Petaluma, Sebastopol, and Dillon Beach

We really had a fun day today.  We actually got up a little bit too early, because we wanted to visit the antique stores along Gravenstein highway between Cotati and Sebastopol, but our motel was so noisy from people taking showers in adjoining rooms that we were wide awake at 8 am. So we went to the lobby and had our free breakfast, which was just as representative of the hotel as the room was.  

Here's an example I noticed in the room this morning.  They obviously replaced a lamp, but didn't bother to paint around where the size was different.  Maybe they hoped I'd stand there for the rest of my life with my hair covering it up.  

So anyway, we were on the road by 9:30, and forced to drive past all these antique shops that didn't open until 10 or 11.  We finally came to a big multi dealer place and had a lot of fun looking at stuff, though we didn't actually find anything to buy.  I kept trying to imagine all the clever things designers would do with stuff, but nothing came to mind, though I did kind of like these little rock hangers.  

We thought we'd stop for lunch in Sebastopol, but didn't find anything interesting, so went on out to freestone to Sunflour Bakery.

 I love the place.  It has soul.  

It was also very busy.  And they have a very wonderful garden, as well.  

From there we headed out to Dillon beach where we had a lot of fun wading in the water,

climbing the dunes, and playing with other people's dogs. One dog ws so well trained th the would bring the ball back to his owner nd drop it between his legs nd look at nothing but the ball until he threw it again.    Except the last time, he mistook John's legs for his owner, dropped the ball, and never looked up to see whose legs the ball was between, so to speak.  I think the owner kind of had his feelings hurt, so he took his ball and went home. 

John managed not to get anxious about going home, and we stayed late enough to have dinner in Petaluma.  I'm so glad it worked out, too, because there was little traffic on the way home, as opposed to Saturday, when we drove over and there were all sorts of backups, from Yolo causeway to highway 37, to highway 101 and even in Cotati, though that was to be expected, I'd say.  We would have been back to leaving to come home from a two dy trip at noon of the second day if traffic returning had been bad.