Return to Five Weeks on the Road — Summer, 2016

Windsor, Day 3

Friday, July 15

Today is our last day in Windsor.  This has been a wonderful experience….one that I honestly didn’t expect on the drive here.  A trip to a Redwood forest and the opportunity to get our feet wet in the Pacific Ocean were two of my favorite highlights! We had originally planned to spend the day exploring San Francisco. There is only one main road to get there–California 101. We were told it was gridlocked into town until 10:00 am and we would also be stuck between 2:00 and 8:00 on the way back. I really didn’t relish the idea of being stuck in traffic, so we decided that we were just going to relax and I’d have an opportunity to catch up on the blog. We only have a 5 hour drive to Yosemite National Park tomorrow, and the route will take us through San Francisco. We’ll at least get a few pictures.

This morning Tim spent a lot of time working on the blog…trying to go through the crazy amount of pictures I took along the shore. (370 of them…) It’s definitely been a labor of love for him!

We headed outta here around 2:30 to a town north of here called Healdsburg.  This town also has a cute park in the center of town surrounded by all kinds of cute shops and restaurants. 

We headed to the Bear Republic Brewing Company for lupper.  Jamie’s suggestion was a good one once again! On the menu was a “Hop Burger” — a hamburger infused with Cascade hops served with hop-infused cheese. I had to hop on that one. The onion rings were yummy, too.

We walked around to many of the stores.  So many cute stores.  One was a dog store called Fideaux’s.  Sooooo many cute things in there.  Too bad Jazmine doesn’t play with toys. (Doggone it!)  We could have gone crazy in there!

Another one of Jamie’s suggestions was a French bakery called Cousteaux.  Tim got something we have already forgotten the name of, but it was good (along with some coffee).  They also had a cookie I used to make years ago, chocolate crinkle, and I got one of those.  Couldn’t help but laugh in French going in there and of course that reminded me of John Johnson! 🙂

We checked out a few more stores and then decided to head back to the condo after a quick stop at Wallyworld to pick up a few items we were running out of.

In the parking lot at the condo we met a lady beside us and I saw she had cinnamon walnut iced bread from the bakery where we had just been!  I asked her if she was coming or going….I remembered Jamie mentioning something about a meet-n-greet type thing today.  Of course, we had just missed it!  But we had a fun talk with this lady from Cousteaux’s and she was very appreciative we had gone by the bakery in Healdsburg!

We left her to go tell Jamie how much we appreciated all his suggestions.  So many things we did because he was so enthusiastic about the different opportunities of places to see and eat in this area….  Unfortunately, he was not working today.  We left him a note so he will realize how much we appreciated him.  It just honestly pays to talk to someone local to find all the super neat places to visit when you are staying in a new place!  We truly seek out the mom and pop places.  “You can eat at chains when you are at home!”–Jamie

Tonight will be peanut butter crackers and what leftovers are in the frig.  We will start packing tonight and head out to Yosemite and Fresno in the morning.  So thankful these units have had washer/dryers.  Can you imagine how much we would have had to pack if they didn’t?  OR how much fun it would have been to find a laundromat.  Wyndham has definitely spoiled us! 

Not many pictures today, but I am pretty sure I will make up for that tomorrow without any problem!!