MacKerricher Haul Road

It turned out to be a beautiful day for a walk.  A nice 53°, little wind and no rain.  I'm not sure if it was just a 'lazy' morning, or because everyone knew Tom was not here they felt they could skip today, but we only had 4½ people and 2 dogs to enjoy the morning.  Present at the start were John, Craig, Roger and Nancy T. plus Abby and Scout.  The "½" was Sarah, who had a delayed start (looking for her cat) - but being a fast runner caught up and passed us.  Sarah has been on a few previous Fog Dodger runs when visiting, but has now moved here permanently, so we should be seeing more of her now.

For all of you that missed the morning, here's some photos from John and Roger.

Craig, Nancy and Roger went to Cafe One for a nice breakfast.

NEXT SUNDAY, DATE @ 8:00 A.M.: HARE CREEK, JACKSON STATE FOREST ROAD 400 - see our routes above
EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.
EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Caspar Logging Road

  John was not here this morning but I think he'd like to see a photo he took from Caspar about 7 years ago.  I suppose that this morning's sunrise would have been about like this, if you lived in a little ways from the ocean??  For us Fog Dodgers, it was almost a summer-like morning, with a heavy overcast that kept it a warm 54 degrees.  It was nice for walking or running.

We needed a run or walk, or at least I did, and the extra few pounds I'm carrying seemed really heavy on this steady uphill Caspar Logging Road.   Coming back down seemed really easy though, more mass, gravity, inertia or whatever.  I hope that those not with us today are having a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Present this morning:  Kathleen, Craig, Nancy B., Cindy, Jim, Gay, Mark, Toni, Ginny, Terry, Nancy T., Roger, Caspar the Friendly Ghost (who was that lady??), Fran, Nancy and Tom (15).  Eight of us had a very good breakfast at David's Restaurant.


NEXT SUNDAY, DECEMBER  2 @ 8:00 A.M.: MACKERRICHER HAUL ROAD, see "Our Routes" above.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Bin-2-Bin-2-Bin

Yes, today was about the Food Bank.  Thanks for the photo, John.  On the past two Thanksgivings, we did this Bin-2-Bin-2-Bin Run/Walk and it was felt that by doing it on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we might get a better turnout than by having it on Thanksgiving.  A good idea but a few showers this morning likely suppressed interest for this year.  We did however, double the number of participants from previous years and as always, we had fun!  Besides the shower at 7:30 this morning, it was 45 degrees with a fair breeze blowing, probably keeping some Fog Dodgers at home.  By walking and running, we  benefitted our own health and The Food Bank benefitted,  as at each store we made it to, we dropped food items into the Food Bank's barrels for Thanksgiving.

Thanks to Bob J., for inviting Sarah, welcome to the Fog Dodgers.  Also present today, Bob J. and Bob C., John, Ginny, Terry, Nancy B., Rick, Nancy and Tom (10).

NEXT SUNDAY, NOV. 25TH @ 8:00 A.M.:  CASPAR LOGGING ROAD, see
"Our Routes" above.  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and there should be a breakfast at the Caspar Community Center.  Today, seven of us had a nice breakfast at David's.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Russian Gulch State Park

Thank you, John, for the Russian Gulch photo.  It was taken two days ago.

Thanks to all of our veterans on this day.  We had a nice run and walk at Russian Gulch State Park.  It was a brisk 41 degrees with partly cloudy skies.  There are several new names over the past month, names not yet in my memory.  Forgive me if I've left you off or misspelled a name.  Present today:  Tonita (Toni), Gordon, Craig, Ralph (??), Joe, Charlene, Nancy B., Rick, Ginny, Terry, Cheryl, Bob J., John, Bob C., Jennifer, Orah, Steve, Fran, Suzanne, Henry, Kathy, Steve, Nancy and Tom (24).


