On The Road Again....: Walnut Creek & Sea Ranch, California 2021

Day 1 - Friday, June 18, 2021

After 18 months, we finally feel safe enough to fly. That's just too long to go without seeing your kids! We left Little Rock on Friday, June 18 and had three uneventful flights...yes THREE! Since we flew on Southwest, we didn't get to choose a seat so didn't sit together. I sat next to a woman and her 5 year old daughter. Her husband and two boys were across the aisle. Conrad sat behind me. I found out the husband worked with nephew Sunny! Small world!! We flew to Denver and had to change planes and then to Salt Lake City but didn't have to change planes We arrived in Oakland about 6:30 pm and Brent and Jackie were waiting for us at the luggage pickup. Gosh, it was so good to hug them both again. We stopped at In-N-Out Burgers for a bite to eat and then to their apartment.

Day 2 - Saturday, June 19, 2021

After breakfast and some visiting, we headed to downtown Walnut Creek. We had never really seen the town. We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We made a stop at Target before heading back to Brent's.

Day 3 - Sunday, June 20, 2021

Left Brent's about 10:30 for our house at Sea Ranch. We stopped in Petaluma at Pub Republic for lunch. Conrad and I shared a Monte Cristo sandwich, but not like one we've ever had! It was good though, more of a breakfast sandwich.

It was a beautiful drive along the way and along the ocean. The hills are beautiful and lots of interesting things to see.

Farmland in the hills

Grapes in Sonoma

View along Highway 1

The house we rented in Sea Ranch was huge and interesting! There were so many steps inside. From the front door, it's 6 steps down to the pocket door to the master bedroom. Once there, you can go right to a sink, shower and jacuzzi. If you go left, you go down 5 more steps to the bedroom and bathroom with a sink and toilet. Then, you can go down 2 more steps, through a door and into another bedroom with 2 twin beds. The door there leads out to one of the decks with a hot tub. From the front door, it's 7 steps up to the living room. From the living room, there are 2 steps down to the kitchen. There is one step from the entry to go down to the 2 bedrooms and another bathroom. There are 11 steps going to the loft bedroom and 8 that go down to the game room. Both of those rooms are gotten to by going through the bedroom with the bunk beds. From the front door, there are 2 steps down from the dining room and 4 steps up from the dining room to the kitchen. That makes a total of 46 steps in the house! There are several decks on the house. Of course, they're all on different levels.

After unloading the car and getting settled, we were back in the car and headed to Gualala to the grocery store. We had a great dinner cooked by Jackie and then it was to the hot tub for an hour or so.

Miller Time!

The history of Sea Ranch is interesting. The original design guidelines suggest that buildings have a site specific relationship with the landscape. Specific design review requirements include various design guidelines so that the buildings become part of the landscape. Details such as exteriors of unpainted wood or muted stains, a lack of overhanging eaves, and baffles on exterior lighting subdue the appearance of the buildings in the landscape. The area prohibits perimeter fences and limits non-indigenous plants to screened courtyards. A herd of sheep is used to keep grass cut low to the ground to reduce the threat of fire during the summer months. Cars were to be parked so that they were not easy to see from the road. There are trails that belong specifically to Sea Ranch residents and guests and you had to have an ID on you showing that you were a legal visitor. There were also some "coast trails" that were open for all visitors, It's a very beautiful place, quiet and so peaceful. Our house was tucked in to a forest of redwoods on a hill and we had a slight view of the ocean through the treetops from the kitchen and living room.

Day 4 - Monday, June 21, 2021

After breakfast, we sat around for awhile waiting for the morning fog to lift. About 10:30, we drove to the parking area for Shell Beach and hiked about 4 miles through trees, wild flowers and along the ocean. "Wow" is what we mostly said along the way! Overlooking one of the beaches, we saw a couple with a CPR dummy that they covered the bottom with sand and made a mermaid tail for it. Then, they put a green wig on her and added sunglasses and a bikini on her!

