Fort Bragg Christmas Parade

One of the benefits of owning a plane is the ability to make long trips shorter.  It sounds perfectly obvious, and it is, but it has practical consequences.  It means that we are more likely to go for a weekend because it requires less time and effort en route.  And we are more likely to go further for the same reasons.  

Unlike many of our trips, on this outing, we were under no particular time pressure to depart.  Our destination, Fort Bragg CA, is just a 50 minute hop to the west from our home base at Grass Valley CA.  Unfortunately, Fort Bragg has no public airport, so we fly into Little River (KLLR) and rent a car to drive the remaining 12 miles north along the scenic coastline via highway 1.  On this trip, we were expecting overnight rain in Fort Bragg, but Sunday was forecast to be clear, so all we really needed to accomplish on Saturday was to arrive before the rain.

Fort Bragg is a small town located along the rugged Northern California coast about 120 miles north of San Francisco.  In the past, the town thrived on the logging and fishing industries, but today it seems more touristy than anything else.  As a kid in the 1970's my parents took us camping there many times.  I well remember exploring the rocky coastline and tide pools within the various state parks that dot the area.  Today it seems that there is still some fishing going on, but the Georgia Pacific sawmill that used to be at the town's core is long gone.  Fort Bragg is still a great place to visit and it's got a less touristy vibe than the nearby town of Mendocino, just a few miles to the south.

We left Grass Valley under blue skies in the early afternoon for the nearly hour long flight.  Shortly we were passing to the north of the perpetual TFR at Beal AFB.  Then it's over the peaks of the coastal range and to our left is Clear Lake -- a large natural lake that is anything but clear.  Continuing on we begin a slow descent to the Little River airport.  This little beauty of an aerodrome is over 5000' long and sits just above and slightly to the south of Mendocino.  There is an FBO on the field called Air Galore that rents bikes and cars.  The overnight tie down fee is $7.

Our concern about flying to the coast is always the ever present possibility of fog.  There is no foolproof way to predict it so we just go and hope for the best.  In the past, I have phoned the airport attendant before departing for a first hand weather report, but since the fog can roll in at any time, the report is of limited value. Just because it's clear when we depart is no guarantee that it will be clear when we arrive.   On this trip, there were just a few thin wisps of low clouds near the airport, and we landed without difficulty.  The car was delivered right to the plane as we pulled up on the ramp and soon we were on our way to Fort Bragg.

Our first order of business was to find some lunch.  There is a little 'hole-in-the-wall' kind of pizza place called Piaci Pub and Pizzeria that we stumbled across on a previous visit.  They attract a mostly local crowd and they have a good beer selection.  Two very good signs for sure.  The pizza is pretty good as this well fed dog will attest.  He has been there standing there outside the front door each time we've visited.

After lunch, we decided to drive out to the Pacific Star Winery about 20 minutes north of Fort Bragg.  By this time the sky had clouded over and it was clear that rain was not too far off.  It was little consequence to us since our plane was safely tied down back in Little River.

The Pacific Star winery is located right on the water and they have tables and chairs outside to enjoy their wine and the spectacular views of the crashing surf.

The wine hunter and her quarry:

Walking the grounds of the winery gave these views of the Pacific and the rocky coastline.  

It looked like the rain was imminent so we decided to make our way back to the car for the short drive back to Fort Bragg.  After a stop at our hotel, we were on to the main event:  The Christmas light parade.

Last year we just happened to be in Fort Bragg on the day of the Christmas parade.  We enjoyed it so much that we made a point to return this year.  There is a great brewpub on the parade's route called North Coast Brewing Company.  We arrived early and sat at the bar while staking out a table by the window.  When a window table became available, Carol sprang into action.  But, it turns out that we had some competition for the table.  Without revealing her trade secrets, let's just say the table was won by cunning and persistence.  

So I ordered a sampler and Carol, her wine.  She is just beaming after finally laying claim to the much coveted window seat.

Here's a magic trick:

Tada!

Want to see it again?  So do I :)

Uh-oh!  The shirt says it all.

Wine crisis averted.

Now it was time for dinner.  These fish and chips are the best I've ever had. I don't know if they've used the local catch or not, but they sure seemed fresh.

After dinner, the parade still hadn't started, so we ordered some dessert rather than give up our hard won window table. After much anticipation, the parade finally arrived at our end of the route. It surprises me that such a small town as Fort Bragg can put together a terrific parade such as this. Clearly, a lot of effort went into decorating these floats.

I really enjoyed this one: 'A Christmas Story' themed float

And finally, the man himself:

I wasn't able to photograph everything from our vantage point since there were people on the sidewalk outside.  I did get most of the pageantry and remained dry to boot, while it literally rained on their parade. 

The next morning the weather was crystal clear.  The bleached out colors in the photo below are definitely not due to a hangover :)  I took the camera off of auto to photograph the parade and forgot to reset it.

Along our route home, we passed to the north of the Sutter Buttes which have been called the world's smallest mountain range.  These isolated peaks stick up 2000' above the flat farmland of the Sacramento valley and are usually visible for many miles.

Back in Grass Valley on Sunday morning, the Sutter Buttes are just barely visible in the photo below at center, some 38 nautical miles distant.

I started this post with a remark about how having a plane makes the quick weekend getaway more likely.  I'll end here with concrete examples of driving vs. flying.  Our trip to Fort Bragg took a little less than 1 hour.  In the past, the minimum driving time for us to the same location has been 4 hours.

By auto, and when we consider the return trip, we find that we've turned our two day weekend getaway into a one day excursion plus a whole lot of driving. We love the Fort Bragg area, but we just didn't go very often.  Partly because of the limited time we would have at the destination, but mostly because of the grueling drive itself.

But what if 4 hours in the plane is not too much? With an airplane such as our RV-7A, those same 4 hours spent in the car could take us to much of the western United States.  And making use of the autopilot, 4 hours in the air is not nearly so tiresome as driving.

Assuming a 150 knot ground speed, we can scribe a 600 nautical mile arc from Grass Valley to reveal that Grand Junction Colorado to the east, as well as the northern and southern U.S. borders are in reach.  That's a whole lot of territory opened up for weekend exploration.

So what exactly is my point here?  That planes are better than cars?  Yes, of course, but it is also that for us, investing in travel by air has returned the dividend of time.  And with that time, we've purchased a richer life experience.