September 2, Bodega Bay

We stayed in Fort Bragg until Tuesday, September 1^st. Friday, August 28^th, was Mousie’s birthday and Mouse and I celebrated by visiting a local pizza parlor for lunch (Earl opted out) and picking up a fancy pie for dessert that night. The marina is old, laidback, and lovely. We were tied up at the very back and felt as if we had our own private area – private except for the wildlife. There were a couple of sea lions that pulled out on the dock near us and barked on and off during the night, and then we had a nightly visit from otters that scurried around on the finger outside our window. Across the river there is a farm with some beautiful horses running in a field and there were all sorts of birds to look at as well. Saturday we did laundry and invited our Canadians over for burgers. They brought the salad and a wonderful cake – wacky cake, so called – that Foster, the 11 year old had made. We all enjoyed the evening. Sunday, Mousie and I left Earl at the boat under Daisy’s care and went into the town to catch the Skunk Train. This is a little old train that goes up through the redwoods. It was wonderful. It only goes about 40 miles, but at 12 mph and a stop for lunch while the engine is refilled with water and turned around, it was a good 4 hour trip. There was an open car that one could stand in and really enjoy the surroundings. Monday, we managed to drag Earl away from the boat to see the movie “Julie and Julia”. Wonderful! The movie theater was small, and the audience no more than 10 people. The occasional commentary by some of the locals was a hoot.

Finally on Tuesday September 1 we left Fort Bragg and headed for a 12 hour run to Bodega Bay. The weather could not have been better and we enjoyed the scenery, including some whales not far off our port. Mouse was amazed at how little development was to be seen on the shore. After a wonderful sunset, the moon lit the way to Bodega. When we arrived at Spud Point Marina in Bodega it was dark, and we found ourselves been assisted in tieing up by our same Canadian friends from Fort Bragg. We are in the slip next to them. We told them that we expect the same service at every port. Today we will clean house (and frig) and Stuart will pick us up and take us to Santa Rosa and we will leave the Serenity for a week. On Friday morning Mousie will leave us to visit a friend in the Dalles near Portland, Oregon and we will fly south for a couple days to attend Ben Rhodes’s wedding in LA. Daisy will stay with Stu and Terri and terrorize their cat.