Benbow, California: One day of sunshine was all we were given. It began raining again overnight and we had to hitch-up and hit the road in a monsoon. The rain continued all day on our drive north on Highway 101, and continued as we settled-in to our current campsite in Benbow.
The Benbow KOA has really gone down-hill. Not that it was ever anything special. The best part is the location – near the Redwoods and across the highway from the very nice and fun Historic Benbow Inn (where we had dinner reservations).
The sites were once probably paved with asphalt, but are mostly fading away now, as the grass is eating-away into the pavement, thus becoming so narrow we barely fit. Another campground built before 45-foot motorhomes/trailers.
Trees prevented our television satellite reception. Someone should have filmed us for a blooper video as we tried to remember how to configure the television with a campground cable hookup. It has been years and years since we have hooked our RV up to TV cable. I could care less about the lack of television, but you know – GOLF – so Dave has us wired-up with analog. At least My Driver remembered where the piece of cable was stored.
Thank goodness, we are the only family in America not addicted to Game of Thrones.
When we checked into our site, it was pouring rain and 46 degrees.
Benbow KOA
After resting (and watching the PGA golf tournament) we drove to the Benbow Inn for dinner. We usually walk, as there is a nice path under the freeway to/from the RV park. Too stormy/muddy tonight to walk.
The parking lot at the Benbow Inn was packed, and we saw many happy people partying on the balcony above. A wedding! The wedding party had taken over the ballroom and were dancing to a four-piece orchestra. The color scheme was yellow and black – and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time.
The only odd bit was hotel/restaurant guests needed to pass through the ballroom to reach the dining room and hotel bar. Oh well, we quickly scooted past the yellow-and-black people, and had a cocktail in the bar – chatting-up everyone-from-everywhere – before our dining room reservation.
We really have never had a bad experience at the Benbow Inn dining room. The service is always excellent. Many of the servers come to Benbow from all over the world on special visas to work during the tourist season, and many of the American workers move from National Park to high-end resorts during the summer season. Most of the seasonal workers bunk in the KOA Kabins in this RV park during the tourist season.
No one picked up my dirty knife and placed it on the tablecloth tonight.
The food was also excellent. The chef relies on locally-sourced vegetables (often grown on-site), fruits, and meats. Since the ocean is just over the hill, the nightly seafood specials are usually amazing.
My Driver ordered the Coq au Vin (chicken in wine) with purple potatoes. Most of it came home with us. I had the lamb shank.
We did eat the onion rings!
I often order a lamb or veal shank when I see it on a menu, especially if served with beans. I can feed 2-4 people with a left-over shank. Waste not. We have been eating well over the past several days, and have been eating more meat than usual. It will be nice to be home-cooking in the motorhome for much of the next week.
While at dinner, the rain stopped (temporarily) and we could see just a bit of blue sky from the window at our table!
Until my next update, I remain, your soggy correspondent.
RV PARK: Benbow KOA – My best guess is this used to be a KOA, then was not (when it was pretty nice), and is now a KOA again – and is no longer nice. Worst thing? They are charging us a ridiculous $56 for tonight and an even crazier $78 for tomorrow. This is a $35 campground.