Spectacular Mendocino in November
It was early 2015. Once again it was time for Lois and I to make vacation plans. Our state of California has incredible scenic diversity — beaches, mountains, desert, forests — plus it contains amazing must-experience destinations such as Disneyland, Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara, to name a few. But sadly, having grown-up in this state, the excitement for and the anticipation of visiting many of these places has faded over time; their novelty worn thin.
So we broadened our vacation search that year to include out-of-state ideas, but even our renewed efforts got us nowhere. The more we talked, the more our discussion regressed into naming everything we didn’t want to do — not Disneyland, skip Hawaii, don’t want to drive too far, can’t afford anything exotic. In short, we were stymied for lack of fresh ideas.
But then, after giving it a rest for a few weeks, an interesting vacation idea began to take shape. I can’t remember exactly how that happened. It probably spun out of a conversation with our daughter Kate who, with her husband Caleb, made a short but sweet trip up the Northern California coast the previous summer. Whatever the reason, we suddenly found ourselves reserving a VRBO rental in a small, scenic, Northern California village named Trinidad, just north of better known Eureka.. Excitement and anticipation flourished as we learned about this unexplored corner of Northern California — gorgeous high cliff seascapes, hidden sandy beaches, and a hundred miles of majestic redwood forests. Problem solved! A decision was made, an awesome trip was had, and so began an annual vacation tradition.
So what does any of this have to do with Mendocino?
It all began with the Trinidad “mouse incident” of 2021. For this manifestation of our annual trip, we rented a tiny bungalow on a gorgeous seaside cliff overlooking the Pacific. An entire blog could be devoted to what happened after we arrived, but in short, mice were heard crawling, chewing and scratching around the house all night long. And when a large nest was found the next morning near the cereal bowls, something snapped. We reached the point of no return. Just like that, a complaint was filed, the car was packed, and we were out of there — but to where?. It was too late to find something nearby; everything was booked. So, in search of Plan B, we pulled out the computer and scoured 150 miles of coastline for availability. Praise the Lord, our prayers were answered! A beautiful cliffside house was found. From Trinidad, we wound our way for many hours down miles of twisty coastline highways and restarted our vacation. Over the course of that stay, Lois and I fell in love with another special region, the Mendocino Coast.
Fast forwarding to today… we recently finished a 9 day trip in Harold-the-RV to the Albion River Campground and Marina. Here are a few highlights from yet another spectacular trip to the Mendocino Coast.
Entering the Campground — A Death Defying Feat
After a long and uneventful trip from Auburn (in the Sierra foothills) to the Mendocino Coast, we safely pulled over about a mile from the campground and carefully re-read — then read again — their special instructions for the final ominous descent into the campground 😱:
"The drive down into the campground is a steep, windy hill that is only one lane... and the last curve is a hairpin curve... hug the left side of the road AFTER the first curve then swing wide to the right on the last curve. If you feel unsure about making this turn, stop the vehicle and call the office."
So with that guidance burned into our brains — with a healthy dose of fear, uncertainty and despair — we approached the RV park and began our decent… first turn… hug the steep canyon wall… hairpin turn… swing wide right. Yikes, here it comes! I kid you not. Lois is hanging her head out the passenger window firmly commanding “Cut it, cut it now, cut it hard!” Meanwhile, I had the steering wheel slammed to the right, watching the cliffside edge of the road slowly disappear out of sight. It was only when I pressed my nose against my window that I could finally see — with half-hearted assurance — that we could avoid the unthinkable with 3 feet to spare. Wow! It’s a very good thing I took a moment to use the toilet before we leaned into this death defying feat! Obviously, we lived to tell the story. And luckily, no call to the office was needed (they were closed anyway, huh?). So what were the final words I muttered as we safely pulled into the campground? “Yep, no problem. Piece of cake!”… or something like that. 🤞🏻🙄
Note to Editor: I know I need to keep an eye on the length of my blogs. For the rest of this edition, I’ll try to let the photos do most of the talking.
Mendocino Head — Big Waves
The next day, we made a short 20 minute trip to the charming seaside village of Mendocino. After stocking-up on groceries, we drove to the Mendocino Headlands at the edge of town, a scenic cliffside peninsula jutting into the Pacific. Needless to say, for a photography buff like me, it is a little piece of heaven on earth. But unlike last Spring when we visited, today we saw exactly what we hoped for, something completely joyous and awe inspiring.
