Santa Rosa, part two

Do we really have to leave?

Wow, how we have loved our time in Santa Rosa! During our month there we fell more deeply in love with the climate, the geography, our apartment–and, ok, the wine. Since I was working (and we were spending all our money on wine), we didn’t dine out much, but the restaurants we did visit were quaint, locally owned, and fun.

The decor at the Omelette Express was fascinating.

A neighbor’s artichokes growing by the sidewalk: tempting!

Sonoma County is wine heaven. One could spend a lifetime there and not get around to all the wineries–but in our month we did our best!

One of many beautiful wineries in the area

We had a lot of fun exploring some of the towns in the valley. Healdsburg was our favorite, but we also loved Sebastopol and Sonoma. And of course, we walked most days. I’ll never tire of seeing so many flowers, many of which I don’t recognize.

This flower was about six inches in diameter; any idea what it is?

In Sonoma we walked the town, had a wonderful lunch at The Girl and the Fig, and visited a couple of tasting rooms. Those visits only added to the challenge of packing up the car–we bought way too much wine!

Jeff Cohn self-serve wine tasting with marble stoppers; Girl & the Fig menu (and bread!); fish at Sinskey Winery

Finally, our time in Santa Rosa was over, so we packed up the car (with great difficulty, but we got all the wine in!) and headed out. We took a few days to get to Portland, and it was a magical trip. Just outside of Brentwood, we started seeing pick-your-own cherry orchards, so of course we had to stop. The orchard was beautiful, with lots of children playing among the trees while the adults competed with birds for the best cherries. We harvested two pounds in about ten minutes!

Cherry picking

Munching cherries along the way, we proceeded to Yosemite, which I’d never visited before. The traffic on the winding road was a bit daunting, and the line to enter the park (with a required reservation) was long. After a 45 minute wait, we were granted entry, and off we went to explore. My first view of the Half Dome was astonishing–people actually climb that! We saw huge, gorgeous waterfalls, and we hiked some of the easier trails. It was all beautiful, although crowded, and we left in plenty of time to get to our destination for the night, Sacramento, before dark. 

Half Dome at Yosemite

The next morning we got an early start, as we’d be driving through the Redwood Forests en route to Medford, Oregon, where I had a business meeting the next morning. Deep into the no-internet and no-cell service zone, a park ranger informed us that the road south of Crescent City, at the Last Chance Grade,  was closed until 5pm. So we decided to make the most of it and spend more time among the redwoods. We hiked the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail, which was indescribably beautiful. We learned that these redwoods are the tallest living things on earth, and without the efforts of conservationists they would have been destroyed by logging. 

Giant redwoods make Phil look tiny

The road opened up at 5pm, and after an hour traffic delay we were back on the road. On a particularly winding part of the road, where I was driving very slowly, a bear ambled out in front of us! We mutually evaluated each other before the bear decided we were not to be friends and ambled off into the woods. Phil was able to get one decent picture despite some excited fumbling.

This bear was MUCH closer than it appears in the picture!

After my meeting in Medford we hit the road, heading up the Oregon coast to Gold Beach, our stop for the night. And what a stop it was! I’d booked us in the Borghese Garden Room atEndicott Gardens, which exceeded all our expectations. A B&B resembling a boutique hotel, Endicott is a working farm raising flowers and herbs for hosts Kim and Wes Cherie’s skin care line, herbal teas, and food products. Kim operates the on-site spa, while Wes tends the beautiful gardens, and together they prepare and serve their luscious breakfasts. Wes and Kim were superb hosts, and we hated to leave after just one night.

One of the many gardens at Endicott

But we had more miles to travel, so off we went. The drive up the Oregon coast is beautiful, and there are so many quaint beach towns to visit! We took advantage of the many pull-off spots to get pictures and to soak up the beauty of the place.

Just one of many gorgeous views on the Oregon coast

Bandon was our favorite stop, with a candy factory, multiple galleries, and a creamery. There we learned the legend of Face Rock, as we gazed at Ewauna looking up at the moon. We spent an hour there before continuing up the coast to Lincoln City.

Can you see the maiden’s face looking up to the right?

Our hotel in Lincoln City was a delightful surprise, with a fireplace, a huge soaking tub in the bedroom (!), and a gorgeous view of the ocean. We had an excellent dinner at Kyllo’s Seafood and Grill (try the basil martini!) and decided to watch the sun set by the firepit outside our room.

Fire pit! Ocean view!