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<\/a><\/p>\nFort Ross is a Russian outpost \u2013 yes, the Russians \u201cowned\u201d California for a brief period of time \u2013 and we wanted to see it.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it was closed due to severe cutbacks in park and recreation funding.\u00a0 Well, I wasn\u2019t going to miss an opportunity to see this, and Fort Ross is near absolutely nothing, so we, and a whole bunch of other folks, walked through the \u201csort of\u201d closed gate (we got the feeling that the gate was left open on purpose.\u00a0 There was simply a sign that said: \u201ckeep gate closed.\u201d), past the entrance building (complete with a very large dirt path \u2013 looks like a lot of people went around this building) and down to the fort.\u00a0 The exterior was wonderful, and really, there didn\u2019t appear to be too much inside the fort from what we could see, so I didn\u2019t feel like I really missed out.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Fort Ross<\/p><\/div>\n
Because the park was closed, Barb and I did have to find some alternative bathrooms \u2013 it had been three hours after all.\u00a0 She found some bushes and I found a tree.<\/p>\n
Our drive to Sonoma included 50 miles of highway one that we had just been through.\u00a0 Google Earth had showed us a more direct route, but the Porsche navigation system said that we\u2019d save time by retracing our steps.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t mind the longer but quicker route because highway one is really pretty, and curvy.\u00a0 Alas, we got behind a truck almost immediately after leaving Fort Ross.\u00a0 At first, I thought this would be a problem, but the truck driver turned out to be really, really good at driving.\u00a0 He obviously also knew this road very well.\u00a0 Basically, he drove his truck like I drive my Porsche; and we both clipped along very nicely.\u00a0 Eventually, we parted ways and I met up with a couple of speed demons (a Mustang and a motorcycle) and we hit the long straightaway to Petaluma at blinding speeds, only slowing down when the roads became rough near the city\u2019s perimeter.\u00a0 The ride to Sonoma after that was both quick and scenic.<\/p>\n
The B&B I had chosen was highly recommended, but I was really not all that impressed.\u00a0 It was basically an old house that had only been moderately kept up.\u00a0 We were also given the bedroom that Yelp had advised us to avoid due to excessive traffic noise.\u00a0 Barb and I opted to spend as much time out of the B&B as possible this evening, because there was absolutely nothing to do in the house.\u00a0 The only amenity we had in our room was a TV that got four channels.<\/p>\n
We opted to take a walk to dinner; since we had been driving all day (that and I had scored the one parking spot under a tree in the shade at the B&B).\u00a0 The walk to the restaurant was 1.2 miles, so not so bad.\u00a0 When we got to the restaurant, it was closed.\u00a0 Much like in Europe, the restaurant folks work the weekend because that\u2019s when the people arrive in droves, so they close Monday or Tuesday.\u00a0 Today was Monday.\u00a0 Grabbing our smart phones, we looked up our alternative restaurant (I had chosen the top six rated restaurants on Yelp, and had chosen two as possibilities for this evening).\u00a0 The website showed that it was also closed.\u00a0 The restaurant I had chosen for tomorrow\u2019s lunch was open, so we went there for dinner.\u00a0 What a great choice!\u00a0 The restaurant, \u201cThe girl and the fig,\u201d was a moderately-priced French restaurant with great reviews.\u00a0 The inside lacked air-conditioning and (just like Yelp had mentioned) had a fly issue, but I had not tasted food this good since my last trip to Europe.\u00a0 The meal was simply awesome (and in typical French fashion, also very long \u2013 two plus hours).\u00a0 No worries, we weren\u2019t in any hurry.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The cheese plate<\/p><\/div>\n
The sun set as we were walking home.\u00a0 It was no much cooler, which is a good thing because the walk to the downtown area was very hot and uncomfortable.\u00a0 Once we got to the B&B, we watched the Olympics on one of the four channels and settled into our extremely soft King-sized bed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey, what do you know, the kids are gone on a week-long summer camp!\u00a0 This meant that Barbara and I were free to do whatever we wanted.\u00a0 We decided to go on a road trip. Over the weekend, I booked … Continue reading