An hour before, as we headed up the coast, Lois and I could see in the distance huge crashing waves unlike any we had seen before. This got my mind racing — “We got to get closer”. So as soon as we finished shopping, shifting over to the headlands was just the ticket for quite a show. Lois led our way out of the motorhome. In an instant, I was greeted with endless happy shrieks of joy — “Oh wow! I’ve never ever scene anything like this. Look at that wave! Whoa! And there’s another… and another.” Her happy shrieks were music to my ears, and this magnificent moment was salve for both of our weary souls. It was hope for just a moment just like this that lured us into full-time RV’ing.
Click Images to Enlarge
Albion River Campground and Marina
See that big bridge in the photos below? That is famous California Highway 1 flying over the beach and adjacent campground where we stayed. It was from that height we accomplished our death defying descent. Traveling across this bridge reveals the campground we couldn’t help but notice during our previous pre-Harold Mendocino trips. Its birds-eye view reveals a picturesque river with tiny RVs far below.
Mostly a campground, but with an adjoing marina and safe harbor, we were just steps from the beach. A daily walk along the Albion river, then out to beach, became a joyous ritual with requisite ice cream bar in hand from the campground store. And during this cold offseason stay, there were no crowds to speak of. One day, we were the only campers. But as the weekend approached, more people arrived. All and all, it was an awesome stay.
Point Cabrillo Light Station — Big Waves Redux
Who doesn’t love a trip to a lighthouse. There are two nearby, the Point Arena Lighthouse to the south, and the Point Cabrillo Light Station to the north. It was the latter we visited once again. One special reason for doing so this stay is Lois noticed, a couple of days prior, that a large windstorm was forecast. And where this is wind driving the Pacific onshore, there is often a large surf. That day came, and the sea did not disappoint. It was Big Waves Redux, and shrieks of joy returned.
Unlike our afternoon at Mendocino Head, when the large surf preceded an upcoming storm, this day, the catalyst was simply wind, and it howled. With sustained winds of 25-30 MPH and gusts to 50 MPH, it was hard to walk around the lighthouse, let alone hold your ground when needed. Photos galore were taken, but many were tossed — too much camera shake, too blurry. As Lois said while standing at the cliff, it was a good thing the gale was blowing onshore! The high winds kept us leaning in one direction, but the sudden unpredictable gusts easily shoved us a couple of feet sideways, often nearly toppling us over with Lois laughing histerically. Good times!
Chased Away by a Bomb Cyclone!
We met so many friendly people at the campground. Comparing notes with one nice couple, they described a trip they had hoped to make up the coast from Mendocino, deep into Oregon. But sadly, they decided to cut it short due to the rainy forecast. For just a moment, I wondered to myself “But why? A rain storm or two wouldn’t stop Lois and I.” In retrospect, we missed the hint…
A couple of days later, we began to talk, over breakfast, plans for the day. It was our final full day in Mendocino. Maybe we should dine again at our favorite restaurant? A bit later, with coffee in hand, I took a peek at the headlines — just the usual crummy news. But suddenly one headline caught my eye — Bomb cyclone… atmospheric river… extreme winds and flooding… starting today — what!!! As I dug into the details, I quickly brought Lois up to speed. At risk was either our final day on the coast, or the health and welfare of Harold-the-RV. What to do? Our first inclination was to stay and experience this major weather event — we both have a streak of storm chaser in us. Those same neighbors who had cancelled their plans were busy packing-up their RV. It was so obvious to them that the storm would be too much to handle. But for us, we were back and forth, fish or cut bait. At last, sobering reality began to sink in. A level 4 out of 5 warning was posted. A quick consultation with the campground manager tipped the balance in favor of leaving. Historically, storms like this meant partial flooding at the campground, loss of power, downed trees and limbs. Bummer! Still trying to rationalize staying put, we finally conceded. But having lost by then the option to drive back to Auburn, we instead moved ourselves away from the coast, spending the night in Napa Valley. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a nice flat concrete pad with no trees and a less severe forecast. We did the right thing — or did we? 😉
If you made it to the end of this blog, congratulations! We are now home for the holidays. The house is still on the market, plus we have cars to sale and a tow vehicle to buy. Lord willing, we will set sail after New Years, first to the south where we will begin the big trek to the East Coast.
Happy Thanksgiving!
