2026 The Sea Ranch Iterum - Day #2

When we were at Sea Ranch in February, I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to go out for a run. As I have said repeatedly, with fifty miles of trails, The Sea Ranch is my favorite place in the world to run.

Taking off before breakfast, I ran north from Monette. I covered 5.03 miles in 1:10:48. I forgot to stop the timer when I stretched at the halfway point. My body, particularly my right knee, felt better than I expected.

After late, lazy breakfast, we got everyone organized for a hike. Drew, Carmen and Dawson drove to the Pebble Beach parking lot. Sharon and I hiked to the parking lot and met them there.

The five of us hiked along the bluffs from there to the seal preserve. We passed the Sculpture Point house where we stayed in 2020. It seemed like there weren't as many seals at the preserve as there has been in the past...


Drew, Carmen and Dawson headed back to the car. Sharon wanted to keep going. We ended up going all the way to the White Barn Recreation Center before starting back. Essentially, we covered the same route that I had run in the morning.

Sharon and I ended up hiking just over five miles in two hours and twenty-three minutes. Combined with my morning run, I covered more than ten miles! My leg are going to be trashed.

Sharon and I had a late lunch of smoked salmon that we bought at the Tides Market in Bodega Bay.

Sharon made massage appointments for her and Carmen in Gualala. While they were gone, Drew and I took advantage of the hot tub. Dawson, Drew and I spent some time in the living room hanging out and listening to music, including an artist that Nooter had recommended: Stephen Wilson Jr.

The five of us had dinner at the Sea Ranch Lodge. Trace was behind the bar. With all of the bar stools taken, we didn't get a chance to visit with him.

We split King Salmon Sashimi* [nori-sesame crunch, white soy, garlic brown butter crumble, trout roe, avocado purée]. Sharon and I split a TSRL Farm Lettuces [carrot, cucumber, watermelon radish, “Sea” Ranch dressing]. For mains, I had Honey Glazed Duck Breast [beet puree, braised red cabbage, pickled berries, toasted hazelnuts], while Sharon Grilled NY Steak [6oz Snake River Farms beef, cauliflower puree, coffee soil, mushrooms, green garlic oil, charred scallion]. Drew and Carmen had the same mains.

Our waitress was Amber. We had here when we were there in February.

We ended the day watching Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.

2026 The Sea Ranch Primum - Day #9

Up and moving early, the plan was to be on the road by 9 am. We spent the morning packing up and loading the car.

Although we hiked twice and played golf three times, I am disappointed that I didn't get a chance to go out for a run. As I have said repeatedly over the years, this is probably my favorite place in the world to run.

Avoiding the cliff section, we took Timber Cove Road to Seaview Road to Fort Ross Road to Meyers Grade Road. We made a quick stop for gas in Bodega Bay. Waze kept trying to route us away from Valley Ford Road; it thought the road was flooded.

We met Sharon's brother Tom in Cordelia at 11:45 am. Sharon and Tom are spending the weekend at the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos.

Hitting some traffic in Davis, I was home about 1:30 pm.

It was a great nine days! This is the fifth time that we have rented Monette. One random comment. I was very pleased that they replaced all of the windows on the south side of the house. The windows were really starting to get clouded and it spoiled some of the experience.

It looks like Drew and Carmen are going to rent the house in July.

2025 Sea Ranch - Day #5

My goal for the morning was to go for a run. As I have said repeatedly, with fifty miles of trails, Sea Ranch is my favorite place in the world to run. Being able to run along the bluffs on the ocean for miles and miles is so cool.

Running north from the house, I covered 3.25 miles in 46:39. I averaged 13:37. This pace is not much different from my longer run last year. My body felt better than I expected.


Kevin and Donna went out for a walk. Sharon also went out separately.

After a quick breakfast of the left-over breakfast hash, we started to pack up the house. We pulled away from Monette about 10:25 am.

With Sharon driving, we decided to passby the cliffs. We took Timbercove Road to Seaview Road to Fort Ross Road to Myers Grade Road to Highway 1. There were two long stops for road construction on Highway 1: North of Timbercove, and; North of Jenner. Changing drivers in Bodega Bay, we drove through a Taco Bell in Petaluma. In spite of the Martin Luther King Day holiday, it was a very easy drive home. There were no slow downs at any of the normal gore points. We pulled up to the house a little after 3:00 pm.

After picking up Tiber from boarding, Sharon and I finished the night watching Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the College Football Payoffs by the score of 34 to 23.

