Cows and wasps

Last night we stayed in Jenner, in a slightly dingy cottage by the sea with a pretty nice view.
We decided to back track to Bodega Bay because it had looked pretty cool the night before.

The drive was well worth it. The rocks I’d spotted in the sea dotted the coast, and came in all shapes and sizes. Not so sure about Bodega. Something not quite right about the locals we met. Nic said the whole place has a ‘U-Turn’ (the film) feel about it and he’s not far off the mark.


After chasing elusive toilets, elusive wi-fi and elusive information about diving clubs…we decided to stop asking questions, smile, and get the hell out of dodge.


Today’s drive was stunning. Highway 1 hugged the coast most of the way and offered all sorts of scenery from mini Dover-like cliffs, to ranches and huge series of small steep mountains alternately hiding the sea and revealing it in new ways every time.
We stopped at Fort Ross which is used to be a Russian settlement in the first part of the 19th century. The place isn’t exactly dramatic looking by any means but it was interesting to read up on the history and witness the physical remnants of one of the many botched european colonies in the US.

You’ll be glad to know I had a breakthrough with the cows. Well, with one of them. I was pelting down a
superbly straight and traffic-free road along the ocean, perhaps slighty over the speed limit,when I caught a glimpse of a group of cows.
So I let out a roar, not expecting much. One of them actually looked up! Right into my eyes. Magic. I’m sorry I ever doubted them.


Anyway, some karmic twist of fate deciced to cut short one of my rare moments of
communion with nature. 20 mins later, following Nic on the same sea-side stretch,
I felt a pinch on my arm, quite strong. A few seconds later, the same spot got really sore all of a sudden.
I stopped abruptly to the side of the road, took my glove off and looked down my sleeve…Sure enough I found a wasp..
It must have been flying around a few seconds before, minding its own business, when it got sucked in to a dark sweaty sleeve going about 65mph…Needless to say, it still smarts…

Photos Day 5: