4th July and Russian River Discovery

Wednesday was a holiday here – 4th July. We were so lucky, because it was a glorious day, although we weren’t out enjoying it for the first part at least, because we were instead engaged in a frustrating shopping trip downtown. However, we spent much of the afternoon by and in the pool, which was great, before heading out at twilight to catch some of the action down by the waterfront, where hordes of people were assembled in the park and on the beach, listening to a slightly dodgy band and patiently awaiting the fireworks. We had a sneaking suspicion that we might, in fact, get better views of them from our balcony, so headed back to the flat before they started. It turned out to be a very good move, as the fireworks were launched, simultaneously, from the end of a quay and a barge out in the Bay, offering us great views from our building. It was a stunning pyrotechnic display above the water, itself lit up by hundreds of boats gathered for the show.

The fog rolled in on Saturday, so we were glad that we had planned a weekend away to Russian River, a beautiful spot about 70 miles away in Sonoma County. We took a look at the little town of Sebastopol on the way – boasting plenty of nice gift shops and a chocolate-themed café, but otherwise not much to write home about – then had a picnic on the shore of the Russian River itself. We had an amusing time watching kayakers negotiate a log partially blocking the stream and saw one group capsize completely! It was gorgeously hot and sunny after the fog of city. After our picnic, we visited Korbel Champagne Cellars, and were delighted to find they offer a free tasting! As a result, we did feel more inclined to purchase, and came away with a couple of bottles of surprisingly good value “California Champagne”, as they call it. We were then very hot and more than ready for a swim, so we headed to a secluded little beach, which a friend had told me about (not signed from the road). The wide, shallow, lazily meandering river with an osprey hunting overhead was perfect for an afternoon dip. We were not the only ones to think so, and were entertained by a bulldog playing a game of catch with his owner in the water. This was followed by dinner in Guerneville – not amazing food, but nicely accompanied by live Jazz music. We then headed to our motel in the ugly, soulless town of Santa Rosa, some way east, as we had been unable to find any available accommodation in the Russian River valley itself. Flicking channels, we were highly amused – although also not a little appalled – to find an international hotdog eating competition being screened. All but one of the competitors were American, with the winner – who downed almost 60 hotdogs in twelve minutes – being a guy from San Jose, California. How proud we are!

Today we headed down the valley to the very end, where the Russian River meets the Pacific. We drove from baking sunshine into a chilly, fog-cloaked world by the coast, but were greeted by seals, geese and pelicans at the estuary mouth. We then did a gentle and pleasant hike in from Pomo Canyon down the valley to an ocean beach, again slipping in and out of microclimates along the way. We decided to have another swim in the river before returning home, but found the beach much more crowded than yesterday, so didn’t stay long. We drove back to a much chillier, foggy San Francisco over the Golden Gate.

More photos are available on the Fotki site (http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/ password: moocow).