California Road Trip 2019 - Bangor

Thursday, October 10, 2019
Carmichael to Bangor, CA
Spencer Shirey Winery
Distance: 83 miles
Route: I5 to Hwy. 99 to 20/70 to La Porte Road
Duration: 1 night
Cost: Harvest Host (free)
Weather: Sunny and warm

After a delicious breakfast at Sarah & Bert's we headed out to a Harvest Hosts vineyard in Bangor. It was a bit of a tough drive due to 40-50 mph wind gusts, but we made it. The vineyard is in a very isolated area and the road in (La Porte) is not only curvy with lots of hills, but extremely bumpy in spots. I didn't get a chance to meet the owners (Kimball & Mary) since I was feeling so miserable with a head cold, but Rod had a free wine tasting and brought a bottle of wine back to the RV for me to enjoy later.

Our site was fairly level, overlooking the vineyard, and we had a picnic table, water and 30 amp power (which is not typical for Harvest Hosts locations), but we were in an area in which PGE had turned off the power due to the risk of fires, so we had to run our generator, which was fine with the owners since they were running theirs as well. There were plenty of trees to provide shade and it was very peaceful, but as it was so far out of our way, I'm not sure we'd return.

Philo, CA

Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Philo to Garberville, California
Garberville/Benbow KOA
Distance: 125 miles
Duration: 2 nights
Cost: $57/night
Weather: Sunny and warm

We woke up with the sun and were on the road fairly early for us. I took more pictures of the vineyard and the fog on the hills in the distance. It was such a beautiful and peaceful morning. I hated to leave.

The drive on Hwy. 253 was very pretty with a lot of the trees dressed in their fall colors. The highway is probably just as curvy as Hwy. 128, but there wasn't as much traffic, so it was more enjoyable than when we drove in to Philo from 101. Also, we noticed that when I pulled over to let the cars behind me pass, almost every single one tapped their horns in appreciation. This has happened occasionally on our road trips, but we were shocked that almost 99% of the cars and trucks expressed their thanks to us with the horn tap. Thank you, Northern California drivers!

Another first was having a couple of deer dash across the road, right in front of the RV. Thankfully, we were going slow enough that it wasn't a problem, but it sure got our attention! 

We had one steep descent of 10% for 2 miles, but the RV handled it just fine. I feel so much more comfortable with steep ascents and descents in this Class C RV compared to when we were pulling a trailer. 

Early morning at Handley Cellars Winery.

Beautiful morning with lots of birdsong.

Another vineyard just east of Handley Cellars Winery. Gorgeous!

We decided to play tourists and stopped at the Drive-Thru Tree Memorial Grove in Leggett. It's pretty much a tourist trap, what with the $10 fee to enter the park. Obviously, our RV is far too big to drive through the tree, but we walked around and took a few pictures.

Probably not worth it, but we decided to play tourists.

Nope. The Four Winds is not gonna fit!

2400 years old! Wow.

I don't know how many times we've stayed at the Benbow KOA, but this may have been our third visit and it was nice to be back in a familiar spot. We snagged a good end site, which meant there was nobody on our right and we could enjoy looking out on the beautiful fall colors. The contrast between the leaves and the blue sky was picture-perfect! I took a long walk, desperate to get some exercise and stretch my legs. I walked over to the Benbow Inn and couldn't believe how low the Eel River had become since our visit less than six months earlier.

We enjoyed our drinks outside, as the weather was absolutely perfect. Not too hot and not at all windy. It got pretty chilly after the sun went down, but it was so quiet, we both slept great.

Back at the Benbow KOA.

The river is so low!

Beautiful fall colors.

Benbow Historic Inn.

Last time we were here, this river bed was completely covered with water.

Love these trees!

Not too many people here, so it made for a nice quiet stay.

Santa Rosa & Philo, CA

Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Santa Rosa to Philo, California
Handley Cellars
Distance: 87 miles
Duration: 1 night
Cost: Boondocking - free
Weather: Cool and partly sunny

We said our goodbyes to Sue and Rob then drove over to Sebastopol to meet up with our good friends, Sarah & Bert. Of course, we planned our lunch date at Handline so we could enjoy yet another delicious meal of fish tacos! After our early lunch, the four of us headed to Hook & Ladder Winery for some wine tasting. The winery is quite lovely and would be a nice place to go for a picnic lunch next time we're in Santa Rosa. We bought two bottles of their Sangiovese and had fun looking at all the shirts and caps that firefighters have brought to have on display in the tasting room. I even found one from Lincoln!

The bounty from George & Merry's avocado trees!

A foggy morning in Santa Rosa.

Handline fish tacos & fries. Delicious!

Our dear friends, Sarah & Bert.

Hook & Ladder Vineyards and Winery.

Fun to spot this one from Lincoln, Nebraska!

Perfect spot for a picnic.

Happy travelers!

After more goodbyes, we got back on Hwy. 101 and started making our way north to the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County. Handley Cellars Winery (a Harvest Host site, which is located in Philo) was our destination for the night. It is less than a 100 miles from Hook & Ladder, but the last 40 miles (on Hwy. 128) took close to an hour, as it is quite curvy. However, the trees and vineyards were gorgeous in their fall colors and the drive turned out to be more beautiful than expected.

We arrived at Handley around 4:00 and after checking in at the tasting room, found our way to our site. In order to park out of the way and find a level spot, we had to park next to the old water tower, facing some small cottages (which we assume are for workers) and weren't able to position the RV with the windows looking out toward the vineyard. There was also some music coming from one of the cottages, but it was turned off before we were ready to go to sleep. So, not an ideal vantage point to appreciate the beauty from inside the RV, but certainly a lovely location to spend one night.

After dinner, we wandered around the property, taking in the views and watching the sun set over the hills in the distance. 

Note: Should we ever decide to travel from Hwy. 101 over to Mendocino (on Hwy. 128), a few nights at Hendy Woods State Park, which is situated on the Navarro River, might be a good alternative for a longer visit to this particular area.