Days 14-15: Murder She Wrote and a Lack of Wine

It's been two months and two days since my family left on our epic vacation and I still have two posts left to write. At this point I would normally just forget the post. We're already into October and there are new topics to write and projects to work on. However, I also have discovered that not only I enjoy having the record, it will be a useful tool when I finally start my scrapbook. And I will start (and finish) my Alaska scrapbook. So here goes, two days of traveling in Northern California.

Day 14: Mendocino is Cabot Cover and a Glass Beach

After a delicious breakfast, with amazing drinks. Dad had a cappuccino and Sister and I each had hot chocolate. They were lovely and the perfect start to the day.

 

Our first stop was Mendocino. It was a beautiful town with a lovely coast line. It was the film set of  Cabot Cove, the sweet Maine village with too many murders and the home of its great sleuth, Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote. There are a number of other movies that were filmed in the town. 

We had fun exploring the walking trails along the store line.

Moments after this picture was taken a wave flooded the little cave and Sister decided to move away, it wasn't the safest of places to stand.

Then we found away down to the beach.

 

The next stop was in Fort Bragg at the famous Glass Beach. As the story goes, way back before the age of environmental concerns, there were three dump sites for the area. All three were right on the beach. Any all and all garbage was thrown over the cliff side for the ocean to deal with. This means broken radios, televisions, bottles, even old cars. Some time in the 60s or maybe 70s clean-up programs were launched. The majority of the garbage was removed. What remained was the glass, glass from bottles, car headlights, taillights, anything made of glass. The glass filled the beach like a million jewels...till tourist began taking the beach glass away. The are actual restoration program in place today.

 

Day 15: Through Napa Valley
Our last day in Northern California was a driving tour through the Napa Valley. It was a beautiful drive but we didn't stop at any of the vineyards.

During a quick stop I found this tiny Spanish market. The best discovery was Fanta Pineapple. It was as good as I remember it from my times in Swaziland.

We also found this fun display and at a Target. We didn't need the Sorting Hat to tell us our Houses but it was still fun to snap the shots.

 

The night ended with amazing night of Chinese food from this tiny place we found a few blocks walk from our hotel. It was called Tasty Place and it was packed. We shared laughter, memories, delicious food, and good tea. A few of us even took a risk on trying new dishes.