SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 22 & 23

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 22 & 23:

      More cool, overcast days. Very typical this time of year, we learned. “Fogust,” they call August, with avg temps in the 50's . . . they say it's been a warmer summer this year - in the 60's.

      We rode the Skunk Train Saturday afternoon. This old steam engine normally chugs passengers on a 4-5 hour long trip through a redwood forest (the same one we came through via Hwy 20), all the way from Ft. Bragg to Willits. But a tunnel near Ft. Bragg they use was being repaired, so all they offered from this side was a 1-hour in-and-out ride, at a reduced price. And truth be told, that was probably plenty. It's called the Skunk Train because, back in the early 20^th century when it was being used, the mixture of coal for fuel and oil in the furnaces in the Pullman cars to keep the passengers warm gave off a putrid smell . . . folks in town could smell the “skunk” train coming before they heard or saw it.  We rode in a vintage 1920's Pullman car.

                                                              

 

 

      On Sunday, we drove to Mendocino to worship at the Presbyterian church there. We'd noticed it the other day when we were in town – right on Main Street. We're so glad we went! The service was in a familiar style to us . . . not just a Praise band leading contemporary songs from a screen for 10 minutes to open the service, and then the sermon, and that's it. This had a familiar order of worship, including a small choir in this congregation of 80 or so. The pastor was unexpectedly ill, so an elder stood in at the last minute (we assume he was an elder) and talked of his involvement in natural disaster recovery & building efforts . . . Hurricane Katrina, the Japan tsunami, and now he's getting ready to leave to help with the Nepal earthquake recovery. They had a time of informal, corporate prayer at the end of the service, which gave evidence of their Christ-centered beliefs. We saw this a couple of times in the Presbyterian churches we visited in Alaska, as well. We felt very, very welcomed and appreciated there.

      And what a delightful surprise - the artist whose work we'd purchased was there! She (Janis Porter), along with 2 others, were mentioned as members whose art work was being featured throughout the town and in an upcoming charity event. So after the service, we went up to her and told her how we loved her paintings and how 3 of them (prints, anyway) were going to have a home in St. Louis. She was a sweet, unassuming woman – a former public school teacher who taught in inner city schools.

      Afterwards, we just hung around town (we'd actually planned to drive down into the Anderson Valley this afternoon, but the truck wouldn't start when we got ready to left, so we just decided to take in the town while we waited for it to get itself straightened out. It didn't even upset us this time . . . just made lemonade out of lemons). It's a charming, q uaint town, an artist colony and tourist destination for several decades now, having lost its logging and commercial fishing base many decades ago. However, unlike Carmel and some other places, it's far enough off the beaten path that you have to really want to come here! So as a result, it's far less built up and commercial. The downtown area - shops, eateries, galleries – only covers a few blocks of Main Street, and another couple of blocks or so in depth. We saw only a couple of small resorts/inns (high end luxury), along with several B&B's, ranging from down-home comfort to elegant. That kind of reflects the people here – even though there's much sophistication, especially in the arts community, there's an unpretentious, friendly atmosphere.

 

     We enjoyed lunch in a little cafe and then explored the town on foot. Spent some tine in the Mendocino Arts Center, which features local artists' work but also offers hundreds of classes throughout the year , as well as studio space.

 

                                                            

There was our Janis's work again – she's the featured Winesong Artist of the Year (Winesong being the town's annual big fundraising benefit for the local hospital). And her piece which was displayed there is entitled, “Magical Mendocino,” a depiction of the town as seen from the bay/ocean, with the Presbyterian church as the focal point! We felt there's something mystical going on here! Actually, the church, with its central location and its quaint building evocatative of Norman Rockwell, is an icon in the town – we saw its image in several pieces of diverse media around town.

 

                                                     

We so enjoyed seeing lovely cottages, more formal homes,

 

                                               

 

 
 
 

                                                             

 

                                                                 

           

several old water towers (at least one of which is now a B&B).  

 

                                                               

 

 

           

And always a source of pleasure to us, the flower gardens, as well as uncultivated, volunteer patches of profuse color, were a joy.

                      
                                                             

 

So, even though the air was cool and not sunny, we enjoyed an easy, relaxed, pleasurable afternoon here.