On the road to burritos for freedom!
A tangle of madronas.
Twisted tree trunk.
The “Mad” River
Is this an Indian Paintbrush?
I just returned from a week long road trip to San Francisco and back. It was primarily to see my little step bro get married, but we thought we’d throw in some camping on the way back up. It was really odd packing for such diverse events, but my sweet new Deuter backpack handled everything but the dress and shoes I wore to the wedding.
As soon as we arrived in the area, we hit up the deliciousness that is Freebirds World Burrito, where the first two pics were taken. Organic, grass fed and all that good stuff! Side note: I had such a major crush on Peter Fonda when I first saw him in Easy Rider, which you should totally see if you haven’t.
We then spent 3 nights at the Crowne Plaza in Concord, which has koi, an arboretum, pool, hot tub and an airstrip right off the parking lot! We had lunch with my folks at a Salvadoran restaurant, an unbelievable lasagna dinner at my sis and bro-in-law’s in Tiburon, and saw family from Washington at the wedding in Moraga. It was a blast, then we headed up Hwy 1 up the coast.
The drive was on incredibly curvy roads, and I’m just sorry I didn’t get any pics of the cliff-dwelling cows that blocked the road at one point. We spent the night in the redwoods next to the water at Gualala Campground and ate breakfast at Queenie’s Roadhouse Cafe the next morning…omg, the food was Amazing! We found a glass beach that had cool tide pools and tons of tiny treasures before we decided to bag Hwy 1 and head east across the equally curvy and elevation-changing Hwy 36 toward Hwy 97.
We finally stopped after a harried and long drive by yours truly at a nearly empty Mad River campground, popped open a couple Eel River IPA’s (a wee disappointing) and chilled next to the fire and the madronas. We made it home by nightfall Tuesday, I worked yesterday, then on my way to my favorite brewery, I saw Michael Franti cross the road in front of me, then the road to my left! He was walking in the rain wearing a camo North Face jacket and was with a blonde dressed all in black. I had no idea he’d be in town so soon for his concert this Saturday. I get to go! This could be the peak of my summer, so excited! 🙂
A corner of the wedding venue in Moraga, CA.
Awesome seed bank in Petaluma.
Some Hwy 1 beauty…
Who gulls there?!
Beachy Keen!
Local beer next to the campfire at Gualala.
Redwoods at Gualala Campground.
Impressionism in the water next to our campsite.
