PETALUMA and HEADLSBURG JULY 13 - 17, 2013

From Santa Cruz we drove north along the next beautiful section of Highway 1.  Very little traffic, beautiful open fields with the ocean in full view all the way. We hadn't taken the motorhome up this way before but so glad we did it this summer, it was beautiful and so much better than being on 101.  A little cloudy and over cast but that just added to the atmosphere of a coast ride. It's fun to sit up high in the motorhome and have a new vista of the coast, we sure catch a lot more. One of the reasons we knew we could take our big house all the way to SF on this road was the new Devil's Slide Tunnel we'd seen the day before when we'd driven up for a visit with Neevie.  The dangerous and narrow section of Highway 1 which constantly slid in rainy weather has been replaced with a beautiful new tunnel. There was still some finishing work going on, but the tunnel was open, maybe only a week or two before, lucky us.

 We spent the next 2 nights at the Petaluma Elks Lodge, a really nice 28 space camping area on the east side of town. Quiet, with good space between each site and a beautiful grassy lawn area behind us for Foster to run all over.  We did some errands the first day and then met Alec and Londa Saturday morning for a wonderful breakfast and visit at The Tea Room, a sweet and very popular coffee/tea room with some really tasty breakfast dishes. I thought it would feel weird being back in Petaluma after many years but everything is so familiar and I have so many great memories of the 20 years my parents lived here.

From Petaluma we moved only an hour north to Healdsburg and a few days with Charlie and Mary;  but it was a sad time too, as Charlie and Mary's best friend, Swannie had died suddenly the week before.   Really long-time, close friends.  For me, I'll always see Swannie there in the back yard helping roast the pig at Charlie's 60th birthday party. An amazing thing was that Charlie and Swannie had gone on a day long fishing trip just 2 days before, what a gift of time together. It doesn't lessen the pain but I know Charlie's so very glad he got that trip. 

So, we did a lot of talking and remembering while we sat around the fire at night. Their doggies also love to hang out with us...there's Lyle, the little one with a large attitude, and the newest member who took over the bench seat at campfire time.

With summer vacation Molly was in and out but we did see her a couple of times around the fire pit. She was so excited to be getting her braces off while we were there. Thomas and Katrina were busy with jobs, so only short visits. They're all growing up so quickly., Molly's starting her senior year!


But it's always fun to sit in the yard every evening and visit...lots of talking and laughing, to be sure.

Wednesday morning: Molly and Mom at the orthodontist's office ready for those braces to come OFF!

Our last afternoon we had lunch outside at The Bear Republic Brewery, it's become a tradition for all of us.

The weather was so wonderful for our visit and we love being able to just pull our motorhome right next to Charlie's place and make ourselves at home there. But...the summer was moving quickly and we were trying to get all the way to Canada so we were back on the road early the next morning.