After our fun trip to San Francisco we mostly relaxed on Friday. We did visit a couple of wineries (Rodney Strong and Kendall-Jackson). Rodney Strong was nice, but K-J was nothing to write home about. We just tried them to see how big wineries compared to smaller ones. Friday night was absolutely nuts at the campground. I have never seen so many children, most of them having a good time. Every site was filled including the numerous cabins, and the overflow parking was overflowing. We went for dinner with friends to Nick’s, a restaurant on Nick’s Cove southwest 20 minutes from Petaluma. It was a wonderful experience with good food, lovely wine, and good conversation.
It was still crazy at the campground on Saturday, but we got up fairly early to do some sightseeing. We first visited the Armstrong Redwoods, a spot recommended by friends. The weather was windy and damp discouraging walks. We did get to see redwoods though! There is no way I can take a picture that shows how big they are, but here are a couple of attempts.
We also went to the coast to drive part of highway 1. This is a road we could never do with the trailer since it is narrow and windy. We stopped at a number of beaches until we found real excitement at Duncan’s Cove (part of Sonoma State Beach). A pickup had driven over the edge of the cliff and fallen/rolled about 100′ to the shore. By the time we got there, the scene was fully in hand with multiple EMTs, sheriffs, park patrol, and two helicopters. One ended up lifting the injured driver out and the other did the airlift to the hospital. I was amazed the driver was alive, but the local paper said he was expected to survive. Lots of cool pictures watching the experts stabilize and then transport the driver to the cliff top.
