After 2 nights at the
M5, we drove 10 miles to where we'd stay the next 3 nights. Worked out brilliantly.
Day 1: After a quick morning ride at M5, we packed up and drove back to civilization. While the kids napped in the van, we drove up to MacKerricher State Beach where there's a bike path along the beach for several miles. So I jogged along while Kai rode his Tony Hawk BMX.
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| aerial view of the fam |
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| Kai likes going FAST! |
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| we stopped at the beach in a few spots so the kids could run around. |
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| We checked in to our home for the next 3 nights. 200 yards away from the lighthouse. |
Day 2: Canoeing the Big River. We were still waiting for the rest of the Craig families to show up. So we headed down to the mouth of the Big River to do some paddling! The rest of the crew showed up later in the day.
https://www.strava.com/activities/376634076
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| river otter sighting! |
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| borrowed the Souza's inflatable SUP as well, so we had 2 to play with. |
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| Papa Steve showing off his paddling skills |
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| soon the sun burned the fog away. |
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| party time! Note: Kai between Becca's legs on the SUP behind. |
Day 3: Skunk Train! After breakfast we drove up to Fort Bragg to ride the Skunk Train. This was quite a highlight for the kids I'm sure. Parts of the track were under repair, so the train went 3 miles, stopped, and came back to the station for a short excursion, but the kids loved it. They have many other options like camping on the Noyo, dinner trips, etc... looks very cool. Would definitely come back to it if it weren't so far away.
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| the boys! |
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| high 5in' unkle james. |
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| stinker face |
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| Kai showing Courtney around the lighthouse. |
Day 4: The next morning we visited the botanical gardens, which were definitely worth the visit. Set right on the coast with plants from all over. Afterwards we hiked out to Glass Beach and capped the day with an awesome sunset back at the lighthouse.
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| Cousin hugs! |
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| Kids hunting for cool rocks at Glass Beach |
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| We interrupted dinner time so we could all go out and catch the sunset. The last few nights had been socked in with fog. |
Day 5: On our last day in Mendo, we decided to walk around the town of Mendocino until naptime before our drive down to Russian River.
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| from the bluffs at Mendocino. You can see the mouth of Big River where we were canoeing/SUPing a few days ago. |
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| more cousin hugs. |
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| the kids wanted to practice their backwards walking while holding hands. |
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| Micheal and Catherine found the house that Kimbo rented for her 30th B-day totally by accident. So we were back at the beach where we had partied before. |
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| We basically did the same thing at Kimbo's B-day. |
Day 6: This was a nice off day. We didn't go anywhere, but just hung out at the rental house. Early in the morning, I dropped off Rebecca in Santa Rosa so she could take the bus to the airport and fly to Brazil. Got in a
quick run afterwards at Shiloh Ranch as well. During the kid's naptime, we paddled to Stumptown Brewery on the Russian River and back!
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| Kimbo claiming her island. |
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| The boys SUPing... |
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| at the take out for Stumptown. |
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| Nice chilled beer on this HOT day. |
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| After sufficient inebriation, we got our courage up to go off this rope swing. That was FUN. |
Day 7: To cap off the week, we visited Kendall Jackson to do their wine pairing. As always... excellent wine and amazing food.
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| Kai! what are you doing! |
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| There was a charity bike ride going on and they had all kinds of things set up for the families. This bounce house was pretty sweet. Tough to pull the kids out of here when it was time to go. |
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| Adios! |
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