Road Trip

One of the best things about living in San Francisco is the ability to jump in the car (boyfriend's 1987 Vanagon in my case) and within a few hours be in one of the most beautiful spots in the world (yes, world). My favorite thing about these road trips is the time on the road itself. We have a policy during our road trips to be as without a schedule as possible. This gives us the opportunity to stop anywhere along the road that we want to. This is how you can come across the most unique and often overlooked destinations whether it be a restaurant, a viewpoint, or in some cases, a road that leads to nothing.
This past September we drove up to Mendocino for one last camping trip before the season ended. Although this particular trip only lasted 2 days and 1 night, we had some great adventures. Some of our stops included: The Anderson Valley Brewing Company, a solar powered brewery in Boonville, for one of my favorite beers;

The Hendy Woods State Park where we walked along the mostly dried up Navarro River and saw/heard evidence of the infamous California Mountain Lion (Adam very keenly kept it to himself until we got back to the van that he saw the animal's tracks and dragging marks...);
The "World Famous Hamburger Ranch and Pasta Farm" a rare gem located in Cloverdale, CA which boasts favoring notes from the regulars, apparently including Sean Penn and Joey from "Friends" (it's gotta be good, right?);



The Navarro River Redwoods State Park, in which Highway 128 takes you through an 11 mile redwood tunnel that opens up to the ocean. While in Mendocino, we spent a foggy afternoon on the beach playing cards and taking photos.

That evening we found an awesome market to buy fresh produce for a salad. And a can of baked beans (it's not camping without baked beans). We camped in the Van Damme State Park, a beautiful campground located 3 miles south of the town of Mendocino. The entrance of the park is located on the Shoreline Highway across from the ocean. This was definitely one of my favorite campgrounds visited so far. The road through the park takes you up a hill and you have your pick of campsites located atop the hill with beautiful views of the forest or a site next to the "The Little River." We chose to camp next to the river.
If you aren't a camper, I would recommend staying the the Little River Inn. It is an adorable inn that sits on a hill across from the sea. Apparently they have an amazing restaurant, too.
So, there's a little about one of my recent trips :) I'll post some pictures of the places I mentioned. I'll be taking a few trips to Tahoe this winter so I'll be sure to post some pictures and stories from those trips.