April 22, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO TO RUSSIAN RIVER

David Beckstein and I drove from San Francisco to the Russian River area today. Stan Dufford rode with us to Santa Rosa, where he is spending the Easter weekend with Sandy and Ken, his brother.

We left San Francisco about 9:30 a.m. and drove up Highway 101; arrived at Ken & Sandy's about 10:30 a.m., visited there for about 1/2 hour and then David and I headed toward the coast. We stopped at Matos Cheese Factory in Santa Rosa. Joe and Mary Matos grew up in the Portuguese Azores on the island of Sao Jorge. They moved to Santa Rosa in the 1970s and brought along the recipe for their native cheese with them. The office on their farm is quite small and they offer only the one cheese. We tasted the cheese and David bought 2 pounds.

We then headed toward the coast, stopped along the way and had a picnic lunch at a winery, then drove to Jenner, and then back on Highway 116  to the Russian River area of Guerneville, CA.

Since it was too early to check into our cabin, we drove to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, near Guerneville, and hiked along one of the trails.

We hiked for about an hour and then headed back to Guerneville and checked into our cabin at the Highlands Resort.

Our Cabin

About 7 p.m. we walked into town and had pizza at a local restaurant and watched the first 3 innings of the Giants-Braves game on TV.  Back at our cabin, we played Scrabble.

The resort is comfortable and quiet. Tomorrow a drive up the coast to Mendocino, CA.