The Last Fling

This past Tuesday -Thursday Mom and I went to Bodega Bay for our last out of town fun before getting back to school. (Work days start next week, and students return Aug. 15.) Bodega Dunes is our campground of choice, because as you all know, the showers are free today!

Below is our campsite. I didn't care much for all the sand, but it wasn't too bad, and Mom wanted to be close to the showers/bathrooms, so it worked out well. We had a blast cooking hot dogs and biscuits and pop-tarts and anything else we could think of over the open fire. We used the new camp stove for heating water for oatmeal and hot chocolate. And for something different, I bought some bacon jerky at Sam's Club. It's really just bacon that's been cooked, then dried. It's not a good as regular jerky, but it's a terrific way to take bacon on hikes and camping. You don't have to refrigerate it, and all you have to do is heat it up in a frying pan (or over the fire) and it's just like fresh cooked bacon. Fabulous. 

Anyone up for a rap? Because Ice is back with a brand new invention. . .

Some of you remember even before this walk-way was put in several years ago, and most of you remember not even being able to see the cement pad at the bottom because it was under the sand. Well, the shifting sea has moved the sand around so that now the cement pad is exposed and stands a good 7' above the beach on the low side, 4' on the high side. We just hopped over the rail at the top and walked down the sand, like everyone else.

On the left, me standing on a drifted tree trunk (we saw another tree that had washed up and measured it to be 75' tall - of course, it was laying down). On the right, Mom in the act of telling me not to take her picture.

Since we didn't have any real plans, and have always wanted to see more of the town, we walked into town and visited shops, grocery stores, walked along the residential streets, and looked out over the bay. There were a couple of varieties of local flora that we didn't recognize, but thought were pretty. You see them below, if you know what they are, let us know.

I've always liked this boat sitting outside a local fish restaurant on the main road.

Early the first morning there I got up and walked to the beach before breakfast, as I am wont to do. It's just over a mile if you take the straightest path through the trees and brush. Our first day there was cold and wet, too cold to go boogie boarding, and it looked like it might be that way the second day, as you see in the photos below.

But it started to burn off before noon, and got very windy. I spent a couple of hours taking the waves in from way far out on long, fast rides. Very nice.

We packed up and stopped at the Spud Point Crab Shack for a shrimp sandwich (very nice with a little spice), and a big cup of their fabulous clam chowder to eat on the way home. It was perfect. That evening at home we even capped off the delightful trip by watching Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" which, as everyone knows, was filmed in Bodega Bay in the 1960's. A lot of the town has changed so much that you can't recognize it, but there are some things that are still there. And there's a new cafe' in town called "The Birds" that's run by a local gal. We've got to try it next time we're there.

And finally, I wonder if it's time to start seriously thinking about a family reunion at Bodega Dunes for a joint camping trip - maybe 3 days, 2 nights. I'm not opposed to considering other sites, but NorCal is the most centrally located. Those who would travel the farthest would at least be traveling relatively equal distances. And I know that camping is not at the top of the list for of fun things to do for parents with young children, but with showers and bathrooms so conveniently located, maybe it's not so bad. What do you think?