We left Los Banos at 10 am, heading over to Interstate 5 and then north. The highway skirted the coastal range to the west, which was surprisingly barren and covered only in dry yellow grass. We turned west on I-580 and quickly approached the congested San Francisco Bay area, arriving first in Livermore (home of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories) and soon crossing over to Oakland.

We took a brief detour through Berkeley to see Shannon's old school, however she couldn't remember where her dorm room was, so we took a few pictures and backtracked to I-580. The freeway took us over the Richmond San Rafael Bridge, which gave us a sweeping view of the Bay area. Shannon had to use the bathroom, so we pulled over on an exit in San Rafael, and didn't find anything. Suddenly at the last minute, we turned the corner and there was the "temple of AAA" -- a huge AAA travel center. Weird -- I had been thinking of joining to get motel room discounts, so I took this as a omen and found myself on autopilot getting signed up while Shannon used the restroom. We picked up a few free maps and tour guides while we were there. We also stopped at Jack In The Box for a quick lunch.

The freeway was very congested and there wasn't much to see as we approached the Sonoma County valley, home of many famous vineyards. We turned west on Hwy 12, which took us through Sevastopol and through winding country roads, where we finally arrived at the Pacific coast.

We headed north on Highway 1, stopping briefly near Bodega Bay to sample the Pacific Ocean. Needless to say the water was too cold to do more than stand ankle-deep. The road gradually took us northwest, but it was getting too late to do anything interesting: for example the Point Arena lighthouse closed at 4:30 pm. However as we arrived in Ft Bragg we were able to visit a scenic beach vista and have an excellent dinner at the North Coast Brewery. Their microbrewery provided an assortment of outstanding beers that were offered to us in 10 sample glasses. Our favorite: Red Seal Ale!

We did notice that Ft Bragg is racially segregated -- the town has a considerable Hispanic population that you don't see unless you drive around the part of town near the cannery. We haven't seen a single black person since leaving San Francisco. What's up with that?

It was tough to sleep at the Beachcomber Motel room due to the lack of "white noise" sources, rooms that had poor acoustic insulation, and two white-trash families travelling together 1 and 2 doors down. We had a feeling we'd be in trouble when we saw them sitting outside their room (not at the nearby beach) drinking beer at 7 pm with six kids running around! Even as I type this at 8 am they are making a considerable amount of noise.

Miles travelled: 320

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