Sea Ranch Lodge

Top left-inside a hundred year old barn that is rented for weddings at Sea Ranch Lodge. $10,000 will reserve it for you.
Second from top left-Candy at the bus stop in Anchor Bay.
Bottom-Candy and I on the beach at the Anchor Bay Campground and sunset at the same.

Dec. 04. After leaving Manchester Beach KOA, we landed in Anchor Bay Campground on Dec.
02. It is a very pretty little spot set back in a forested glen that opens up onto the beach. We scored a tent site right up near the ocean, in the sun, where it sounded like the surf was going to come into the tent from time to time. The fee, 25$ per night was high by our standards, but probably within the range of normal for the California coast. The great folks that were running the campground are from South Carolina, Dale and Bernard Roberts, I think it was. Very nice people, with that easy going southern way of befriending folks. Dale was a cardiac nurse when she started her career, so Candy and she had a good conversation just before we left. I am sorry that I don’t recall what Bernard’s profession was in his former life. We swapped email addresses and I hope to stay in contact with them. The weather was so nice that we decided purchase another night to hang around and enjoy the sunshine and beach on Saturday the 3rd.

After leaving Anchor Bay Campground today about 11:00 or so, we entered Gualala about 4 miles down the road and stopped at a supermarket to pick up a few things. As we passed through town, I saw the offices of the ICO, the Independent Coast Observer, a weekly newspaper that others had told us would probably write an article about us. But since it was Sunday, the offices were closed and I was debating whether or not to stay in town until the next day, so we could get the article written. I had made up my mind that it wasn’t worth it when we pulled into a parking slot in front of a local supermarket. Well, as Candy would say, what happened next was a Godshot. I call it luck. The owner or editor, I’m not sure which, of the paper just happened to be parked right next to us. He jumped out of his car with his camera and started taking pictures, then did a short interview. I guess the article will probably be in next weeks’ edition, but I’m not sure. He also said that we could find it at www.smalltownpapers.com on the internet, if we did not get a paper copy.

After leaving Gualala, we crossed into Sonoma County, and into a ten mile stretch of million dollar plus homes called Sea Ranch. This is a planned community in existence since 1964. To look at a map, Sea Ranch would appear to be just another small town on the coast, but it is far from that. The houses all have the same basic weathered look and architectural style, blending into the coastal scenery, from the oceanfront to high up on the hillsides on the east side of the road. There must have been a thousand or so of them. One thing that struck us immediately was how much more roadside litter there was, compared to what we noticed in Mendocino County. Believe me, traveling as slow and low as we do, we notice this stuff. I should think the Sea Ranch homeowners are wealthy enough to get the litter picked up that is practically on their doorstep.

Well, having fooled around in Anchor Bay and Gualala for too long, we put ourselves in the position of not being able to reach the next state park, which would be Salt Point State Park, before dark. So, we decided to splurge on the Sea Ranch Lodge. It is a very nice place. We a had a 3 course dinner with a different wine at each course. It was one of those meals that working class folks like us don’t indulge in very often. Our room is a two bedroom suite with an ocean view, though the ocean view doesn’t necessarily thrill me that much. It pretty much looks like the same ocean I’ve been seeing all the way from Seaside Oregon. Candy scheduled a massage for herself tomorrow morning at 11. So it should be interesting to see if she feels like riding again after a one hour massage.

Ron.