May 29, day 26 Bodega Bay to Samuel P Taylor State Park

May 29, day 26 Bodega Bay to Samuel P Taylor State Park

Starting odo 7318

We actually leave the park pretty early, but then go by this coffee
shop and stay there for about an hour, eating and using the internet.

Finally, we start out towards Valley Ford, and a few miles after, we
miss our turn, and end up in Petaluma. To get back on the route  we
take a  small road, which happens to involve some climbing.  Ugh, it
gets steep, and I try to maintain a good speed, but its pretty hard.
I am really putting out some effort, which is probably a mistake, I'll
only know how much of one in the next few days.

After the hill, there is a very fast downhill, and I rush up to the
Rouge et Noir cheese factory, where I stop and buy a Marin Blue triple
creme.

A little further on, there is a large lake, and the road is flat for a
while, yet it looks as if we are going downhill, and the wind is
blowing very hard making progress slow, and demoralizing.  Luckily
that part doesn't last very long, and we reach the turnoff for the
park.  Shyam wants to buy some stuff at a grocery, but it looks like
there is nothing between us and the park. In the other direction,
however, lies a little city called Olema, only two miles away. We
decide to take the side trip to Olema, but its straight up for the
first half, and straight down for the other half.  We are not keen on
the extra climbing, and the wind is against us, but we arrive there
and there is nothing but a snooty restaurant, with appetizers in the
$10-$15 range, and a private campground that charges $44/night for
tent camping!  So we head back to the park deciding that we'll just
eat our snacks for dinner.  I'm not too hungry having eaten a half
rack of pork ribs in Petaluma for lunch.

When we get to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, we find the hiker/biker
area is very full.  Many cyclists have ridden up from the city which
is relatively close to stay for the weekend.  We sort of find a couple
of places that might work, but Shyam hears that there is overflow
camping in the picnic area, so we go off to find it.  In the process
we get separated, and since it is dark, I just go back to the
hiker/biker area to camp in a little not-flat spot next to a redwood
tree.  After I set up I decide to walk around and eat my snacks and
see if I can find Shyam.  The park host putts by in one of those golf
cart type things, then turns around and asks me if I've lost my
friend!  Yep, so I hop in and we scan the picnic area, which is
completely dark, but happen to find Shyam in a nice flat space.  We
decide to leave at 9am the next morning.