Willits, CA to Cloverdale, CA - 60 miles
Thanks to the Warner's who prepared breakfast and wouldn't let us wash the dishes, we were able to leave by 8am this morning. It was another very chilly morning, but we were climbing a mountain before long and all additional clothing layers were shed. We made it to the summit, then enjoyed a loooooooooong downhill. We completed 30 miles before 10:30 am.
We are in Sonoma county now and the famous California wine country. Just because I'm not a wine drinker doesn't exempt me from adoring vineyards. I think it's the math-wired side of my brain that enjoys the symmetric spacing and perfect pruning of all the impeccably straight rows. I wonder if I stopped at a vineyard if they would let me taste the different kinds of grapes? I know that grape lovers aren't their target audience, but who knows? I might get lucky.
When we left this morning, we were anticipating a nearly downhill ride all the way to San Francisco. That's what Google said anyway. Their elevation map feature must still be in beta, because it was horribly wrong. We mentioned to the boys that if it really was all downhill, then maybe we could go 100 miles today. At 50 miles (2:30pm) we stopped and asked them if they were still up for 100 miles. Tan answered in the negative almost immediately, but Robinson was actually deliberating! "How many hours did it take us to go 50? What time would we get to camp if we went 100?" I love the enthusiasm!
We knew that taking this inland route would mean fewer campgrounds, so we are staying in a hotel tonight. This makes 3 nights in row of sleeping in actual beds. We better be careful, or we might get used to the luxury.
