Day 2:
We started today with the continental breakfast here at the inn. I have had these so called breakfasts at other places and it usually consists of cereal, juice and toast. Not here at the Baechtel Creek Inn, there was hash-browns with ham and cheese in them, a waffle iron at the ready with waffle mix pre-prepared, cereal, hot cereal, toast and bagels. We did not walk away hungry and need fast food 30 minutes later. AND IT WAS GOOD!!
After breakfast we headed to the train depot. It was only a 5 minute drive from the inn.
The train ride is about 4 hours. There were a lot of sites to see along the rail. Old lumber camps that are still standing (somewhat), wildlife and rivers. The ride is very relaxing and the engineer points out the highlights as you rail along. At one point I was so relaxed I started to nod off. Eventually we stopped at Northspur, a small clearing along the rail set up as a rest-stop. There was fresh BBQ and souvenirs. Keep in mind, here is a word of warning, this rest stop is a cash only operation. They do not take plastic in any form. That being said, the food was good, we found access to the river while the train was being maintenanced.
Upon returning to the depot, it was still early afternoon. So we decided to hop onto Highway 20 west and cut over to Mendocino and walk thru the Botanical Gardens. I estimate we spent about 3 hours wandering the gardens and the ocean bluffs.
As we left the Gardens in Mendocino, we were deciding what to do about dinner. Earlier in the day my mom had texted dinner was on her for my bday. We decided on the Cliff House Restaurant in Fort Bragg. It was about a 10 minute drive from the gardens. The interesting thing about this restaurant is the layout. The dining floor is laid out in layers, so that every table has an ocean view. I stared with a tempura brie and strawberry jam with crackers,
my partner had the clam chowder. Cliff House http://fortbraggcliffhouse.com/ has won the California chowder contest 3 years in a row. From there we moved onto entrees of Prawn Scampi and Salmon Oscar. We ended up packing up half of the brie and half of our dinners. Excellent food, and great service.
Tomorrow – the drive home.
Road Tripping! 
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