6/20 Bodega Bay, CA

I was here about six years ago, but I was happy to come back for a few days co-camping with my son and grandkids.  We found two campsites not too far apart, which was nice.  

The only problem with Doran Beach Campground at Bodega Bay is that there are no electrical hookups.  I can do without full hookups, but I do like power so I don't have to keep running my generator to keep my laptop charged.  And to make things worse, the 12 volt charger I use for my laptop was giving me error messages saying I needed to use an approved charger.  I did discover that it must have been adding some charge because with it, I could use the computer for a lot longer.  I hate to use a noisy generator, but a lot of people do, so I have to live with it until I find a better solution. 

Anyway, here is a map of Bodega Bay.  It is north of San Francisco about 60 miles and 40 miles west of Napa, California.  It is a big, natural bay with the small town in the center top.  Doran Park, where we are staying in on a sand spit at the bottom of the bay. The nice thing abut the campground is that you have the bay to the north and the open ocean to the south, just a quick walk away.

The bottom arrow shows Bodega Head.  We drove out there and walked as far as I could handle. 

 There were quite a few sea lions jumping about, but they are very hard to take photos of because they disappear underwater just as you snap them!

This can be a wild and windy place on the ocean side of the head. 

 

 A lot of cormorants hanging around.

 

This is the path headed east to the highest part of the head and a view of the campground, except we gave up part way.  Too tiring. 

What was surprising were the number of wildflowers along the path to the higher part of the head. Here are three kinds:  The yellow ones are California poppies, and the white and pink flowers are white and pink ice plants. 

A closeup.  This is a yellow ice plant, and it is an invasive species.

This is where we were heading. 

More flowers. 

 These are yellow bush lupine and are in the legume family. 

Headed back to the truck, walking past this meadow filled with wildflowers.   

Love these California poppies. 

My campsite. My rig is facing the ocean, with the bay behind it. 

More campers.  Would be a great place to get satellite because it is so open, but can't get TV without an electric hookup.  Darn. 

Looking from the campground back at Bodega Head where all the wildflowers were.  To the left is the open Pacific Ocean and some fishing boats occasionally. 

A better view of the ocean-side beach. 

This is looking back towards the mainland on the ocean side, with a golf club and fancy housing development in the distance.  

And looking the opposite way over the bay to the town of Bodega Bay.