Today was most excellent. It was sunny, clear, and there was very little traffic as we wended our way down Highway 1 to Bodega Bay. It’s only about 64 miles from the trailer park but it took us 3 hours. As you may have surmised, we went slowly, and we made numerous stops to ooh and aah over the scenic beauty of this area. So, Kathie R., and Mike B., I stand officially converted to the wonders of Highway 1, and the joy of being able to experience it. Forgive me for my original comments from Day One of this journey.

On the way to Bodega Bay, as I said, we made a few stops. I’m not going to bore you with all of them, only the two most interesting and incredible.

First, around mile marker 55.24, or thereabouts I caught sight of an interesting structure on the makai side of the road. I’m using the Hawaiian reference, makai, for the mountain side of the road, as opposed to mauka, water side, because of the similarity of this area with the big island. I think it’s mauka. Also, I do not know what the mile marker is 55.24 miles from, but they get smaller as you go south. I don’t know where they start. Maybe Bodega Bay. Whatever.

At this location, as I said, I spied an odd structure to the left side of the highway. Remember, that’s mauka. Before I could bring it to Diane’s attention we were past the entrance, but the next driveway was really wide allowing Diane to whiz across traffic, of which there was none, so we could stop and see what it was. The drive she whizzed in to was a fire station. Thankfully, there wasn’t a need for them to use the driveway right away, but they did within 20 minutes of us turning around.

After turning around, we went back north to see what we could see. At first, I thought the structure was an eccentric house, but there was a parking lot near it making us believe there was more to this than what a casual drive by would reveal. Indeed. Not only was this NOT an eccentric house, it is with out a doubt one of the most incredible things either of us has ever seen. Ever! In our lives! Except for our kids, of course. This structure looked like something out of a fantasy movie that involves elves and magicians. It even looks like a magician’s hat. Amazing. Upon close inspection we learned that it’s a non-denominational chapel for use by anyone, for reflection and prayer, as one wishes. It’s not a large structure, and there are no barriers at all. There isn’t even a lock on the door.

There are no square corners, or straight lines in the structure. It’s actually a work of art that has a door allowing one to enter and appreciate it from all sides. And that we did. Appreciate it. It is absolutely stunning. Let me show you what I mean …

Then there was this … a bunch of unrestrained, unconcerned cows enjoying the view … how delightful to come around a corner and find these animals lounging between the road and a 300 cliff ending in the ocean. Quite startling …

After those two things, everything else was second rate.

It was a great day. In all, we spent 5 hours traversing 120+ miles, start to stop. Awesome.

Oh ya. We got to Bodega Bay right about lunch time which was perfect. I requested assistance from SIRI who suggested we visit Spud Point Crab Company on the west side of the bay.

So we did. Diane had a crab sandwich and I had a large cardboard thing of regular clam chowder. The other choice of clam chowder, besides regular, was red. For clarification, I asked the young lady cashier if the clams were really red which appeared to fluster her a it, then I figured it out … Manhatten chowder! Duh! Their efforts to simplify things for the natives complicated it for me. There was a sign on the wall reporting that their clam chowder has been deemed the best for the past 8 years. Seemed like a safe bet, right? I admit I’ve had worse, but it’s been a while. This batch had way too many spices and too much garlic. It’s been hours since having it and Diane says she can still smell it, even after eating an egg salad sandwich, a huge brownie, a glass of milk, and a whole bunch of carrots. She went out to the car a little while ago and stated, upon her return, that it smelled like an Italian restaurant inside the trailer. Clam chowder shouldn’t do that, should it?