North Coast Vacation July 2002, Days 3-6

Day 3 -- We Drive South out of the Fog

Luckily it had not fogged on us the night before, so our tent was pretty dry when we packed it up. We bid farewell to Shelter Cove and headed South. Being in Shelter Cove had given us the impression that the entire state was under the fog and clouds, and it was a bit of a shock to reach blue sky within 15 minutes of driving away from the coast. We explored a few other campsites in King Range (research for future trips) and drove to Garberville. Here we had breakfast at the Woodrose Cafe, a pleasant hippy restaurant on the main strip. From there we continued south on 101 to Leggett, where we got on Highway 1 and headed for the coast. Our destination was Hendy Woods State Park, which is a few miles west of Philo on 128, and about smack in-between Highways 101 and 1. It's not obvious the best way to get there, and taking 1, which is a windy coastal road, is not necessarily the best way. But, being on vacation, we weren't in a hurry, and the coast was absolutely gorgeous.

Hendy Woods was recommended by a friend at work, and it was well worth the drive (we estimate ~1 hour from Cloverdale, ~3-4 hours from Fremont.) The campground is set in redwood groves, and camp sites are well isolated from each other. Since we were there midweek (we arrived on Tuesday) it was uncrowded, but even if it was full to capacity it would be a great place to go. The one thing we didn't like were the pay showers (50c for 3 minutes, which goes by pretty quickly!)
The Park is located a few miles from Philo, and few more miles away from Boonville. East on 128 towards Philo is a great fruit and veggie stand whose specialty is apples. We picked up a few bags of dried apples for hiking, and a large jug of fresh cider for dinner. The grocery situation isn't as good as Redway, but better than Shelter Cove. We grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner, with grilled onions, peppers, and zucchinis, and garlic bread on the side. We had planned to have more banana s'mores (in fact, we bought half a dozen bananas in anticipation of this dessert) but we were too full and we never had any for the rest of the trip.

Day 4 -- We hike among the Redwoods, and Gary gets Lucky!

After a breakfast of normal bananas and blackened toast, we went hiking in the forest. Hendy Woods mainly has old growth coastal redwood groves, with some smaller newer growth areas. The Navarro River runs past the park, with meadows along side it. Hiking around is strange, because the contrast between the forest and the meadow is so strong, and the change happens quickly. The temperature difference is also amazing. Our first stop on the hike was a shelter supposedly built by the "Hendy Hermit," a Russian "hobo" who fled to the US back in the 50s. He lived in the park for nearly 20 years, living in burnt out redwood trees he fashioned into a livable space. No one really knew much about him, and we were a little doubtful that the shelters we saw (there are two) were genuine, as he died 20 years ago.

We stopped to climb around a huge fallen redwood. We found a small frog who hopped out of one of the cracks on top. We scared it a little taking pictures, so it jumped off onto the ground (and who knows if he was able to hop back onto the log, as it was many feet off the ground.) To get onto and off of the trunk of the tree you have to first negotiate its root system, which is still partly intact after falling to the ground.

Our next stop was next to a patch of clover. Large clover grows all over redwood forests, and Gary had been taking a close look at them all. And lucky him -- he found a four-leaf clover!

Mostly we hiked in the woods, but every once in awhile our path would lead us to the river and meadows. Although there were lots of pretty flowers there, the heat and sun drove us back to the woods.

After hiking we decided to drive into town to eat and go wine tasting. Yes, they make wine in Mendocino County, and Hendy Woods is extremely close to several wineries. We went to 4 different places, and bought wine at a few. It's not the same as Napa wine, but many of the vineyards are small scale and you can't buy the wine anywhere except at the winery. Our favorite winery (for its looks, not necessarily the wine) was Husch, which was in a quaint little shack surrounded by flowers and a grapevine covered picnic area.

We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon at camp. Our campsite had an old redwood stump surrounded by 4 or 5 younger redwoods. Perfect for sitting back and looking up at the canopy.

For dinner we decided that we'd had enough of cooking over the campfire, and drove into Boonville for dinner at Libby's Mexican Restaurant. The food was great, and for dessert we had the best flan ever!

Day 5 -- We drive East

We sadly left Hendy Woods for the civilized town of Calistoga, where we would sleep in a bed, not a tent! It's a relatively quick drive from Mendocino County through Sonoma to Napa County, and it all looks much the same (as one person said to us in a winery, wine country looks the same everywhere, from Napa to Australia.) We arrived ready for comfort in Calistoga, home of hot springs and spas. We walked around town for a few hours while waiting for our room at the Mount View Hotel to be made up, and made a few non-wine purchases. Finally, we were able to take long showers without having to worry about the hot water running out, and without having to wear shower shoes the entire time. Our cottage had a jacuzzi outside of it, so we were able to take a quick dip and relax before going out to dinner. Since we'd had Mexican food the night before, we chose a more European place, although with a name like Wappo's it conjured up something else (just what we weren't sure, but not pork chops and steak.) After gelatos for dessert, we called it a night.

Day 6 -- We relax and go Home

We had a spa treatment at the Mount View Spa scheduled for the last day of our vacation. This consisted of a mud bath, massage, and facial for us both. The mud bath, it was explained, was not the traditional sticky mud, but a jacuzzi mineral bath infused with "the essence of mud." Basically, it was like sitting in a really dirty jacuzzi, except it smelled nice. We got to take a steam shower beforehand, though, so overall it was a relaxing experience, if not just a little weird. This was Gary's first massage, and we think he may be addicted now. Jen thinks she fell asleep during hers.

After the massages we walked around town some more and had lunch. We went to a candle shop that specialized in beeswax candles, which are really nice. We bought a few candles, and the husband of the owner offered to let us try some of his wine. He owns a fairly new winery called OnThEdge. We bought a couple bottles of his 2000 Zinfandel.
Napa is on the way back to Fremont from Calistoga, so we stopped and had dinner with Gary (Sr.) and Emily. After dinner we wandered around the street festival that's in downtown Napa every Friday all summer. And finally, we made our way home late Friday night.

Go back to Days 1 & 2