A deer watching us from the tall grass

The pounding surf

One of the paths to the beaches

All the fences around Sea Ranch looked like this

Jackie and Brent

Linda and Conrad

I love all the bleached out beached wood!

We saw lots of Harbor Seals here

More crashing waves - mesmerizing!

Gorgeous, everywhere we looked!

Following the trail...

We saw lots of this grass everywhere!

Seed pods

I guess this is how Shell Beach got its name!

These flowers were everywhere!

Conrad picked this up on the beach.

Shell Beach

These were the steps going down to the beach

Notice how the trees are leaning from the wind.

Love all the volcanic rock!

Interesting squared off leaves on this flower.

Resusci Annie - a bathing beauty!

Later that afternoon, we decided to do about another hour or so in the hot tub. The temperature of the water was perfect and it was so relaxing. Jackie did 99% of the cooking to help give me a break. We had pork chops, asparagus, stuffing and salad for dinner.

Day 5 - Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Another good breakfast and we sat around, waiting for the morning fog to lift. We left about 10:30 and went for a shorter hike than yesterday. This hike was more through meadow land and there were so many wild flowers. We saw some surfers and watched them for awhile.

This old barn is used just for storage.

Some of the houses seen from the trails

We saw lots of these flowers.

Another beautiful view!

Pops of color mixed with all the brown

Clouds, sky, fog and water!

These were one of my favorite flowers.

More yellow flowers

Some flowers had to work really hard to grow!

Clouds, blue sky, fog, water and the barn

Beautiful!

The stairs lead to one of the beaches.

And I mean LOTS of stairs!

One of the surfers

A yellow flower among some seed pods

We ate lunch when we got back and then made another trip to the grocery store. Conrad, Brent and Jackie wanted to hike one of the wooded trails that ran behind our house, the Bobcat Trail. I didn't think my knee and hip could handle rough walking, so I stayed at the house while they hiked. They said it was a pretty rough trail so I made the right decision to stay behind.

Brent, in the redwoods

Conrad beside a burned redwood stump

Brent standing by a redwood tree

Conrad loved all the trees!

Lots of ferns and plants along the way

Brent and Jackie getting close to the highway

More redwood stumps

Getting closer to the highway

After they got back, it was hot tub time again. We spent another hour there before cooking dinner. Tonight's dinner was roasted chicken thighs, sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli and salad.

Day 6 - Wednesday June 23, 2021

We left a little later than normal this morning. We walked along a bluff above the ocean and spent a long time watching whales in the distance. Brent, Jackie and Conrad walked down to a beach and looked around.

It was a rough trip to get down to this beach!

Conrad, Brent and Jackie on the beach

Interesting twist on the trees!

I was able to catch the whale blowing!

Lots of stuff grows on the cliffs!

This flower comes from this seed pod.

So many trees!
After this walk, we headed back to the house through several meadows, full of so many wild flowers. We got back to the house and ate lunch. Afterwards, we headed back out to the tide pools.

On our way to our hike, we found the Sea Ranch grazing near the highway, up on the hill, where there was a place to pull over. We stopped and Jackie and I got out to take pictures. At first they ignored us and then Brent got out of the car and hollered "sheeeeeep"! They all started baaing at us and running down the hill. It was so funny! See the video below.

It was a beautiful view though. Almost all the ocean view trails were flat and easy walking. Brent, Jackie and I walked down steps to Smuggler's Cove Beach. Brent and Jackie both waded in the water and said it was cold! This was a beautiful spot with so many huge rocks with waves crashing over them.

This afternoon's hike was only about 2 miles. When we got back to the house, Jackie made a chicken and rice casserole and we hung out in the hot tub while it was baking. We repacked everything that night. We wished we had some more days here.

Sheep grazing on the hill

The sheep were pretty shaggy!

