Category: Videos

Thanks to a chatty Ace Hardware employee who talked me up after seeing my ND jacket, we learned about Russian Gulch and its striking waterfall just outside of Mendocino. As we began our trip south, we did a quick detour to take in the beautiful redwoods.

Here’s a video of the waterfall up close:

Check out our photo gallery for the full set of visuals.

And for the piece de resistance, our budding naturalist Hen, aka Dr. Alias Fakename (“Elias Fah-ke-nah-may”) filmed “The Wild Maria” traipsing around her natural habitat, Sasquatch-style. Check out his report (sound on!).

Following our railbike outing, Hen & I met back up with the crew for Giant Burgers at Jenny’s (“next to Denny’s,” the locals helpfully noted—as apparently all directions are relative to Denny’s).

Margot & Finn were looking for a little downtime, so they peaced out to the campsite with Seamus. Maria had dropped by the local Sea Glass Museum, so armed with new knowledge & a little guide book, she took Hen & me out to Sea Glass Beach to hunt for treasure:

If you squint, you can just see the two of them hunting amongst the crags in this interactive drone panorama:

I swear, I almost had to crowbar the two of them off the beach as the sun set. 😌 It was worth it, though, as they collected quite the haul:

Some locals had recommend a funky local seafood joint called The Sea Pal Cove, where fishing boats pull right up to the pier to drop off their hauls. While Hen & Maria got us a table, I drove back to reclaim the rest of the crew & bring them to the fishy scene.

After a good night’s sleep, we again hit the beach. Talk about live & learn: Seamus grinding his face into a log full of barnacles left him smelling deeply gross for our four-hour ride home. 🙄

And Maria learned just how quickly the sea can turn on you & soak your feet 😅, necessitating some fireside steaming:

Check out our gallery for the full set of pics & vids.

Back at the tail end of 2014, we had a ball riding the famous Skunk Train out of Fort Bragg (see photos and video):

For Christmas break last year we were all set to visit again, even booking tickets—but then <sad trombone> the ‘rona had other plans.

Happily we were able to reschedule for this year, and Hen and I took full advantage by renting a pedal-powered railbike!

Check out the high-speed silliness in this video:

We even got the Lego family (complete with Lego Maria & her dog Tippy) in on the action. See more in the full gallery.

After having a terrific Thanksgiving at home with our visiting pal Maria, we packed up the Westy—complete with the spacious new “techno-yurt” Margot bought for my birthday & which finally arrived at the last possible minute.

First we zipped across the Golden Gate Bridge under picture-perfect skies:

Afterwards we made our way north to Hopland & Ukiah, where we visited an antique store & then an army surplus store, both recommended by our friend Marcos who grew up in the area. From glass insulators to fake teeth to all manner of MAGA madness, the selection & clientele were eclectic & memorable, to say the least.

From there we made the long and very winding path out to the coast, arriving in Fort Bragg to set up camp just outside of town, then score some pizza and supplies. The new tent went up like a champ & kept Finn and Maria cozy all night, with an assist from space heater Seamus.

The campsite was located just a short walk from the beach—which proved delightful to visit the next morning.

Check out our gallery from the first day’s adventure, and stay tuned for lots more from the weekend.