When your go-to state and county parks are booked, but you really really want to get to the coast, it’s good to start branching out. This was our “could be great, could be terrible” weekend at a private place we’d never heard of or noticed in Bodega Bay. It got fair reviews though, and we didn’t really care as long as we got to be by the coast.
On arrival we sort of recognized the place, based on its proximity to the Bodega Dunes campground. It is part marina, part RV campground, where the clear superior sites are the ones along the water. Ours was and we did a Caravan Mover spin to get the primo view. That caused a curious camper to come tell us we were “creating a spectacle” and yes, he would love to have a tour inside if it’s no bother.
Blue Apron was on the menu for both dinners and I made sure to select “Doryable” one-pan meals. Friday’s was salmon over kale, zucchini, capers, garlic, and sweet peppers. That one is a keeper and wouldn’t be too hard to replicate (i.e. no exotic, hard to find ingredients). Saturday’s included something called Cauliflower rice. And though it was also delicious, I would have no idea where to buy that.
Saturday, as Richard was doing his “Boho” ride, I was supposed to get something done for work and it was really really hard to concentrate with all the funny seals and birds hanging out in the harbor. I used to sit inside Dory to do writing tasks, but with our Nemo chairs, I find I am drawn outside much more. This created a cascade of problems. First, I needed to get some shade so I could see the laptop screen. So on went the Pahaque Visor, even though I’m not quite finished fixing things to bring the used package up to snuff. I did create some keder rail anchors during the week, to replace the window lock that never quite worked right. Those did a nice job keeping the visor from sliding out of the track.
Next, I got to try out the recently installed plastic keder rail I purchased to run along the bottom of the door-side wall. Let me just say, if I ever need to order keder track again, I’d better get a lot. I figured the 90″ “Flex-a-rail” would somehow flex and get shipped in a reasonably sized container. Not so. In fact, it shipped in a 95″ torpedo tube, constructed of impenetrable paper based material, so dense it required a handsaw to open. Both ends were sealed with some kind of canning lids, so I had to avoid metal parts whilst sawing through my package. Inside the huge, 4″ diameter tube, was one straight piece of 90″ flex-a-rail. No wonder shipping was so expensive.
Ultimately, the plan for the rail includes having a place to hang a bug netting skirt to go with the customized bug netting awning, but that project is for another day. In the meantime, I can use the outer edges to anchor the guy lines for the visor poles. The poles still do not have the connectors that are supposed to hold them together, so I’m still MacGyvering a solution using rubber bands. That part worked.
As soon as I had everything mounted and anchored and guy lined, I sat down to start typing. Except the sun was peeking under the rim of the visor enough to be annoying. So I lowered the angle of everything and re-secured. And that seemed better for about ten minutes. So then I had to go in search of something I could possibly hang as a shade panel. All I had that possessed the right qualifications was a California flag. Fiddling with tarp clips and bungee cords took a fairly long time, but I got it up! So I sat down to work for real and a huge gust of wind knocked the pole inward, right toward Dory. 
Lucky I wasn’t really concentrating on work yet because I caught it. And then I had to go in search of what I could use as extra guy lines to stake the poles down in the other direction. And then I was hungry and then there was this huge seal splashing around…. I did not get very much done is what I’m saying. But I did do a nice job creating a solid shade shelter by the time it got too cold and windy to want to sit outside anymore. Several orders were placed with Amazon, in clear violation of our newly self imposed spending freeze.
Sunday we stopped for lunch at the very popular Spud Point Crab Co. They have award winning chowder, and crab cakes that are only served Saturday and Sunday starting at 1pm. They only make a limited number and they run out quickly. We got there at 12:30 very excited, even though there was a long line. When we got to the front, at roughly 12:45, we tried to talk the cashier into pre-selling us crab cakes, even though they were still in the oven. She flat out refused, in a way that suggested she is very used to crab cake shenanigans. Our pouty lips only produced an adamantly pointed finger, indicating the big wooden sign that states there is a $5 charge for whining. So we sulked away with our delicious, award wining chowder, and timed our re-entry into the line. We were rewarded shortly after 1pm with 2 orders of piping hot crab cakes, served with a roasted pepper mayo and lemon wedges.
And then it was home again, home again, on a path that is now becoming quite familiar. Overall, we liked this place and would reserve there again, as long as we could snag a place by the water. There are premium sites with hookups and sunset views that would be quite the treat, though we’d be in a big rig sandwich for sure. The bathrooms are nice and clean, with showers. “Could be great” was, in fact, great. Too great to do much work. And that’s just fine.
Total miles: 84.2, 15.0 mpg, 2 hours 37 min. Site: 49. Sites with hookups and sunset view: 33-39, 17, 18. Non hookups all seemed to be by the water on the marina side. 2 bars of LTE for both, ok campground wifi, terrible dump with a big curb.