Sea Ranch Chapel

Inside Sea Ranch Chapel

The pounding surf

Jackie & Brent at Smuggler's Cove

Jackie & Brent checking out the water - Smuggler's Cove

One of my favorite flowers

These trees had to work real hard to grow!

Loved this red plant - some kind of succulent.

It's considered an invasive plant.

This Steller's Jay showed up on our deck

several times a day. We found some bird

seed in the house so fed him every day.

Day 7 - Thursday, June 24, 2021

We're sad that this is our last day here. We'd really like to stay a few more days. We left the house about 8:45 am and drove to the San Andreas Fault trail. There were so many redwoods here! There wasn't another person around.

The San Andreas Fault area

Redwoods in San Andreas Fault area

Conrad inside a dead Redwood

Beautiful area

San Andreas Fault Sign

Brent & Conrad with tall trees!

Burned out tree

Linda inside the tree

Interesting tree growth

Conrad

Conrad exploring...

Conrad inside a tree

The 2 holes in the tree towards to top are where

the scaffold was put to cut down the tree.

Our next stop was Walk On Beach. We walked through a wooded area to get to the bluff and walked along the bluff until there was a way to get down to the beach. There were lots of tide pools here and the tide was out. We saw the first hermit crabs here. The trail was nice and lots more wild flowers. We walked the length of the beach and then walked up the 53 steps to the top.

The trail to Walk On Beach

The trail

Another beautiful view

Jackie and Brent

Linda and Conrad

Something volcanic was going on with these rocks!

Wild flowers

Surrounded by wild flowers

Still on the trail

A view of the beach from the bluff

Jackie spent a lot of time like this -

watching for whales!

Crashing waves

Stuff washed up by the waves

This stuff attaches to rocks and as the waves hit it,

Jackie said it reminds her of Dr Seuss trees!

Kelp

Conrad & Brent searching the tide pools

Interesting what you find on the beach!

We saw lots of these structures on all the beaches.

Notice all the rock layers

The trail back to the car

A twisted tree

I just can't get enough of this!

Good-bye beach!

We went back to the house, ate lunch and loaded up the car. It's been a great few days and we can't wait to go back again. I wanted to add some pictures of the house. It was really nice and we loved the views.

Our house in the redwoods

Front of house

View from the kitchen window

View from one of the nooks in the living room

Dining room to the right, living room up the steps

Up steps to living room, down steps to

master bedroom

Steps up to fire pit area

Fire pit area

Hot tub on back deck

Master bedroom

Master bedroom fireplace

Looking into entry area from living room

Living room

Kitchen

The drive back to Walnut Creek was about three hours. We made a couple stops along the way just to look around. We stopped in Jenner to see where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean.

The road is pretty curvy through here!

The long and winding road...

Lots of harbor seals at Jenner

San Francisco is the distance

Gas is high in California!

We got back to Brent and Jackie's about 6:00. They ordered Chinese to be delivered from Modern China Cafe and it was so good. We were all exhausted when we got back. We watched a hockey game while we were eating. Then, it was time for a good night's sleep.

Day 8 - Friday, June 25, 2021

Both Brent and Jackie had to work today so Conrad and I just rested, read and looked at our pictures. After work, Brent took us to BevMo to buy some beer. This place was huge - a lot bigger than Lake Liquor!

Day 9 - Saturday, June 26, 2021

Today we are going to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly Factory and after lunch, will go to Rio Vista to visit Jerry and Anna Marsh and eat dinner there. We gassed up and drove through the car wash to get all the Sea Ranch dirt off the car. We missed the Jelly Belly Factory on our last trip so I was really looking forward to this visit. Admission was $5.00 and your ticket was a paper hat we had to wear for the tour. Since it was Saturday, there weren't a lot of people working today. They did leave the machines running so that you could see how they worked. The whole place was fascinating! It took us at least an hour or more to go through the factory. There were millions of jelly beans! We spent some time in the gift shop and bought some jelly beans and a t-shirt.

