We arrived too early
houses or light stations on this trip. We made rather a special effort to visit the lighthouse at Point Arena but we arrived an hour before the lighthouse (now a private hotel) opened for tourists.
We haven't had very good luck finding lighthouses. We have spotted them from afar but have failed to get close to any light
We arrived too early
houses or light stations on this trip. We made rather a special effort to visit the lighthouse at Point Arena but we arrived an hour before the lighthouse (now a private hotel) opened for tourists.
The surrounding territory is simply beautiful. Even along the coast we passed through patches of redwood and pine forest. When our road took us high on hills along the shoreline we could see the marine layer below, a thick blanket of white, just like what a passenger sees from an airplane before landing through clouds. The effect of suddenly getting a momentary glimpse of beach was exciting.
We passed Sea Ranch, where a friend from our Bakersfield days had retired because it reminded her of moist and foggy Scotland. It is one of many settlements we have passed where the residents live peaceable lives far removed from cities or crowds or speeding cars. We think we would know more but we had long spells of no Internet (including very weak signals at motels) so we remain ignorant.
Stopping at Fort Ross State Historic Park we were impressed by the results of archaeological work during the past decade. The Fort was the location of a trading settlement chartered by the tsarist government of Russia from 1812 to 1841. A film and storyboards gave a good introduction to the history of the place and the stresses between the Russians and other nations who vied for control of North America - among them were the Spanish and the English. For example, Fort Ross was the 
Unknown wildflowers
southernmost Russian settlement in North America and a major mission was producing grain to ship to Alaska to feed Russian colonists there.
The name "Ross" interested us; was it another military officer? Well, no. Early Russian documents identify the place as Settlement Ross, written out in Cyrilic letters: POCC. It seems likely that this was an abbreviation for "POCCИЯ", pronounced Rossiya, which is "Russia" in English.
There were certainly no grain fields today as we drove. When we headed inland along the Russian River we were surrounded by vineyards, large to tiny. Wherever there was room to plant, a vineyard was born. The eternal optimism of winemakers insures that each year brings additional brands and varieties which coexist with the old favorites like Rodney Strong and Korbel.
We spent the night in Healdsburg, a town with a long relationship to the wine industry and a thriving city square lined with attractive shops. In the middle of all the vineyards, crows seemed to outnumber all other birds, making us wonder whether they are waiting for the harvest to finish so they can eat all the fallen grapes.