2024 Sea Ranch - Day #7

A lazier day...

Donna, Kevin, Sharon and I walked down to the Sea Ranch Lodge for coffee. Getting back to the house, we had a large leisurely breakfast of bacon, eggs and biscuits.

My goal for the day was to go for a run. As I have said repeatedly, with a hundred miles of trails, Sea Ranch is my favorite place in the world to run. Being able to run along the bluffs on the ocean for miles and miles is so cool.

While Donna, Kevin and Sharon went to the pro shop at the golf course and the Surf Market in Gualala, I went for a run. Heading North from Monette, I essentially covered the same ground that we hiked on Sunday. I ran for six miles in an hour and twenty-two minutes. The first three miles were into the teeth of a 20 plus mph wind. Over the first two miles, I was trying to find the right combination of breathe, pace and heart rate.


We spent a chunk of the afternoon just hanging out in the house. Sharon and Donna went for a mile and a half walk that included the Sea Meadow Trail.

In the late afternoon, we started playing Mexican Train. We took a break to fix dinner: barbecued chicken and salad.

After dinner, we continued playing Mexican Train. I ended up winning by a lot! We crashed after 10:30 pm.

July 2022 Sea Ranch - Day #9

Saturday morning, I went for a run along the bluffs. As I have said repeatedly over the years, Sea Ranch is my favorite place in the world to run. I ran north along the bluffs. I covered 4.2 miles in an hour. I am still struggling with my left heel.

Afterwards, we packed up and loaded up the cars. We rolled from the Monette about 10:30 am.

Sharon had made a wine tasting reservation at the Fort Ross Vineyard and Winery. We had stopped there on the way home in February. Everyone decided to join us.

We headed towards home about 1:00 pm. Waze routed us through Bodega Bay to 101 to 116 to 121 to 12 to 80 to 50. The traffic was bad at all of the usual points, but particularly bad at Fairfield and Davis. We made a quick stop for gas in Dixon. We pulled up to house just after 4:30 pm.

It was a great trip. Although we have already spent nineteen days at The Sea Ranch this year, Sharon talked about going back again on the way home.

2022 Sea Ranch - Day #3

We planned Sunday as a lazy day. We walked to the Sea Ranch Lodge and had breakfast at the cafe. I had a frittata [local cheeses, autumn vegetables, arugula], while Sharon had a avocado toast [lemon aioli, medium boiled farm egg, crunchy salt].

Afterwards, I went for a five mile run north along the coast. I ran to Kyuka and back. A map is here. As I have said repeatedly over the years, this is my favorite place in the world to run.

After getting cleaned up, we headed into Gualala. We browsed a number of shops and checked out a couple of restaurants. We stopped at the Surf Market and bought some groceries for the next several days.

We ate lunch watching the surf on Black Point Beach. I finished a book that Carmen gave me for Christmas [Station Eleven]. We relaxed, did a short Peleton strength workout together and took a nap.

About 3:30 pm, we walked back to the Sea Ranch Lodge and had a drink at the bar. Compared to Saturday night, the place was empty. With the wind gusting into the 30s, it was very windy walk back. From Monette, it is almost exactly a mile to the lodge.

When we got back to the house, Sharon made a nice dinner of chicken, green beans and cauliflower mash. We finished the night watching Nightmare Alley. This is one of the best picture nominees. Thoughts about the movie are here.

2021 Father’s Day Weekend - Sea Ranch - Day 7

As I have often said, Sea Ranch is my favorite place in the world to run. There are ten miles of trail along the bluffs. Friday morning, I ran from Waveside to the house that Drew rented. Running south along the bluffs to Pebble Beach, I turned up Navigator's Reach. I crossed Highway 101 and picked up the Pilot's Reach trail. There were several steep sections that slowed me to a walk. Heading north on Sea Ridge Road, I turned on Conifer Close to get to Drew's house. After visiting with Drew and Madie, I retraced my steps back to Waveside. In total, I covered just over six miles in an hour and sixteen minutes.

After some debate about what to do for morning, we decided to go to Bowling Ball Beach. One of the interesting things about coming to Sea Ranch five times in the last eigthteen months is that we have done several things that we have never done before. Drew and Madi drove to our house and then we caravaned north towards Point Arena.

After initially hiking down the wrong trail, we found the north trail and hiked to the beach. From the driftwood pile at the bottom of the stairs, it is about 1/2 hike north along the beach to the bowling ball section. Although I expected the rocks to be larger, it is an interesting spot.

