February 13-15, 2024
Our first stay at a KOA - we joined on the way - it turned out to be A-OK - lol - better than expected. We called for a reservation and arrived after dark. Not ideal, but it will be avoided when possible. As with most RV parks, you can book online or rock up last minute, especially in winter. We're finding that you can save a little money by not pre booking since many of the sites charge a reservation fee. The grounds at the San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA are cleverly "master-planned" and even although you're nestled among multiple wheeled homes, the sites are spacious and considerately arranged (we had a paved area to avoid excess mud, a wooden porch swing, table with chairs and a fire pit) and they offer additional amenities such as a playground, kitchen, petting zoo, laundry room, very clean no-extra fee bathrooms, pool, etc.
There are stops along the way that are purely for sightseeing. And others that we'll continue to use for exploration and catch-up time for typical household items - living in an RV does not release us from laundry duties, cleaning tanks, researching maps, administrative detail, bills, looking for new home sites - and cooking! This is one of those, not to mention it rained most of the time.
We landed here over Valentine's Day...so we celebrated and ordered dinner from Flowering Tea House restaurant. Call them - ordering online is a challenge. They kindly delivered to the campground (order must be at least $50) - it was one of the best Chinese meals ever - my vegan beef broccoli was delish, Joel really liked his chicken broccoli and we feasted on more veggies and egg rolls. Highly recommend!!!
Petaluma is a charming city - a dairy industry leader, chock full of vibrant green pastures and all the accompanying ranch homes, animals and sweeping meadow views. Fun fact: it held the title of "World's Egg Basket" because of the boom in egg production prompted by the invention in Petaluma of the the first practical chicken incubator.
I took a long, early morning walk and was in absolute awe of the beautiful, lush outlying expanses - such peaceful pastoral landscapes. Even the moments watching a family of goats on site was a treat - so many camera-worthy scenes!
On the way out, we drove around the city and stopped on a residential street in the quaint historic downtown area to walk around for a bit...
We visited the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum - happened to walk in just to see the architecture, but didn't expect to find a free educational museum. Fascinating history of Petaluma, informative dairy + poultry + Miwok Indian exhibits dating back to the 1850s - showcasing historic artifacts, tools, etc. We dropped a $5 donation in the glass box on the first level. Good karma and keeps up the restoration and preservation.
Sure we'll visit again to experience more of what Sonoma County has to offer.
Moving on...we headed back to Hwy 1 toward Bodega Bay...and north. This very twisty and wild, scenic California coastal route was always something the two of us had wanted to do. A perfect opportunity to put Max to the test and cover this curvy, idyllic drive. I researched a couple of places beforehand and a town called Gualala was calling...for some reason. Joel agreed and so we continued the journey.
We took our sweet time along the drive up from Petaluma. So many coastal, picturesque places to pull over, for sure! Although it was cloudy for parts of this drive, we were so grateful that it wasn't raining...yet!
Another insanely gorgeous must-see highway turnoffs is Stump Beach (Salt Point State Park:
We pulled over and walked the short trail that led to the somewhat steep beach access stairs. I'm guessing a lot of postcards have been derived from images here - sweeping cliffs views, surf, redwood trees, rocks, sand, shells, wood...quite the scene.
Gualala is about a 30-minute drive north...we knew we were on the right path.
Off to Gualala!
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