NEXT SUNDAY, NOV. 18TH @ 8:00 A.M.:  HARVEST MARKET, 3rd Annual BIN-2-BIN-2-BIN RUN/WALK.  Previously, we did this on Thanksgiving Day.  We hope for a bigger turnout by having it in our regular Sunday slot instead of a Thursday holiday.  This benefits our local Food Bank and is a fun change from our normal.  We start just the same, 8:00 a.m., go into Harvest Market and buy any two items that would be good for the Food Bank (soup, beans, spaghetti, turkey, etc.) and drop the items in the Food Bank's barrel located by the registers. These items need not cost much or can be a large donation, it's up to you.  If you're all donated out this year, that is fine.    Then, run or walk to Safeway and repeat the food purchase/drop.  Walkers turn around at this point and return to Harvest, another food purchase and drop and you are finished.  The runners go on to Purity Market, purchase and drop off, back to Safeway, purchase and drop, and finally, back to Harvest for last purchase and drop off.  For the walkers, that makes 3 store visits and food drops and for the runners that is 5 store visits and food drops.  Save your receipts if you claim donations on your tax forms.  The store employees got a kick out of our doing this before and I'm sure the Food Bank is appreciative.  We'll have breakfast at David's Restaurant, there in the Boatyard Center, for those that want to, when we're finished.  Time-wise, it all takes just a little less than our normal 1 hour walk/run.


EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Big River Logging Road

 John took this photo from Jack Peters Creek looking north this morning and the photo below of Mendocino's Presbyterian  Church .  Thank you, John!

It was 51 degrees with a pretty stiff breeze coming down Big River.  Hard to hold everyone back when it's cold like that.  That said, it was nice once you got just a little ways up the road.  It is sunny and unbelievably nice for a November day.


I hope that I have everyone's name here.  Why else would anyone get up so early on a Sunday morning, if it's not to see their name on the internet?  It really is a great bunch of people and it is nice to see each one of you.  Today,  back for the first Sunday in many moons, Cheryl, a very long time member of the Fog Dodgers and regular Tuesday runner.  For first timers, there were:  Lindsay (sp.?), Gary, Kathleen, and Pete, thanks to all of you for joining us.  Also present:  Bob, Craig, Suzanne, Henry, Toni, Joe, Jennifer, Ginny, Terry, Joel, John, Kathy, Steve D., Shari, Peter, Orah, Steve G., Nancy B., Rick, Fran, Suzi, Cindy, Jim,  Nancy and Tom (30).


NEXT SUNDAY, Nov. 11th, @ 8:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, see "Our Routes" above.

SAVE SUNDAY, NOV. 18TH, so that you can come to our BIN TO BIN TO BIN RUN/WALK.  It is a fun way to donate a few cans of food or whatever to the local Food Bank for Thanksgiving.  More on it next week.  

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Navarro Ridge Road

I think that most of us were impressed with this morning's sunrise.  I know that we started commenting about  it as soon as we headed out our driveway, and then several more times as we headed down the coast and east up the ridge.  John, as usual, was out a little earlier than the rest of us, always in search of "the perfect picture".   Thank you, John, for the two photos in this morning's blog, both taken on Navarro Ridge.

Both photos show the morning well, mostly sunny with a thin ground fog and 51 degrees.  Present this morning:  Nancy B., Rick, Toni, Joe, Charlene, Ron, Fran, Suzanne, Henry, Tanya, Ginny, Terry, John, Kathy, Steve, Nancy and Tom (17).  I think most stayed for the Grange Pancake Breakfast.

Nancy and I kind of miss the "quaintness" and good basic breakfasts but have moved on to plant based foods and are enjoying the Vegan Burritos at David's Restaurant.  This morning, we were joined by Kathy and Steve and it was great!

NEXT SUNDAY, NOV. 4TH, @ 8:00 A.M. PST!!: BIG RIVER LOGGING ROAD, see "Our Routes" above.  After the hills of Navarro Ridge, a couple of  us wanted a more "level" course next week.
  
EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Ten Mile River Logging Road

Seaside Beach, thanks to John L.

It was a beautiful morning, .........................but very cold at 39 degrees and starting into a headwind didn't really help.  On mornings like this, everyone wants to jump the gun a bit.  We ran and walked the Ten Mile River Logging Road.  John's picture above, taken at Seaside Beach, which is about a mile north of our starting point, captures the morning very well.  Seaside Creek, just like Ten Mile River, is closed at the mouth, awaiting enough rain to swell the lagoon and  breach the sand bar keeping it from the ocean.  The water level in Ten Mile River  is about as high as it ever gets and it made for pretty views along today's route.

It was nice to see Hector back again, thanks Orah and Steve.  It was also good to see Sabine and Sean again, their second visit.  Also present today:  Toni, Joe, Ginny, Terry, Joel, John, Neil, Shari, Peter, Nancy T., Roger,  Nancy and Tom (18).


NEXT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28TH @ 8:00 A.M.: NAVARRO RIDGE ROAD, see "Our Routes" above.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.