Hello Everyone! It is wonderful to be back writing This Week on the Road, but not nearly as good as it is to actually be back on the road. I spent the last year dreaming of the open highway ahead of me and the wind in my hair. As much as I love my hometown and my family and friends, I missed the natural landscapes around which I have built my life. For the rest of 2025 I plan to surround myself with beaches and mountains, waterfalls and glaciers, sunsets and wildlife. I have also learned in my life that while some people thrive on routine and knowing their surroundings, I live for new places I’ve never seen or visited. I may love the museums and bars and coffee shops at home, but for me there is always something special about walking into the unknown – a town or restaurant or music venue I’ve never been in before. I can spend my time looking around and picking up on the details of the place, eavesdropping on the local gossip. I like being the stranger in town. It’s a role I embrace. This last week+ has been a wonderful reintroduction to the world of travel and vanlife for me, with a few familiar places, a few familiar faces and a whole lot of something new.
I spent some time getting my van cleaned and ready for the next few months, but knowing it was up and running left me itching to just get moving. Leaving San Francisco, I headed north and west to Sebastopol, where I went for a walk in the lagoon with the brilliant author and poet Iris Jamahl Dunkle. Her most recent book Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb has been doing really well and she’s been out touring the country doing readings and interviews. I’ve been reading this book myself and really enjoying it and it was nice to chat with Iris about it and about her experiences both in writing the book and in promoting it. After some delicious fish tacos, I bid Iris goodbye and headed back up to Santa Rosa for a quiet night in familiar surroundings. A quick pint of Pliny the Elder at Russian River Brewery led to interesting conversations around the bar, but it had been a long couple of days getting my van cleaned and road ready, so one beer was more than enough (okay, I had two, but only two).
The next day was Sunday and I enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee at Aroma Roasters before getting on the road to the coast. I had a wonderful, winding drive down the Russian River and then headed north along the coast to Fort Ross State Historic Site. I had been to Fort Ross before, but many years ago and I have talked about it quite a bit since then on tours I’ve led in Alaska, so I thought a fresh visit was in order. Fort Ross was founded by the Russian American Fur Company in 1812 (hence the name of the nearby river), and they occupied the area until 1841. They opened this settlement to try and grow crops and raise livestock to support their colonies in Alaska as procuring goods from the motherland was a lengthy and costly endeavor. It seemed much easier to just take a part of California north of the Spanish settlements and grow their food there. The fort was occupied by a mix of Russians, Native Alaskans and Creole people of mixed blood and included men, women and children. In the late 1830s, the Russians reached an agreement with the Hudson’s Bay Company to provide them with needed supplies and Fort Ross was no longer needed. The land and buildings were sold to John Sutter who owned Sutter’s Mill near modern-day Sacramento where gold would be discovered a few years later, sparking the California Gold Rush. Fort Ross is a cool little historic site which tells this fascinating little story very well and has some wonderfully recreated buildings. Leaving Fort Ross I headed north for a quiet and uneventful night in Point Arena.
On Monday morning I stopped by the historic Point Arena Lighthouse to take a few photos and then headed north to the quaint little town of Mendocino. Mendocino is a delightful town of about a thousand people which is perhaps best known as a filming location for James Dean’s East of Eden and the popular TV show Murder, She Wrote. Today, it’s an amiable little artists’ colony and definitely counts tourism as a major part of its economy. I was really charmed by Mendocino and spent a few hours there taking photos and wandering the streets.
In the afternoon, I headed just north to Fort Bragg where I arrived in time for an afternoon excursion to the redwoods on board the famous Skunk Train. When the town of Fort Bragg was being built in the late 19th century, tracks were laid to bring lumber to the coast to be used as building material. In 1925, single cars road up and down the line, powered by gasoline but burning crude oil to keep their passengers warm. The combined smell of these two fuels was said to resemble that of a skunk, and hence the name “Skunk Train” was born. Today it’s a pleasant little romp inland to a nice little grove of redwoods and a ride I definitely enjoyed. On the weekends they run people out into the woods where a full bar is set up and people can enjoy a nice night out in the forest, but since I was there in the beginning of the week, I just went for a ride. Afterwards I met up with my old friend, Dave Flood who has relocated to Fort Bragg from his old home in Sacramento. I’ve known Dave for almost 25 years now, and it was great to catch up, share some laughs and a meal and enjoy some time together.
The following morning I went to check out Fort Bragg’s famous Glass Beach. Years ago, the town dumped a bunch of waste into the ocean and over many years of getting pounded by the surf, the glass has been broken down and rounded off and washed up along this stretch of coast. It’s actually kind of pretty in its way, and people do love to go and see it. It’s such an attraction for the town that they don’t want anyone taking the “sea glass” away as a souvenir. It was worth a look, as I’ve been curious about it for some time, but I was happy with a short visit. I decided that while Fort Bragg was pleasant enough, I would return to Mendocino for the evening and take a few more photos of the town, so that’s exactly what I did. I enjoyed wandering the streets in the evening light and then heading out to Mendocino Head for the sunset over the ocean. Afterwards I stopped into Patterson’s on Lansing Street for a quick beer, which is about as perfect a little country pub as I’ve seen.
On Wednesday I continued north along the coast to where the road turns inland and joins up with the 101 and then continued north and into Humboldt Redwoods State Park. I turned off of the main highway to cruise along the Avenue of the Giants, a lovely scenic alternative route through the heart of the redwoods. It was a cool and shaded road and the trees made it feel like it was early morning or late evening even in the heat of the day. I decided to take a campsite near the main Visitors Center, as I really needed some time to continue cleaning my van. It actually ended up taking me a few hours, but I was pretty satisfied with the results when I was finished. By the time I cooked my dinner and cleaned up, it was almost dark and time to call it a day.
