A Trip to Bodega Bay

On a sunny, beautiful day in January, 30 intrepid PVE travelers in two busses headed west to the Pacific Ocean.

After enduring rush hour traffic through Napa, our first stop was at the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve near Guerneville. Upon his arrival in California in 1871, Ohio native, Colonel James Armstrong, began acquiring land in the dense redwood forest. The Armstrong family allowed the public to visit and enjoy the beauty of the peaceful redwoods. The State of California acquired the grove in 1934 and it was named a reserve in 1964.

Our busses drove a mile past the visitor center to a parking area where we disembarked. It was quite cool, as the sun did not penetrate to the forest floor. Our chaperone, Casey Boate, set out coffee, hot chocolate and muffins for us to enjoy. We had about an hour to walk some of the trails and enjoy the beautiful and impressive trees.

Soon we were out of the forest and back in the sun on our way to Bodega Bay. We followed the Russian River all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

The Miwok and Pomo Indians were the first settlers in Bodega Bay. Russian fur traders searching for sea otter and seal furs followed later. Spaniards, and later, Mexicans, established large ranches, many of which are still in existence today. Probably the most famous event to take place in Bodega Bay was the filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” in 1961. Some of the filming was done in the Tides Wharf & Restaurant, where we stopped for lunch.

The bay views through the restaurant’s large, picture windows were amazing, and everyone enjoyed a great lunch. Of course, there was lots of seafood on the menu. After lunch, we browsed through the large gift shop, which was filled with lots of beachy items.

Reluctantly, we boarded the busses again for our long drive back to PVE, arriving home tired, but happy.