| Drive up Hwy 101 through the Salinas Valley. When you get to San Jose avoid the San Francisco route and take Hwy 880 through Oakland then across the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge. Not sure about when the Hwy numbers change but once across the bay, you'll be on Hwy 580 merging north and back on Hwy 101 again. Petaluma was a pleasant stop. Their downtown area has a small river walk. GPS was going to take us further north and then onto Hwy 128 past Boonville (and I think it was going to take the 'dangerous' shortcut to the coast on Mountain View Drive?). We went with Google and Yahoo map directions using the GPS to get out of Petaluma and head for Bodega Bay and Hwy 1. Hwy 1 got really winding just north of Bodega Bay. It was a good hour to get to the Mendocino county line but it was also a chance to see the beautiful Sonoma county coastline.
We were practically blown off the cliffs at Gualala Regional Park on the Sonoma-Mendocino border. The importance and positioning of the old, planted Cypress tree stands became clear. We were at least mentally prepared for a windy stay along the coast but... Just north in Mendocino county, the winds were not so great. We did get some rain on some mornings but more often found the sun breaking through in the afternoons. A week gave us a chance to explore the Mendocino coast.
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