I was up early the next morning, though, so I could hike the Bull Creek Flats loop trail to the Big Trees and back. This was an awesome trail through several groves of redwoods, starting with the Rockefeller Grove and ending at The Giant – the largest standing redwood in the park and one of the 20 largest in the world. I especially enjoyed the southern half of this loop as it meandered through lush fern canyons and over quiet little streams. I have really been looking forward to getting out and doing some hiking and this 10 miler wore me out. Even though it was relatively flat, I was pretty tired by the end of it. I definitely need to get some more hikes in before I start climbing mountains in Washington State. It sure was nice to be out there though, and after a shower and a good nap I was feeling pretty good again and pushed on up the road to Ferndale.
I’ve been reading about Ferndale and was excited to get there and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Ferndale grew up as a dairy community with nice flat, grassy fields near enough to the ocean that they could reach markets in San Francisco. The method of wrapping butter in paper was pioneered here as it kept the butter fresh for transport. Because Ferndale’s growth was happening at the end of the 19th century, many of the buildings were Victorian, and this Victorian architecture characterizes the town today. I really loved the architecture and couldn’t get enough of it while I was wandering the town and taking photos. After the sun went down, I stopped into the Palace Saloon and ended up in the middle of a conversation about the upcoming Humboldt County Fair. The lady who is in charge of the fair was sitting next to me and the rest of the patrons were peppering her with questions. I really enjoyed listening in and felt very much welcomed in their discussion, even though I obviously had nothing to add. It was a fun night out.
The next morning I stopped in for coffee at the Mind’s Eye which is an adorable little coffee shop in the front and a manufacturer of wooden Alaskan kayaks in the back. Fully charged up, I headed out to take some more photos in the morning light and then moved on up the road to Eureka. If you’ve watched the show Virgin River, they make out Eureka to be a pretty cool city, but I think you’d have to be out in the woods for a long time to feel that way. To me it just felt very down on its heels and you guys know I can usually find the best in anywhere. While I met some wonderful people there, it just gave me a bad feeling and I usually have to trust my gut out here. It did have a wonderful library where I got some work done and they were having a nice Friday street fair when I was there with some good music. I spent some time at The Shanty which seemed to be a central gathering place for people from all walks of life in the middle of town and had a beer at the famous Lost Coast Brewery. But I didn’t spend a ton of time downtown and slept out on the edge of town.
On Saturday I went back down the road to Ferndale because they were having a baseball game at their little field at the edge of town. The field was named for local legend Joe Oeschger, who once pitched 26 innings in a single game for the Boston Braves, the longest pitching outing in MLB history. In a time before artificial lighting, the game was eventually called due to darkness and ended in a 1-1 tie. It was a very small-town gathering with only a few dozen people there, but I really enjoyed watching the game and the good natured competition among the locals. After the game I returned to Eureka and wandered down by the waterfront to see the Flynn Creek Circus. Just a small, regional, traveling circus, this was a really enjoyable show. There were some tremendously talented performers doing all kinds of cool acrobatics and it kept me smiling throughout. I do love a good circus and this one was a lot of fun.
Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City
The next morning I headed on out of town and all the way up the coast to Redwoods National and State Parks. I drove up a ridiculously steep road to visit the beautiful Lady Bird Johnson Grove, which was a very pleasant stroll through the big trees, before continuing on to Crescent City. Crescent City is a quiet little city in the far north of California and where I spent the 4th of July about a decade ago. The town felt very empty to me and like there isn’t much going on there most of the time, but I liked it all the same. It used to be quite a thriving little community stretching back to the Gold Rush, but it was devastated by a tsunami back in 1964. What has been rebuilt is utilitarian and not particularly attractive, but it is still a nice little town. Seemingly at the center of it all is Sea Quake Brewery which is a welcoming and very popular place in the middle of town. I also really loved the Battery Park Lighthouse out on the point which can only be visited at low tide. The lighthouse is staffed by volunteer keepers who get to live for a month in the old lighthouse which seems like a pretty fun gig. Other than that, I just enjoyed wandering the quiet streets and watching the fog roll in and roll out again. The town has a foghorn which blows 24/7 which you definitely get used to pretty quickly.
I ended up staying two nights in Crescent City so I could get some photos edited and some work done and pulled out early Tuesday morning to make the short drive to Brookings, Oregon. While I’ve been able to do some traveling through work, my van has not left California in over two years. It sure was nice to cross that state line. I was thrilled to be able to spend the whole day at the beach with my dear friend, Cristen, who I met in college and have known for 30 years now. She is here from Portland on vacation with her family and they invited me out for a beach day on Lone Ranch Beach. I didn’t take any photos out there yesterday, but it is an absolutely beautiful beach which I hope to get back to when I’m done with this post to snap off some shots.
And that’s what I’ve been up to these last few weeks since I set out from the Bay Area. I spent a quiet night last night here in Brookings, which is pleasant enough, and I’m really looking forward to pushing on up the coast this afternoon. I will be cruising up the Oregon coast for at least the next week, then headed up the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, down the Washington side and on up into the Olympic Peninsula. I will be back in Oregon later this year when the rest of the state cools off a bit, but it can be brutal during the summer further inland and I have a date with some serious mountains further north. I’m not sure where I’ll be at this time next week, but probably still somewhere along the Oregon coast, enjoying the cool breezes and beautiful scenery. I hope you’ll check back with me then to see where the week has taken me. Until then, I hope you’re all doing well out there and enjoying the summer. Thank you, as always, for reading.
-Mike
