We really really love Bodega Bay. You know when you go somewhere and the place just resonates perfectly with you? For whatever reason…this place did that. The combination of all the hiking trails along the coastal bluffs, the funky Hitchcock history (The Birds!!!), the friends we met the first time we camped here (hi Sissy and Bob!), and the clam chowder at Spud Point Crab Company…it all just came together and we love it here every time we return.
We left…um…where did we camp last night? Oh yeah, a Walmart parking lot in Anderson, CA where we stopped right before midnight…just south of Redding. It sucked. Seriously. At about 2am (maybe that's when the Sonic there at the edge of the parking lot closed?) some douchebag in a big pickup parked one row over and four spots down from the three or four of us RVs there for the night, and then, with all his doors open, BLASTED Alice in Chains for about an hour (maybe it was 5 minutes…but I think it was an hour).
So anyway, we got to Bodega Bay around 2pm, got situated in our site here at Porto Bodega Marina, got our new bikes out and rode up to Bodega Head (testing out the Rohloff's low gears on that hill). The bikes are fantastic!
Here's mine:
Here's Kevin's:
Rockin', aren't they? 🙂
We stopped at Spud Point Crab Company on the way back to camp and picked up a couple bowls of clam chowder (second best only to Ox's chowder in Portland…I know, weird, but true) and a cooked crab to have for dinner later. Then, we headed over to say hi to our friends at Gourmet au Bay (a fabulous bayfront wine shop/wine bar, definitely go there if you're in the neighborhood and like wine and awesome people), had a glass of wine (and picked up the Nespresso pods they so nicely let us have delivered to their place, because we forgot to bring enough coffee on this trip, dur). A lovely evening.
Here's the perfect glass-of-wine-sipping view we had (with crazy Hitchcock birds!):
And here's sunset from our campsite:
Tomorrow our plan is to head down to Tomales Bay to pick up some fresh oysters, ride our bikes some more, then go back to Gourmet au Bay tomorrow evening to visit more with Sissy and Bob (and meet up with Airstreamer friends Leslie and Chris of Tin Can Tardis).
Hope you're all having a great weekend!
sweet rides! you will love the rohloff hubs, which combined with the (i assume) bates carbon drive, will make a maintainance (and grease) free experience. oh, and don’t think i didn’t notice the upgraded integrated dynamo hub powered light (schmidt edelux?) … awesome.
how far south are you guys headed?
_dave
Just as far as San Jose this time. Also, there will be another post about the bikes, for bike nerds.
p.s. I can’t believe you didn’t catch the Chris King headset. 😛
Those seats look painful…but I know you’re going to tell me they’re not. I visited the “Birds” house when I stayed in Santa Rosa. That whole part of the country is fabulous.
Be safe,
Richard
I was dreading the Brooks seat break-in period, but so far so good! Surprisingly not that painful after a few days of riding.
Yeah, we love this area too. A lot. And now we’re heading out to ride bikes and get some shellfish!
When living in Marin and Point Richmond we went to Bodega Bay often. Married in ’92 on a favorite beach there at sunset. Glad you so loved it as we did!