August 25th - September 1st, 2007
Part 1 - Stewart Family Roadie- Nor Cal Coast and Getting Oregonic
My favorite picture from the 2007 Roadie - 8/28/07
The 5th annual Stewart family roadie, rolled again in 2007. We made the tour in our Excursion during the same week as every year - late August through Labor Day weekend. As always, we had stellar weather, light crowds, great times, several red lined moments and lasting memories. Our general route took us from Grandma and Grandpa's in Rancho Murrieta to Shelter Cove for 3 days (a real hidden jewel on the CA coast), Brookings and Bandon in Oregon, on to Aunt Nikky's in Camas Valley, followed by 2 days in Ashland, OR, finishing with a stop in Chico to see the Great Wise One.....then on to home in Tahoe! I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Day #1 - Rancho Murrieta w/ Grandma and Grandpa.
Sophie was THE drama queen from day #1 to the end:
Nothing better than the first day of vacay:
Rancho Murrieta Summer Carnival has become a bit of a tradition for us at this point....
Some residents own and drive golf carts in this community. Have you ever seen such a thing?!?
Chili cook off:
Rides:
Riders:
Sophie and I disappointed we didn't win the enormous stuffed Popeye:
Other patrons:
Golf Cart Owners:
Day #2 - Rancho Murrieta to Shelter Cove:
Wait a second....Lake Tahoe!?!
Nah, CLEAR Lake. Want to go swimming girls?
Willits. Home of the Skunk Train. Apparently some of our Stewart forefathers lived here years ago:
Highway 1 North of Fort Bragg. The lost coast looms ahead to the North....many, many curvy miles to the North:
Jodi's favorite restaurant in Garberville. Not open unfortunately:
So we ate here instead....
Garberville. World famous for a few things:
The road to Shelter Cove:
It's way down there:
I think Edgewood in Tahoe has a competitor for most beautiful parking lot in the world:
Nice views from our place at the Shelter Cove Inn:
Tide Pools were abundant, right outside our abode:
Pristine coast as far as you can see both North and South:
Pretty sunset and a devilish 2 year old:
Super Sopher Sonic Sunset:
A rare picture of us. Notice the knife is never far away:
I always wear a shower cap while sipping on my mojito.
Days #3 & #4 - Shelter Cove:
Shelter Cove and the Lost Coast is an area that compares to no other in California. The only place we've been to that shares this seclusion and natural coastal beauty is the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.....where we took the family road trip in 2004.
All of our days started with a bike ride to Angel of the Sea coffee shop (the only place open 7 days/week):
Not worried about the kids riding bikes on the streets cause there's not much traffic. But don't go over the edge....
Old Mendocino Lighthouse:
Jodi was bummed this tea house was not open while we were there.
Now on to a beach hike on the Black Sands Beach, just North of town:
Bears at the ocean? This place is pretty wild....or trashy.
Cool black sand.
A couple of Lost Coast hikers. Returning to "civilization" after a few days on the lonesome coast.
The girls were bent on catching a crab to eat. This old pot was going to do it for them.....not.
The lost coast apparently has several of these shanties at various camp spots. A little bit of creativity and shelter is left by each resident for the next group. Jodi and I are going to do this hike some day, but she's not so sure about the accommodations.
the crew:
Where fresh meets salt:
I love how the mountains meet the ocean here.
This fellow was checking us out from just off the beach:
Sisters:
Me and my sleepy Nordicai:
The next day at Shelter Cove started with all the girls piled on to one bed sleeping in:
...and me taking a brutal uphill bike ride for about 4 miles and 2,000' up. Paul would have loved this one and smoked me to the top:
The rest of the day was spent in the tide pools, riding our bikes, enjoying the scenery and random goofiness:
The ultimate transportation vehicle if you live amongst the Lost Coast:
Nature appreciation time:
This sort of sums up Shelter Cove: small golf course, small airport, some homes and big ocean:
The other ultimate Lost Coast vehicle:
No need to drive around here:
No one cares if the kids are playing on the greens:
and
and every day ends like this:
Click the link below to see the 2nd half of the vacation: