Mendocino and the Point Cabrillo lighthouse keeper's house...

Tuesday morning we left Guerneville, headed to the coast, and turned right, on the way to Mendocino.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the drive up the coast was very scenic.  We stopped at Fort Ross, the Russian outpost on the California coast.  The state has done a great job of refurbishing it, and it's always worth a stop.  There were a group of school children there, dressed in "period" clothing, each with a Russian name, reenacting actually living at the fort.  The highlight of this event was the firing of the cannon!  We stayed to see - and hear - the cannon firing.  Some of the kids participated, and they really enjoyed it.  The cannon was really LOUD!  None of us were expecting that!

After the fort, we continued north to Gualala, where we stopped for lunch, at a restaurant over-looking the ocean.  Lunch was great, and it was a nice break from the winding, twisting road.

For Christmas last year, the kids all gave us a gift certificate for a two night stay at a bed and breakfast in Mendocino, at the Pt. Cabrillo Light House head keeper's house.  We were very excited about that, and decided that we would wait until the fall to use it.  Once we had decided that we would use it for our anniversary trip so that Bryan and Peter could join us, I called to make reservations.

At that point, I learned that the bed and breakfast was no longer operational, thanks to California's budget cuts.  But, they said that the property was now a vacation rental, and they would honor our gift certificate.  So, instead of a room, we had the whole 4 bedroom, 5 bath house, all to ourselves!

The house was built in 1909, but had been completely refurbished, including bathrooms with each bedroom and a gourmet kitchen.  The house was finished with period furnishings, and the original wood was still there.  The house was amazing, and we were so lucky to be able to stay there.  Thanks, kids!!  What a wonderful Christmas present.

We had a great time at the lighthouse and the surrounding areas.  We spent some time in Ft. Bragg, and the highlight of that for me was a visit to Glass Beach!  It's a beach that holds the remains of glass from a dump that was located there in the 40's.  The beach was covered with sea glass!  I spent a wonderful hour or more, going through the glass and picking out pieces.  The guys were very patient, as I don't think that sea glass holds the fascination for them that it does for me.  Anyway, got some GREAT pieces of sea glass.

Wednesday evening we had another Christmas gift - a gift certificate from Nathan for dinner at the Ledford House.  The Ledford House is a wonderful restaurant in Albion.  There was live piano music, and the food was fabulous!  Thank you, Nathan!

We had such a wonderful time in our lighthouse, and exploring the area - we feel so very fortunate!

One of the many beautiful views of the sea on the way to Mendocino

Fort Ross

Over looking the sea, from one of Fort Ross' turrets.

The Russian church

Getting ready to fire the cannon

Here come the troop of people who are going to make it happen

Reviewing the steps for firing the cannon

BOOM!! 

Lunch in Gualala

Downtown Mendocino, where we picked up the keys to the light house keeper's house

Carving on top of a building there.

Here we are, at the back of the light house keeper's house.  They warned us to keep the front door locked, as visitors to the light house have been known to peek in the windows and try to open the door.  Since we were parked in the back, we mainly used the back door.

Here's the front of the house

On the front porch

The lighthouse in the distance

Pt. Cabrillo Lighthouse

The lighthouse, from the back

The ocean, at full boil, behind the lighthouse

Bryan and Peter and crashing waves

Bryan watching the waves.  The ocean was really crashing!

More wave action

Bryan, coming back up from getting  a closer shot - it was scary to see him down there

We took a long walk around the area - there were signs to watch out for ticks and mountain lions in the long grasses!

We walked a long way, trying to get back to our house.  We finally got brave and cut across the long grass!  Happy to report that there were NO mountain lions, and none of us found any ticks.

Our "home away from home"

This is the little sun room in the house.  Originally it was the head lighthouse keeper's office. 

A view of the lighthouse, from the living room windows

One of the bedrooms in the house - this is the room that Bryan and Peter were in

This is the room that we used.  It faced the lighthouse, and, in spite of the "black out" curtains, you could see the light flashing at night.

Peter, relaxing in the living room

Lee, also relaxing!  Note the picture rail, that the pictures are hanging from.  What a good idea - I wonder why they quit putting those in houses?

Tuesday evening we enjoyed wine and munchies at home.  This is the bottle of Zinfandel that Nathan bought for us when he was visiting.  We brought it to have on our anniversary, and to share with Bryan and Peter, since was a HUGE bottle.  It was fabulous!!  Thanks, Nathan!

Peter, in our fully-stocked, gourmet kitchen.  We knew that the house was great, but we didn't fully appreciate it until we visited the museum, which was located in the Assistant Lighthouse Keeper's house next door - which was totally original - including the wood burning cook stove!

The dining room

Breakfast in the dining room.  I'm sure that the families that lived in this house really appreciated the fire place!

Four of the 5 bathrooms in the house had the old-fashioned toilets, with the tanks above - we loved it!

Well, you can't see it from this picture, but this is Glass Beach!  I can hear it calling to me....

Book store browsing in Ft. Bragg

Christmas/anniversary dinner at the Ledford House restaurant

Bryan and Peter at the Ledford House

And here we are - full and happy!  You can see the piano in the background.  What a great experience!

And then it was over and time to go home - we reluctantly gave our keys back and said good-bye to the lighthouse keeper's house.  But we are so fortunate to have had that wonderful experience and to be able to share it with great friends, too.