Bodega Bay Again! - January 2022

 

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The Malibu Girls

 

Do you remember Trailer Woman? She's been mentioned in a few of our past stories. She's back. Shortly after we returned from our last trip to Bodega Bay, I overheard a phone conversation the Lady was having. Not hard to do, the Lady is never quiet talking on the phone. "They are so far away," she explains. "I want to be sure they hear me." This phone conversation was with Trailer Woman (TW from now on). Julie was explaining now to check on campsite openings mid week at Doran. "If you find two open campsites sometime, we'll join you!" the Lady finished. TW called the next day and said she had two campsites reserved for Monday and Tuesday of the next week. It was obvious TW wanted to go camping on the coast with us.

 

As the Lady and I finished up chores around home on Saturday, we got to thinking about Sunday. I suggested, "Let's see if there's an open campsite for Sunday night. If there is, let's go a day early and have some time just the two of us." It never hurts to check. We were surprised, there were 6 or 7 openings. We packed up Sunday and left late morning.

 

We woke well before dawn Monday. The sound of surf, the fog horn, and wind against the camper lulled us into deep sleep the night before. I walked north across the Doran Spit to watch early light come to Bodega Harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lady joined me and we walked the beach on the ocean side as the sun rose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We heard from TW. She would arrive mid afternoon and she was bringing along a friend, "A", who was visiting her from southern California.

 

We continued our morning walk and found turkey vultures partaking in a morning snack, there were two pinniped carcasses on the beach. One vulture acted as a lookout.

 

 

 

 

 

Four dined on the carcasses.

 

 

 

 

 

We also quietly watched the many shore birds, such as the Whimbrils.

 

 

 

 

 

Since we were changing campsites - moving to the ones reserved by TW - we left Doran to sleuth out the public access points for the coves along the edge of Bodega Bay. One was behind Pinnacle Rock, a distinctive landmark visible from Doran through the morning sea mist.

 

 

 

 

 

The trailhead was hidden among the homes - valued at over two million dollars each - along the high bluff south of Bodega. It was a mile hike down to Pinnacle Cove. The Lady was pleased she could descend all the steps with pain free knees.

 

 

 

 

 

We were almost alone along the Pacific. It was wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wandered south on the beach along the bluffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came to the next access point.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued south until our way was blocked by rock that jutted out into the surf. We climbed and took in the view to the north....................

 

 

 

 

 

.................and to the south.

 

 

 

 

 

After a long break, we descended from our perch and wandered back to the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandpipers worked the surf for sand crabs and swallowed them whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We passed Pinnacle Rock and continued north, exploring cove after cove.

 

 

 

 

 

The rock cliffs came closer to the shore. With the mantra of never turn your back to the ocean, we slipped around corners into the next coves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally hit the end of the line, the final rocky cove. Here's a view back to the south, the way we came.

 

 

 

 

 

We returned to the south and retraced our steps. We enjoyed the bird life. If it has pink stockings and red lipstick, it's an Black Oystercatcher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandpipers kept busy.

 

 

 

 

 

We returned to our southernmost point and climbed back to our earlier perch, sat, snacked, and enjoyed having this place all to ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

TW and her friend A arrived at Doran and the girls expertly backed the small trailer into its spot in the Jetty Campground next to us and set up. TW and A have been girlfriends since childhood. They grew up in Southern California. We call them The Malibu Girls.

 

 

The Lady and I, as usual, woke early the next morning. We enjoy that quiet time before other campers are up and about. We also watched light return as sunrise approached.

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing boats returned to harbor at dawn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Coast Guard boat returned to base.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, the plan for all of us was to spend the day wandering the length of Doran Beach. We were all about ready. I made one last, quick trip into the men's restroom. There is a single men's shower that is accessed by a door on the back of the building. The shower is separated from the restroom by a metal partition, but open near the floor and ceiling. As I was taking care of business, it was very obvious a man and woman were having a lively, fun time showering together. Nothing sexual or out of line. They were unabashedly having a good time. Their fun was infectious. I quietly exited and told my story to the girls. "You ought to pop into the restroom for a quick listen," I offered. "It will give you a good laugh." I got a bit of a scowl from the Lady as she replied, "And you wanted me to be quiet when we showered last night!"

 

We headed off for the day down the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

TW raises puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Her first puppy was a black lab named "O". At two years old, O went off to college for training to begin his career. He did well and was headed toward graduation when a new genetic test revealed he carried a gene that causes blindness later in life. How about that for irony. He was removed from the program and offered to TW, the woman who raised him. As you can imagine, O is a well trained and obedient dog.

 

O loves the surf.

 

 

 

 

 

O and the covey of women - the Lady and the Malibu Girls -  "girl talked" their way down the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

We reached the end of the beach, just north of where the Lady and I ended our hike the day before. Wading and dodging surf is required - along with low tide - to reach the coves we explored. We spend most of the day relaxing here.

 

 

O is one pampered dog.

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to go barefoot. I stated I'd like to see women frolic in the surf. Frolicking consisted of playing with O.

 

 

 

 

 

O did some serious frolicking.

 

 

 

 

 

Afraid that I might overdose on girl talk, I spent some time by myself and encountered several Black-bellied Plovers in their nonbreeding plumage among the rocks in the surf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moseyed back to camp. We joined each other for dinner and rounded out the evening with all of us playing a board game together in TW's small trailer. O slept through it all. He had had a good long day of frolicking.

 

As we were saying our good nights, I asked if anyone had poked their heads in the men's restroom in the morning to listen to the fun. Their answer, "We didn't want to hear them, we wanted to join them in the shower." The Malibu Girls.