We stopped in Gualala after the hike and shopped. We picked up oysters, chicken and rice for dinner. We got tri-tip sandwiches for lunch.

Sharon, Jack and I spent a lazy afternoon at the house. While Sharon took a nap, Jack and I watched golf.

In the late afternoon, we headed to Drew's house. We got a chance to spend some time with Morgan and Lee. I brought a small soccer ball for Lee. Drew and Jack played a couple of games of Othello. Drew and I played cribbage.

I barbecued oysters as an appetizer and then chicken for dinner. Sharon made instapot risotto. We had a nice dinner and a nice visit with everyone. Eventually, Sharon, Jack and I wandered back to Waveside about 10:30 pm.

2021 Sea Ranch - Day 2

As I have said over the years, Sea Ranch is my favorite place in the world to run. I went out for an early morning run north along the bluffs. Running to the Gualala Point Regional Park and back, I covered 5.5 miles in an hour and six minutes.

After a leisurely breakfast, we got organized for a hike. Heading north from the house along the bluffs, we went up Salad Creek through the golf course. We hiked along the north edge of the golf course in the regional park. I have never hiked along this section before. We came across a large visitor's center that we didn't know existed. We looped back on the bluff trail. In total, we covered six miles in just over two hours and forty minutes. It was very windy on the way back to the house, but at least the wind was mostly at our back. A map of the hike is here.

After lunch, Van and I went to the driving range to hit some golf balls. Sharon and Holly went into to Gualala to explore.

Getting cleaned up, the four of us went to an early dinner at the Vue. For starters, Van had a beet salad, Sharon and Holly had a crab dim sum and I had calm chowder. All four of us had a sea bass special for the entrees. This is the fifth time that we have eaten at this restaurant in the last eighteen months!

We finished the night playing Codenames. It was after 11:30 pm whe we all crashed.

2020 Sea Ranch - Day 2

I started the day with a five mile run north from the house.  As I have often said, Sea Ranch is probably my favorite place in the world to run.  I came upon one historical marker that I hadn't seen before...  I was surprised how few people there were on the trail.

The plan for the day was a hike to the Gualala River.  It took a while to get everyone moving; with the larger group, I expect this is going to be a challenge all week.

With Shannon deciding to hang back, Drew, Jack, Sharon and I hiked from Pacific Ocean to the Gualala River.  We stopped for lunch near the river and then explored the San Andreas Fault Interpretive Trail.  We ended up hiking about 5.7 miles through a variety of terrain.  A map is here.

When we got back to the house, the Tomasins were there.  Tomasin had called me earlier in the day and asked about stopping by.  We had a nice socially distanced visit and a couple of beers.  Tomasin is closing down this medical practice and retiring at the end of August!

While the Tomasins were still here, Morgan and Lee showed up.  I am looking forward to spending a some time with the two of them.

Sharon, Jack and Drew made a run into town to get the ingredients for dinner.  Jack made vegetable quesadillas.

We finished the day playing Unstable Unicorns.  Drew won.

2020 Sea Ranch - Day 2

A very active day. Sleeping late and moving slow, Sharon and I had oatmeal for breakfast. Afterwards, I went for a 5.5 mile run south along the bluffs. I felt good and kept a fairly strong pace trying to catch several other runners. I ended up running for exactly an hour with a pace of 10:53. I will post a map of my run in the next couple of weeks. As I have said repeatedly over the years, this is probably my favorite place in the world to run.

After I got back to the house, we got organized for a hike. Crossing Highway 1 near the Del Mar Center, we picked up the Saloon Trail near the dog park. We followed the upper part of the Azalea Loop Trail to the Chapel Trail. We sat and had lunch on a bench at the Sea Ranch Chapel. We took the lower part of the Azalea Loop Trail back. In total, we covered 5.7 miles in two hours and thirty-nine minutes. We passed two historical markers that I had never seen before. A map of the hike is here.

Back at the house, we went to town to check out a restaurant for Sunday lunch and to buy a few things at the Surf Market. We spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the jacuzzi and taking a nap. It turned out to be a very nice day. The views of the coast from the house are spectacular!

Sharon and I had dinner at the Vue Kitchen in Gualala. After a drink at the bar and some running amok with the hostess, we had a very nice dinner. We both had the fish special; it was a locally caught Sea Bass wrapped in prosciutto.

We finished the night watching episode nine of season three of the Crown. We both crashed hard.