Week 11: Yachats, OR to Sebastopol, CA
Staying in Yachats (pronounced “yah-hots”) was initially more about convenience than it being a destination. It’s strangely difficult to find places to stay along the Oregon coast, and when we drove through Oregon, we understood why. There isn’t a whole lot there and what is there is very small. Yachats, however, proved to be a beautiful little spot with an amazing coastline and friendly people. Side note: the people in Oregon are so nice! Around midnight on our first evening there, Aaron set out to photograph the night sky and stumbled upon a group of locals enjoying a bonfire on the beach. They invited him to hang out and gave him a run-down of the cool places to visit in the area (Thor’s Well, Devil’s Churn, and other parts of Cape Perpetua). One of the guys worked at the local coffee house/vegan spot, Green Salmon, which is where we ended up for lunch the following day. For a small town, this place is doing a stellar job, with interesting drinks and delicious breakfast and lunch options.
When we arrived in Sonoma County, we were both really wanting to get back to fruit and veg-heavy eating. Our rental in Sebastopol was exactly what we needed—a full acre of apple, lemon, pear, plum, and huckleberry trees, more tomatoes than we knew what to do with, along with kale, chard, basil, mint, strawberries…and even pumpkins! Our host had so much produce, she gave us free reign of the property to stuff ourselves silly with fruit and vegetables. There is nothing like produce right out of the earth. Total, total bliss.
The Sonoma Coast is about twenty miles of cliffs and rocky shoreline, with water that shifts from aqua to deep blues. It can be difficult in places to get to the beach, but if you’re willing to climb down, you can have an entire stretch of pristine beach all to yourself for hours. Alternatively, you can also go to Stinson Beach. It’s much more crowded (when we lived in San Francisco, we actually never got to experience it because there was never parking on the weekends), but it has the cutest, most charming beach cafe, Siren Canteen, where you can order veggie tacos, sweet potato fries, homemade pickles, and Arnold Palmers while you enjoy a front row seat watching the dolphins and seals swim by.
After arriving in Sebastopol, Aaron rented a few lenses to try out for food and landscape pictures. He’s having the BEST time playing with the 16-35mm, 50mm f1.2 prime, and 100mm macro prime. If you’re into photography, this probably makes you swoon. We usually use a 24-105mm zoom lens because it’s so flexible and has good quality, but the prime lenses are on a whole other level. Aaron will be very sad to return them in a few days.
I think bugs like me. While hiking around Cape Perpetua in Oregon, a giant, what I presume to be horse fly bit me on the back of my ankle. It hurt like a mother #@?%! Regrettably, I didn’t kill it because I was too focused on making the pain stop and I learned this is an evolutionary advantage to horse flies super painful bites. It immediately swelled and the pain continued for a solid hour, before it turned a baseball-sized area of my skin the angriest, itchiest shade of red. One week later, it’s fading but still very much there. Those little shits.
There’s not a lot to complain about in wine country, but one thing that is unexpectedly unpleasant is the super aggressive drivers. Coming from Boston, we understand aggressive driving. The people of Sonoma County take this to inappropriate and sometimes dangerous levels. We don’t remember this being the case in San Francisco, so maybe it’s just a Sonoma thing. It’s odd considering the otherwise hippie, chill, and sunny vibes.
Though not the fault of Sebastopol, my allergies are really bad here. Allegra is no match and the only time I get relief is when we go to the beach. I guess we need to rent a beach house?
mighty green smoothies / avocado caprese tartines / heirloom tomato chickpea salads
