Next day, January 10, we moved on, northbound,after saying goodbye to everyone, and handing out email addresses.
We didnt get far, driving along the Mendocino coast, we saw so many nice little spots, the van still seemed to have a problem with the exhaust, so Bert decided to camp in a very nice place, at Manchester beach, a KOA, but very spacious , with beautiful big pine trees, bordering on fields, good spot to linger a while…..
Robins were singing here, in January!!!!
The pines are Monterey pine and Bishop pine, the cones grow on the main branches, they are heavy and very solid, they dont drop but open up once the sun gets warm, scattering their seeds here and there.
I brought home two of the cones, the Monterey cone is big, it has been lying in the V-berth till now, but we have had beautiful sunny weather, and once the sun hit the cone, it

started making a huge racket, snapping open with a bang!!!
First time this happened, i thought something was dreadfully wrong in the boat, somewhere, you just can never know, but it was the cone, snapping open its scales, and the seeds were ready to come out, i have collected them all, will try to grow one into a small bonsai!
The smaller cone is much slower to react, but two scales are open now.

The next morning, we met Gail, who lives in Alaska and travels in her old Chevy truck, back and forth to Mexico, twice a year, she sleeps in the cab, and makes it look like she has nothing valuable with her, she does this on purpose, and so far she has not had any trouble at all, but then, neither did we!!
Gail loves art, she makes jewelry, does some awesome knitting, and finds all the local art shops, meets lots of people, and after spending time with her, we now consider her a good friend!
Gail is 63 years old!

And then there is Peter, we saw ,looking around, a wonderful but strange looking Westy parked nearby, i grabbed my camera, and started taking pictures, you will see why, peter came back from the showers, introduced himself, and we right away felt that we had met a kindred spirit!!!
Peter and his lady,Nancy, travel all through the US , showing people the van, handing out cards, and looking to see where they can help and show some kindness.
Peter was by himself this day, so we didnt meet his lady.
I really felt that it was so meant to be for us to meet him, another special soul to call our friend.
here are some of the wonderful slogans , painted on his van.

Her are some of the suggestions that are written on the cards Peter hands out:
Send a note of appreciation to someone who has made a difference in your life.
Give someone a genuine compliment unrelated to looks or wardrobe.
Volunteer to do a chore or a favor for someone.
make an extra lunch today and give it away to someone to enjoy.
Mail a postcard to a friend telling them you are thinking of them.

We mostly followed hwy.1 along the coast, leaving San Francisco behind, the weather was mild, no rain, much better then when we were heading South before, i love this road, winding along through farmers fields, old fences, barns, lots of ambiance, the evening light was magical, but it was getting dark soon, the road wound around a deep gully, and below, i looked at a campsite, bordering right unto the beach. Bert kept driving, he had not seen it, but something told me for us to turn and go there, it looked very full with 5th wheelers and rv’s, but right at the water, several spots were available ,so we backed into one, facing the ocean. It was dark by now so we didnt get to meet any of our fellow campers till the next morning.

The campground is called Anchor Bay campground, their motto is “Where the redwoods meet the sea”, family camping since 1925!!!
It is situated just north of Gualala, on the Mendocino county coast.
Quite a few of the permanent campers bought their spot, and spend the winter here,we met our friend Jim here, who later on came to B.C. with his lady friend, and the four of us went out for dinner in Victoria .

We have decided to come back this way eventually, and look around in San Francisco, but first the Canadian dollar has to come back up, it is now becoming too expensive for sure.
We did stop at the golden gate bridge, and it was the perfect light and atmosphere for some photos.

We stopped in Monterey, because driving by, i noticed the harbor full of pelicans and sea otters!!!
That had to be investigated!!!
There was a great fish place, right at the shore, we ordered fish and chips and roasted artichokes, they could have kept the artichokes, both of us didnt like them much, but the fish was great, gulls of all sizes stood around, and if you didnt watch, they would walk over your table and steal the fish!! terrible manners, my gull here in Brentwood bay is better behaved!!

On the way back, when we stopped again, most of the babies were born, everywhere were moms, flinging sand over top of themselves and the babies, to keep cool, it was already a hot day, the babies are black when born, and have to be protected from the sun, they nurse for four weeks, and gain weight very rapidly, the milk is 60% fat, and the babies weight has quadrupled in four weeks, while the mom has lost twice as much as the baby has gained.During the fourth week, the moms go into estrus,and mate several times and then wean the pup and head out to sea, that is the end of family life!!!