Plan B

UPDATE: As we expected, the National Park Service has now closed indefinitely Hodgdon Meadows Campground, where we were to stay through September 3rd. According to the NPS, most of park remains open and smoke-free. Rex and I have decided to go to the south side of Yosemite on Thursday, in hopes of finding a spot in a "first-come, first served" campground.



What do we do when the 15th largest wildfire in California history closes the Yosemite campground we reserved four months ago? We go to Plan B: bikes, birds, and beer.

After reuniting in San Francisco last Saturday and retrieving our fifth wheel, the TI, from storage on Sunday, we intended to regroup in Santa Rosa for a few days before heading east toward Yosemite, where a campsite had our name on it, starting August 22nd.

But Santa Rosa is a very comfortable town--maybe not as easy as Austin, which I've heard Alejandro Escovedo aptly call the Velvet Rut. Still, the weather here is almost perfect, the streets are easy to navigate with car or bike, and the produce at the even the big-box stores is incredibly fresh, flavorful, and cheap.

Then there's the beer. Russian River is in Santa Rosa, Bear Republic in Healdsburg, and Lagunitas in Petaluma--three breweries with long-standing and well-deserved national reputations within 30 miles of each other.

Lagunitas employees really love their jobs.  In Petaluma, CA. 

By Thursday, we found ourselves still in Santa Rosa, and that was a good thing. Otherwise, we would have been halfway to Yosemite when we learned that our campground was closing due to the Rim Fire.

In our version of lemons-to-lemonade, we biked through wine country on Friday. I've mapped out our 25-mile loop here. Most of it was low- or slow traffic, but some sections were too dangerous for bicyclists, no matter what the Sonoma Cycling Club says. We would do it again but incorporate more of Dry Creek Road into our route--and more wineries. We only made it to one thought there were at least three dozen offering tastings on our loop.

Vineyard on West Dry Creek Road near Yoakim Bridge Road

Another vineyard, same general location

Harvest time?

Rex re-hydrating, Russian River valley south of Geyserville

Late Friday night after our ride, curiosity got the best of me and I went looking online for the local Audubon chapter. Sure enough, one of the premiere birding sites in the country--Bodega Bay--is only 25 miles away. And wouldn't you know it, but the Madrone Audubon Society would be hosting a guided walk there on Saturday at 7:30 am. We were out the door by 6:35 the next morning and had an absolutely amazing day: 17 life-list bird and 48 species sighted in total.

Bodega Head; here we saw pelagic cormorants, Brandt's cormorants, wandering tattlers, and a common murre, to name a few. Many, many thanks to Gordon Beebe and all the Audubon regulars for patiently sharing so many magical birds with us. 

On our return trip from Bodega Bay, we made two stops in Sebastopol: the Luther Burbank Experiment Farm and a month-old brewery and restaurant called Woodfour Brewing Company.

Did you ever think about the origins of Shasta Daisy? Me neither--until I visited Luther Burbank's farm and learned that the horticulturalist created this white-and-yellow favorite. I assumed the Shasta Daisy had been with us since God formed dry land, but Burbank introduced it in 1901. It is one of more than 800 new plants that he produced in his life time, including the first commercially grown cherry and dozens of other improved flowers, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. A worthy legacy, if you ask me.  

Rex inspects some of Luther Burbank's work: an experimental chestnut. 

We still don't know when we will leave Santa Rosa, But we will make the best of it, I am certain of that.

A Berliner weisse at Woodfour Brewing Company. Skip it and go for the Belgium dubbel instead.