Decent place to stop if you need to, but only if you need to
Lest you think I can’t get bored of repeat stays, here is one that I will say we don’t need to do again. I chose it because it falls right at the intersection of the twisty turny final hurrah of Highway 1 as it bends inland to hit 101. I have traditionally been frazzled after that drive and have appreciated the opportunity to stop. Maybe I’m getting more used to that drive, or maybe we are leaving earlier in the day than we used to, but for whatever reason, I really did not need to stop when we pulled in around 1pm.
Must at least stop at the Peg House
Yes, we consistently enjoy stopping at the Peg House (“Never Don’t Stop”), but I think we could do that without the overnight in the campground. Richard has been looking forward to the “world famous” blackberry sundae and it did not disappoint. I have a thing about vanilla ice cream in the same way I have a thing about whipped cream. To me, neither one has enough taste to warrant the calories. Like, I’m happy skipping whipped cream in almost all scenarios. And when something is too vanilla ice cream forward, I’m kind of meh about it. So though I understand the appeal of the sundaes, I spent my calories on a silly treat purchased in the Peg House store. And they certainly do have a wide array of treats there, so no worries.
Ok, this was exciting
That said, once we had walked the short nature trail, and had our fill of sundaes or non sundaes, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. We figured we could walk down the steep road to the river, just to kill time. A few yards along, there was a noise. Richard froze. I did not immediately recognize what the noise was. It sounded like maybe insects or something and neither of us could make out exactly where it was coming from. You all know I’m hearing impaired right? Hearing aids are not super at giving you the location of where sound is coming from. It was very good that Richard had frozen in his tracks. I looked around, not terribly alarmed, until I saw a gigantic rattlesnake just off the road, and only a few feet away from where Richard was standing. I began backing away and I think I said, “It’s a snake.” He still didn’t know where the sound was coming from and I urged him, really insistently, to “walk toward me.” I would have grabbed and pulled him if he hadn’t started moving.
Pictures are blurry because I’m not an idiot and didn’t want to get too close. Zoom is a good feature.
From further away, we could see the rattlesnake, all nicely coiled and ready to strike. There was a sign near the kiosk warning of rattlesnakes, but honestly, we see those everywhere, and have come to tune them out. This was the first time we have ever encountered a really big rattler in a situation that could have potentially ended badly. We closely watched everything everywhere the rest of the walk.
Live music, fun food, good vibes
After dinner, we went back over to the Peg House because I was still a little peckish. We split a grilled cheese sandwich and a brownie and chilled to the sound of a live music. There is nothing to complain about here. I think I just could have continued on further up the road. We spent a lot of time discussing whether the section of 1 between the coast and 101 would be reasonable to bike, like if Richard wanted to pedal campground to campground. So first off, that would be a very long ride. But to my mind, the important point is that it seems excessively dangerous. There are nonstop blind corners, no shoulder, big climbs at the outset, and highway driving expectations from the cars. He will forget how thoroughly we discussed this, but I will not. Let’s leave it at: should he get really excited about riding that stretch in the future, he should know that he’s going to have to engage in a big discussion with me about it.
We had been warned
We both think it would be a good idea to shoot for Richardson Grove State Park a little further up the road. Yes, we will of course stop at Peg House (cause it’s a rule). I will remember that they have Root Beer Floats, which is one of the few applications of vanilla ice cream that I fully support. But as for staying again in the rattlesnake campground, I think we’re good and can try something else next time.
Total miles from MacKerricher: 42.4, 14.7 mpg, 1 hour 56 min. Site 3 no hookups. No solar. Water spigot in site. No dump. 1-2 bars functional LTE.
