoning. It was lovely and terrifying at the same time.

I kept thinking that we needed to travel back along this route on Sunday, near the beginning of a 14-hour trip, possibly in the dark or rainy conditions. We have since consulted a map and found a slightly less imposing road that is estimated to add only 16 minutes to our trip home. I’ll take it just to save the mental exhaustion.

We are staying in the Trillium Inn and Restaurant in Mendocino. It is a converted house. There are just 2 rooms on the second floor of the inn, and the restaurant is a small upscale place. We chose not to eat there because today is the 1st game of the World Series, and no TVs.

A local bookseller suggested the Pattersons Pub would be a good place to eat and watch the game. We headed over about game time, finding a table in their outdoor patio. We have come to this area to support our good friend at a memorial for his brother and his wife/significant other. Both having passed. Mendocino is about 30 minutes north of Elk, where they lived. Our friends are staying in Elk proper, but asked, via text, where we were. We told them the pub, and they surprisingly said they were on their way. And further to say hello to his brother.  ….. We looked around and spotted a likely suspect at an adjacent table. So we asked their name,  and sure enough. We ended up in the middle of dinner with members of the family from all sides of the gathering.

It was amazing, unplanned (by us), and really good to meet them today in a less emotionally charged setting than the remembrance gathering is likely to be.

And the Dodgers pulled out the win over the Yankees in the 10th. With a grand slam. We had returned to our room before the game ended, following along on our phones. We’re not really rooting for either team. Maybe I’ll go for the home team for each game, so the fans will be happy.

This entry was posted on October 25, 2024 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.