Made it to Mendocino. It's true what I've heard: "Too cute," and picturesque beyond words. I've avoided it for all these years because of that reputation, but I must admit there's something magical and genuine about it, as well. See for yourself, and after the jump, you'll see what Abalone looks like after a serious pounding and prior to frying (plus some too-cute and picturesque photos).
And right after the county line and before you reach the sea side town of Mendocino, there are Redwood forests.
Nice parking lot, eh?
And below is where my brave brother-in-law and his friends dove for Abalone.
Actually, you can see some other divers in that shot above, but those aren't ours.
These are our divers:
Here's a shot of the B&B where we stayed. Yes, too cute, with a history as long as the coastline is craggy.
..and the kids loved playing in the yard.
We were the only ones who stayed "in town." The rest of our family stayed at the Van Damme campground. No, the Volvo didn't actually tow anything; that was the only parking space available. Interesting side note: you can actually have these trailers delivered to the camp (meaning no towing necessary), enjoy your camping trip, then drive away. They'll come pick it up for you. Sounds like a good option for those people or vehicles that are not tow rated.
Okay, so here's what Abalone looks like after it has been removed from its shell, sliced into steaks, and pounded.
I know, it doesn't look very appetizing, but after the pounding, breading, and frying, it is delicious. Somebody else at the camp made Abalone Chouder instead, and it too was delicious.
Kids love this part
More Volvo XC60 Road Trip photos to come. Next stop, Crater Lake, OR...
Chief Road Test Editor, Chris Walton @ 18,301 miles
clarkma5 says:
08:09 PM, 07/ 3/10
Abalone is amazing, I've only had it a couple times in my life...
questionlp says:
09:46 PM, 07/ 3/10
Any shiny Twilight fans ogle over the Volvo? The only time I've had abalone was one slice done as a sashimi... and it was great.
BTW, chouder? Chouder? Maybe the cuteness of Mendocino had some effect on your spelling.
desmolicious says:
10:15 AM, 07/ 4/10
Did they turn the sprinklers on to get your kids off the lawn?
tmanz says:
11:50 AM, 07/ 4/10
everyone look away from the pictures! You don't want to go to Mendocino! Stay away, otherwise it will be crowded when we go :)
Can I borrow the XC60 for our visit, the place we stay has a driveway so steep it loves to take chunks out of the bottom of front bumpers on regular cars.
cr_driver says:
10:46 AM, 07/ 5/10
Beautiful pics Chris....
Love when there is a road trip blog with many pictures. !
sfrunner says:
06:05 PM, 07/ 5/10
Your "brave" brother-in-law broke the law: California law probits the taking of any abalone during the month of July and the "Bag Limit and Yearly Trip Limit" is 3 red abalone per day. The use of SCUBA gear or any surface-supplied air to collect the abalone is also against the law.
mjp16 says:
08:08 PM, 07/ 5/10
@sfrunner
I was going to mention this but gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought that maybe they collected them on June 30.
The snorkel masks and wetsuits they appear to have are legal though, and I suppose if there were quite a few at that campground who dove 3 per person would suffice.
cwalton1 says:
07:58 AM, 07/ 6/10
Dear concerned readers,
You caught me. This post did not occur "real time," and mjp16 is almost correct.
My brother-in-law (and his family) are well aware of the laws regarding abalone collection because they've been doing it for the past ten or so years at this very location. The photos were shot on June 26th, and each diver (with a full wet suit, mask, and snorkel--no tanks) limited himself to 3 abalone per day (at or over the 7-inch size limit). Each shell was tagged and recorded as the law requires.
And they were delicious...
Chris Walton