Casini Ranch (3)

Well, just when we thought summer might be getting ready to come on strong, we do a 180 and we’re right back in March. It’s tricky making reservations six months out because you really don’t know what to anticipate in terms of whether you’ll need a site with hookups to run AC, or a site with shade, or a site NOT next to the river that recently flooded and wiped out whole towns. We were fine, but I did watch that water level to scan for changes.

No biking or kayaking this weekend, but we completely entertained ourselves with some pre-summer trip planning and reorganization. I have a little storage project I can do to keep me busy and Richard has a larger project he’s been working on very slowly and carefully. In any case, we enjoyed the rainy weekend and I collected photos of sites for future reference. And, as always, this whole area is so beautiful, just getting there and back is a treat.

Casini Ranch is a privately run place that is very friendly, and family oriented. There is a lot to do there if you are a kid. The Russian River is definitely rushing at the moment, so it would have been challenging to paddle it, even with no rain. I’ll have to time a return trip for when it’s maybe calmer. In addition to a little trip to the campground store, we dined in the tiny town of Duncan’s Mills, at Cafe Cape Fear. I had the prime rib special and Richard had the rack of lamb special, plus a bowl of outstandingly good clam chowder. That’s a great place! And there are a handful of little shops to meander, including a nice little general store.

Sunday we hitched up and dumped in the rain. I say “we,” but I mean “Richard.” I took a picture though. We then headed down the coast and decided to see if Wright’s Beach was open yet. I just want to state, for the record: I am a really really really dedicated employee. See that picnic table to the left of the Danger sign? It’s an empty site with a vacancy for one night. Did we take it? Even after I’d lost that same site not once but twice when the campground was closed? No. I thought about it a lot though. Instead, we had lunch and hung out by the waves before heading home. Richard always packs one more night’s worth of stuff (like vitamins, breakfast, etc.) just on the remote chance we might blow off Monday and stay out one more night. And he always asks, on stops like these, whether they have any sites. Ugh. This one was hard to turn down. I have a feeling there will be at least one moment on Monday when I think to myself, “I could be at Wright’s Beach right now.”

Mantra: Summer will be here before we know it. Only a couple more weekends planned!

Total miles: 102.2 (taking 116 to avoid traffic; it’s 97.5 via Lakeville Hwy), 15.0 mpg, 3 hours 5 min. Site 62. Nice sites with hookups: 62, 65A, 69, 70, 25, 90, 89, 88. Nice sites with no hookups or water only hookups: 47, 46B, 37, 36, 40. NO cell but really good campground wifi. Good dump. Campground store, nice restrooms.