Timing is everything and when we saw that the Annual Mendocino County Fair & Apple Show was happening this weekend, we knew we had to go. This hometown fair, started in 1924, takes place in Mendocino County’s historic and picturesque Anderson Valley and has remained an old-time harvest festival. Once a year, Anderson Valley’s biggest metropolis (Boonville Pop. 715) opens the fairground gates to the crowds.

There truly was something for everyone. From a parade to classic cars...
Award-winning produce...
The biggest cabbage... ever!
A 222 lb. pumpkin...
And award-winning home-baked goodies...
We were both thoroughly enthralled by the Angora Rabbit shearing demonstration. We learned a great deal about rabbits and their wool.
Oh man, the animals were the best! We loved the 4-H and FFA livestock, all beautifully groomed.
They were unique and quite lovable.

While I did not partake of a Mac & Cheese stuffed bacon burger, I delighted in having the opportunity. Fair food is like no other food.
A first for us was being spectators at a Sheepdog Trial. This trial is a competitive dog sport in which herding dogs move sheep around a field, fences, gates, and enclosures as directed by their handlers. [Interestingly, the first dog trials were held in New Zealand, in 1867] The first dog trial we observed was deemed "Awesome" by an observer who seemed knowledgeable. The second dog out, ignored the sheep completely and went to the arena's fencing as if to herd some of the audience members. People were laughing, but it was all in fun.

For rodeo fans in California, one of the best rodeo organizations is the California Cowboys Professional Rodeo Association, also known as the CCPRA. Known for having some of the most exciting rodeos in the western United States, this was the highlight of our day.




The day was one of over 100° temperatures yet it did not take away from how cool this event was. It did feel like an old-fashioned day of good fun, much pride and truly something different for us.

Each year, concerned citizens gather together to clean up our coasts, how awesome that one such event was happening right near our campground.

Our campground host wears many hats and today it was Captain, as he invited us to row with him, a first for us. We were to go out not in just any boat but a Whaleboat! “Monomoys” were used in life-saving and whaling for most of the 20th century. These open-water boats weigh about one ton and carry a crew of ten: 8 rowers, a coxswain and a bowhook.
Dusty's goal is to promote open water coastal rowing where crews work together, vs the solitary kayaker.

The Village of Mendocino's start is a rather unique one and all because a ship crashed on its shores. It was 1850 and the brig Frolic, sailing to San Francisco from China, did not make its destination. It crashed on the rocks nearby. Men came north to salvage the cargo- but none was left (that said, the indigenous people were dressed in the finest Chinese silk gowns). Instead they found magnificent stands of redwood forest as far as the eye could see. By 1852, a lumber mill was built and soon the lumber boom town of Mendocino.

We delighted in the gardens of driftwood flowers and the real kind of flowers, too.

Our main goal was to meander the quaint streets and learn a little history, armed with a walking map.
The Presbyterian Church (1868) is a historic Carpenter Gothic-style structure built of coastal redwood. Its setting, on the headlands overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is spectacular. Today the church has an active congregation; is one of the oldest continuously-used Protestant churches in California and is the location where our friends, Chris and Jan, got married many years ago. Gorgeous!
We found another place of worship to be very interesting. Dedicated to the Chinese god of war, a Taoist symbol of integrity and loyalty, the Temple of Kwan Tai (1854) offers living evidence of Mendocino's 19th Century Chinese community. The history of the Chinese people on this coast is complex and intriguing.
Four generations of its founders' descendants have preserved this original Taoist temple, a site now recognized as California Registered Historic Landmark No. 927. Its mission is to teach and celebrate community and diversity.
Big in this town is the popular television series (1984-1996), Murder She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury (as Jessica Fletcher), filmed in Mendocino County. The fictional town, Cabot Cove, Maine is actually Mendocino. All of the dock scenes were filmed in Noyo Harbor, where we are staying for the week (last photo).
While on our history stroll, we discovered the darling Gallery Bookshop, an independent bookseller in an 1872 building. In the window was this sign, for a Book Club Night- TONIGHT. The timing and subject matter were perfect. After returning to our camp for dinner, we then drove the 10 miles back to Mendocino for a delightful evening of book chat.
And this was the view that greeted us when we returned to our campsite. Pretty special!

Today was all about hiking, sunshine and exploration. Just five miles south of the Fort Bragg City Limits, Point Cabrillo State Historic Park and nature preserve is one of the most complete (restored) light stations in America (1909).

The 100-year-old lighthouse – with its British-built Fresnel Lens operates as a Federal Aid to Navigation and was built to protect lumber schooners plying the coast.
We learned a great deal about a lightkeeper's life as we explored a restored 1909 home.
The Aquarium center showed us the nature side of the Light Station. We got to see up close Gray Whale baleen and undersea beauties.

Russian Gulch State Park was our chosen hiking grounds. Russians who established Fort Ross in 1812, were probably the first white men to explore and chart this area. It is believed that U.S. government surveyors later gave the name "Russian Gulch" to the area 50 miles north of Fort Ross to honor these early pioneers.

Fern Canyon Trail (5.4 miles round trip) had us meander along an old logging road. It was absolutely breathtaking.
My goal was to see one of these guys. Banana slug is a common name for three North American species of terrestrial slug in the genus Ariolimax. Go UC Santa Cruz!

Evidence of yesteryear's lumber practices were everywhere on this trail. This groove is where a springboard was positioned to be able to cut higher up in the tree. Redwood was considered excellent material for railroad ties, and Russian Gulch produced many of the ties used on the transcontinental railroad. Shingles were also produced here . One of the first redwood shingle mills in this part of the country was built on the site.
I'm a goal oriented hiker. While the water wasn't following as it would be at other times, this 36' waterfall had us delighted.
Wonderful things grew in this canyon. Stopping to look at them all made the hike longer but certainly more memorable, too.

The Mendocino Coast is like none we have seen before. It's scary and majestic all at the same time.