We passed the Amtrack train along the way.

Lots of farm land

Jelly Belly Factory!

Inside the lobby

Brent & Jackie had to check out the gift shop

before the tour!

We're so cute! Ready for the tour!

So many flavors!

There was some packing going on here.

Wow!

Not sure what is going on here

George Washington in jelly beans!

All pictures are done in jelly beans!

Guess the number of jelly beans in this room!

Brent & Jackie learning about flavors

Jelly beans ready to be packed & shipped

Boxes of jelly beans go around on this track.

These videos at each stop were great!

Belly flops are mis-shaped and rejected by the machines.

We ate lunch at the Slanted Tree in Fairfield. Then it was on to Rio Vista to Jerry and Anna's. We had a really good visit with them. Jerry cooked brisket and chicken on the grill. We also had macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, seven-layer salad and cookies. We left there about 9"00 or so and got back to Brent's just before 10:00.

Beer menu at The Slanted Tree

Wind farm near Rio Vista

Jerry and Conrad

Beautiful sunset leaving Jerry's

Day 10 - Sunday, June 27, 2021

We just hung out at the apartment Sunday morning, ate lunch a little early and then headed to the botanical garden at UC Berkeley. It was a beautiful drive with views of the Bay, Oakland and San Francisco. We even had a view of Alcatraz. We got to the garden and the tickets were sold out for the day. We drove through the town of Berkeley and also saw parts of the campus and lots of old, beautiful houses.

Alcatraz (top center)

Hills in Oakland

View of Oakland

Berkeley campus

House in Berkeley

So many hills

We stopped at Lake Anza and walked the trail around the lake. The weather was great and lots of sun. Then, we headed back to Walnut Creek. Jackie cooked roasted chicken thighs, roasted broccoli and carrots and a cauliflower mash. It was so good...again!

Lake Anza

Conrad at Lake Anza

Day 11 - Monday, June 28, 2021

Today we left about 11:00 and drove to Lark Spur to a trail through the redwoods. It was back in a residential area and the street was so narrow and the big houses were up on the hill and so close together. We walked for awhile and then decided it all looked the same so we turned around and went back to the car. We were hungry so found a grocery store and bought some lunch from the deli. Then we took it to a park and ate at the picnic table. We couldn't think of anything else to do so we just went back to Brent's. We needed to repack everything and get ready to leave tomorrow.

The houses are so close to the street.

I liked this building

Evidence of the homeless living here

Houses on the hill

One of the ferries

One of the houses near the trail

Another house near the trail. All were on the hill

with parking below and lots of steps up to

the house!

Look at all the steps!

Brent, Jackie & Conrad - ready to walk!

Lots of tall redwoods

The trail - Blithedale Summit Open

Space Preserve

Jackie and Brent

Conrad & Linda

Conrad, Linda & Brent

The trail

Along the trail

So many trees

The trail

On our way back to Brent's, we passed San Quentin Prison. It is the oldest prison in California, opened in 1852. It is in Marin County on the north side of the San Francisco Bay.

The guard house

The prison

Fancy graffiti on the way home

Day 12 - Tuesday, June 29, 2021

The dreaded day has come when we have to leave. It's so hard having family so far away. It was a wonderful trip and we spent lots of time visiting and just being together. Brent and Jackie took us to the Oakland airport and we got there early. We got through security and headed down to the gate to wait. We had an uneventful flight home but it was a long day. Our first stop was Denver and we didn't have to change planes. We had a toddler sitting behind us who screamed some and kicked my seat. I have to say though, the mom did try to keep him quiet and they were traveling in a group so they passed the boy around. After we landed in Denver and they counted us, we moved up towards the front of the plane. Our next stop was Dallas and we had to change planes there. We finally arrived in Little Rock about 11:30 and we got our luggage and headed for home. Jason and Jenny had brought our car to the airport that evening for us. It was about 12:30 by the time we got home and our bed felt so good!