Fort Bragg, CA- Our 1st post-pandemic trip! Day One!!!

Yea- The pandemic is almost over!!  We 3 are fully vaccinated, as are most Californians, so time to travel. Cody gets to choose a trip for his birthday, and he found this weird place I had never heard of- Glass Beach in Fort Bragg CA.  Looked interesting (NOT!), so did a little more research as he was pretty insistent😎.  Looks like a real place, although it says the glass is pretty depleted, and there is tons to do in the area (including wineries!! (I'm sold!🍷), plus we have never traveled north of San Francisco's coast!  So off to planning we went!!

First stop- Chico CA to visit our awesome family: Judy, Holly, Mike, Josh and Max!!!  I have such pride in being related to them!!!!  Just seeing their smiling faces brings peace!  We LOVE you (and Happy Birthday to Judy!!!❤)

After an excellent night in Chico and visit with Judy in the AM- off to Ft. Bragg we went.  It's a 4 hour drive through several counties, mainly 2 lane roads, so take a breath and enjoy the scenery- you are at the mercy of the slowest vehicle who refuses to give way.  The drive goes through farm land, little towns (many who saw better days), dryer areas, hills with trees, windy roads, and the most beautiful forests ever!!!  The temps went from 91 in Chico to 53 in Ft. Bragg- so dress accordingly!!!

Fort Bragg- the Trestle!!!  

An old trestle train bridge from the early 20th century thankfully not destroyed!  It is now part of the headland walking trail!!!  The beach areas are wonderful, rocky, cold, filled with life!!!

Glass Beach!!!  

Reading about Glass Beach: (Is there still Sea Glass at Glass Beach?

Yes, there's still lots of glass at Glass Beach! The beach – actually three of them – was created over decades as the pounding surf and passage of time turned broken head- and tail-lights, apothecary and soda bottles, and discarded household trash into today's treasure.) 

Seemed like a cool thing to see- especially since Cody wanted to see it- LOL.  Takes a little climbing down to the beach- but not much!!!  And the crashing waves, sea birds, and rocky out-croppings are the perfect back drop to finding glass!!!  Surprisingly, there was far more glass than we expected!!!  Certainly more glass than moon stones in Cambria- which made it really enjoyable!!!  The beach area includes trails above the beaches with growth of plants to prevent erosion, so there is lots to see!

The glass is very plentiful!!!  Both within the rocky shore and in the sandy areas!!!

Fallen weathered trees make for beautiful sights!

And art work from these trees are wonderfully present

Looking for glass all along the beach was very fun!  There's so much of it,  we tried finding different colors of glass: clear, white, green, brown, even purple!!!

Food!!!

As we are in a beach and fishing community, fish, of course😋

The fish and chips were awesome, but the prawns!!  Incredible!!!

The clam chowder was excellent!  But not the milky type of chowder- it had rice in it!  Very good!!

So this is Day One of our trip- wonderful time with family in Chico!!!!  Spending the night and visiting with Judy the next morning- always awesome with her kind, positive soul!!!  We drove  to Fort Bragg, ate, went to the beach and loved it!  Oh- the town litteraly closes at 8:30!!!!  

Day two is coming!  Can't wait to see what she brings!