Day Two… Crescent City to Healdsburg

We headed south from Crescent City on Highway 101. A nicely maintained road, usually 2 or 3 lanes in the direction of travel. We kept an eye out for the cutoff to Highway 1, and finally came across it at Leggett. I kind of thought we’d come across a gas station at the cutoff, but we didn’t. About 2 miles into this twisty, turny, two lane road, the gas light on my dash came on. Nothing like adding an element of suspense to an already torturous drive!

Those turns, some of them hairpin switchbacks, went on forever!! I was literally running on fumes. Finally made it to Westport – a ONE-PUMP TOWN. Unfortunately, it only pumped regular, and my car runs on premium. But we all know the old saying about beggars and choosers, so yes, I put regular gas in the tank. Just enough to get us to Fort Bragg and a “real” gas station. Didn’t stay long in Fort Bragg, but it looked like a nice town.

We continued our journey to Mendocino. A lovely little ocean side town. Lots of fun little shops, galleries, and restaurants. But I think what I will remember the most are the amazing and abundant flowers. Some I was familiar with, but were more beautiful than any I’d seen before, and some were totally new to me and were completely amazing. After a nice lunch of clam chowder, fish & chips, and a Red Tail Ale, we were off again. Foolishly, we thought all the twisty roads were behind us. Wrong. Highway 128 was almost as bad. But I must admit, we did see some great scenery. The Redwood Highway is amazing. At points, you feel like you’re following a path through the woods instead of on a highway. The redwoods are so amazing, and grow right next to the road. I mean really… almost IN the road at some points! Then once we made it to Westport, and before we started heading east, the ocean vistas were fantastic. The water along this part of the coast is a beautiful turquoise color.

So now we find ourselves in Healdsburg. Ended up at the Best Western Dry Creek Inn. Probably should have booked in advance and found something closer to town, but this place is fine. Now we’re trying to find a winery tour for tomorrow. It’s starting to look like we should have considered doing that in advance, too. Oh well, live and learn. I’ll let you know how it all turns out. We plan to be here a couple of days, then head to Sonoma for a day or two.

No wine report today, but the Red Tail Ale was great!