A much clearer start to the day, blue skies and sunshine but a little cooler at 11ºC.
Today we headed north up the Pacific Coast Highway to Fort Ross. On this trip the PCH ran close to the ocean for most of time, giving a good view of the rocky coast line.
Fort Ross was a Russian Settlement on the California coast up until the mid 1800’s. The settlement was originally located where we are staying in Bodega Bay, but was moved further north to get away from the threat of Spanish / Mexican invasion. The settlement was established to supply provisions to the Russian settlements in Alaska (which in those times was still part of Russia). The fort was run by the Russian America company, very similar in some respects to the Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company. One of the main products was otter pelts to make clothing for the Alaskan seal hunters. So many Otter were hunted that the company banned further hunting to allow the otter to re-populate; one of the earliest cases of population management.
General View of Fort Ross
Russian Orthodox Church
Inside the Church
Looking up the Tower (Cobwebs and All)
The Managers House
This was the first house in California to have glass windows.
Decorative Woodworking
Decorative Woodworking CloseupInteresting (to me at least) Way of Joining Timbers
Turkey Vultures (I think)
We stopped at a couple of lookouts on the coast, and Lyn managed to spot a seal in the water. We took a wander down to one of the beaches, the sand further north was much coarser than the other beaches we have visited.