Day 7 - Fort Bragg - Doran Beach, Bodega Bay

I woke up to the sun coming in above my curtain through my foggy car windows after a cozy first night in my car. Luna greeted me in the typical manner that she celebrates the morning – by cuddling up to me, giving me many kisses and then showing me where her food is as soon as I sit up. The bathroom at the campsite was absolutely revolting; most of the stall doors could not be locked, the toilets were not the colour they were meant to be and some were wiggling loose from the floor and there were cigarettes plastered against the stall doors, plus, no soap was provided! I was glad to be getting out of there despite the beautiful forest the campsite was located in.

We first headed to Glass Beach, an old dumping ground for garbage that had all been cleaned up except for the sea glass. Over the years, tourists have taken sea glass so that the beach is much less covered in the colourful glass, but it is still very beautiful. “Are you from Fort Bragg?” a woman who had been walking around the beach picking things from the ground asked suddenly, “No, I’m not” “Oh, I just thought you being here alone with your dog you would be. I am, we come here every day.” “Nice, it is beautiful here, I am from Canada” “Oh.” She took a drag from her cigarette and continued on, I am becoming more used to these types of monotone people, it seems to be a mix of them and very friendly people, not much middle ground. Another woman came along and smiling, greeted Luna and I and asked if I had seen the seals, I hadn’t, so she pointed them out to me, I thanked her and went to get a closer look at the two creatures dozing on a rock, they stretched up to get a look at Luna and I, determined we were not a threat and continued on with their nap; Luna didn’t notice them at all. Luna had never been to the ocean before today and she was a little uncertain what to think of it; the noise of it scared her a little at first, but she conquered that fear, the waves coming on to the beach at her still makes her run for cover, although she is happy to wander in to the quiet tide pools. She tried drinking it a couple times and was not impressed; she made quite the face of disgust, shaking her head with her lips curled up. We walked for quite some time, enjoying the views and the smell of the ocean. It was so hot out, I had a light jacket on, as I wanted pockets, but was drenched in sweat and Luna was panting away, I believe it was 15 C. I dropped Luna’s leash for a couple minutes on one secluded beach and she had a blast running around and chasing sticks. We met a friendly couple and their 15 year old Border Collie who was so excited about everything and perhaps a little off his rocker. Many of the people there were either middle age - senior couples who seemed to be blissfully happy together or people not much older than I to middle age who were a little odd and quite possibly high on something. There were a lot of dogs around, several with backpacks matching their owners’ big loads.

We then went to Noyo Harbour area and walked along the cliff edge watching the grey whales that would come up and spray water through their spout as they migrated South. This place was full of families and dogs. There was a small dog park in a field at Noyo Harbour and I took Luna in so that she could interact with the one dog that was in there, a young Border Collie. I spoke to the owner for several minutes, it was quite evident that he was drunk, both with the way he was speaking and the large beer can beside him. “Wow, Canada!” he repeated several times, thinking back, he may have said “Canada, eh?” as well, but I didn’t notice as I am so accustomed to hearing “eh”! I asked about the Mendocino Coastal Botanical Gardens as I was planning on heading there next, he told me enthusiastically that it was across two bridges and that’s all I was getting out of him for directions, but it was all I needed as I was able to find it fine. I didn’t end up going in to the gardens as I was feeling more like hitting the road and not spending as long as I would want to for a $14 entrance fee.

The drive from Fort Bragg to Bodega Bay is about 3 hours and most of it is extremely windy roads right at the cliff edge beside the ocean, a rather unpleasant drive, albeit, beautiful, that is, if I could look at the views without dropping hundreds of feet in to the rocks and ocean. The sun was setting and many people were pulled over the watch is set, but I was determined to find my campsite before I was driving those windy roads in the dark and find it I did, around 6:30, just before it became pitch black out.  I fed and watered Luna then set up my camp stove to heat up some Indian food. We have the entire parking lot and tent camping site to ourselves (everyone else is in the RV sites), so Luna explored while we waited for the water to boil. Now, Luna and I are laying in the Lexus, listening to the waves rolling on to the beach, the sound is lulling me to sleep and Luna has been sleeping like a dog the past hour and a half that we’ve been in here, time for bed!