ANNIVERSARY #53
It was our 53rd Anniversary and we were ready to escape the heat in the valley for some cool weather on the coast. We found an airbnb in Manchester south of Mendocino. It was promoted especially for dog lovers, but happened to be discounted on our anniversary week, so we booked it:
Some of the dog features:
It was a cozy home with a distant view of the ocean complete with a private pass to nearby Irish Beach. We arrived Wednesday evening in time to unpack and get some sleep after 4.5 hour drive. Thursday morning we were ready for adventure so we decided to tour the area from Little River in the north to Gualala in the south.
Our first stop was Irish Beach to check out our private access. Our pass opened the gate and saved us a challenging walk down a steep road. The beach was almost deserted except for a little girl building a shelter from driftwood as her dad looked on. We took a few pictures at either end of the beach.
Along the way, Barbara searched for rocks since there were no shells. She found the perfect anniversary gift, a heart shaped rock.
Our next stop was Manchester Beach. We passed a KOA campground as we turned off the highway. About a mile down the road we saw sand dunes and the beach in the distance. Since the sand dunes would be a tough walk, we climbed a hill for a view of the beach and houses on the hill in Manchester overlooking the ocean.
Point Arena was further south:
We wandered around the visitors center, read about the history of the lighthouse and snapped a few pictures of some seascapes on display, then I took a picture of Barbara at the base of the lighthouse.
Point Arena Cove was a short drive further south. We checked out the pier and the restaurants with an ocean view close by.
That evening we drove north past Elk and the Harbor House Inn on our way to dinner at the Little River Inn.
It was a perfect spot for our anniversary dinner. As we sat at a table in the bar overlooking the ocean, we took a selfie, then realized that the sign behind us displayed vintage abalone picking tools. We texted Jeff and Joe in memory of our recent bachelor’s dinner there and years of diving for abalone in the area.
Friday morning was foggy, so we decided to take a self-guided tour at the nearby B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena. We were the second car to arrive at the Tour Barn. The only sign of life was the tour barn cat waiting for a warm place in the barn and some breakfast.
Once more cars arrived, the tour guide gave us a map and directed us to drive through a gate to see the animals. We could see a Cape Buffalo behind the wire fence in the distance. We took some pictures but found a better close up later in the General Store.
The second stop was a view of a Roan Antelope, Plains Zebras and Mountain Zebras:
Mountain Zebra (braid pattern on tail,wide hip stripes, brown on its nose:
From there we drove to another field to see Sable Antelopes:
Stop #4 was the Grevy’s Zebra, distinctive with thin stripes and large ears...
...followed by a slowdown for pictures of the Roan antelopes with the curved horns:
The next stop was to see the Greater Kudu Antelope with long spiral horns
At the final stop we were allowed to get out of our car to see Nubian Giraffes and to feed one of them. Barbara decided to pass on the feeding, so I took lettuce from a paper bag and joined the other tourists to feed the giraffe. We were told to pinch the lettuce and to hold it up to the giraffe. The giraffe bent over and stuck out its tongue to take the lettuce from our hands. You could feel the rough, long tongue stick to the lettuce as it pulled the lettuce into its mouth. As long as the lettuce lasted, the giraffe kept bending over and sticking out its tongue. As soon as the bags were empty, he headed back to the barn no longer interested in the tourists.
We returned to the General Store to meet with one of the animal keepers who answered our questions about her job and all the animals.
After our Safari, we headed further south to Gualala. We found a road in town that led us to a view of the coast and Gualala Point Regional Park towards Sea Ranch.
We checked out some ceramic art at a local art gallery then walked to Mariachi’s Mexican Restaurant for a beer and another view of the coast. All the tables and chairs in the restaurant were decorated with amazing ceramic tile work from Mexico.
Further down the coast, we turned of to see Gualala Point regional park. We looked back north from a bluff to see the cliffs of Gualala then walked south onto a trail that entered Sea Ranch. We could see homes on the golf course and views of the cliffs to the south.
That evening we returned to Point Arena Cove for fish and chips, rock fish, country music and a great view of the harbor and pier.
We were up early Saturday morning to check out of the airbnb, then we headed north to Mendocino for morning views, coffee and a bear claw.
We reached our final destination, Mackericher State Park, the site of many family gatherings over the years. We posed at our favorite view of the surf and the tide pools, a great place to end our anniversary trip.
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Back home that evening, we looked at a recent picture from our parish directory...
...then we placed our heart-shaped rock by our wedding picture from 1971:
