Runnin' up 101

We are at the Sho-Ka-Wah casino in Hopland, California (map).

We stopped here a bit more than a year ago on our way south, and, as then, we've concluded it is more or less the first low-cost stopping option north of the city on the 101 corridor. We did stop at the Petaluma Elks yesterday to dump our tanks, and they had plenty of space in their RV area, but we did not need the electricity and did not want to spend $20 for a night in what amounts to a parking lot. We dropped a few bucks in the donation box next to the dump station and continued on.

Since our last visit here, they have opened a steak house, which is separate from the casino floor for a thankfully smoke-free and much quieter experience. Our players' club cards got us the special $4.95 prime rib dinner, which was actually quite good (regular price, $14.95). It did mean that we drank twice as much as we ate, by cost, as the wine was $5 a glass.

Flashing our club cards at the promo desk yesterday also netted us some coupons for free play and $5 off food today, so we will wander in later to see if we can get something brunchy for our food coupon, and parlay the funny-money into cash. Not as good a deal as when we originally signed up, though, where we got $55 in casino credit that we were able to turn into $33 in real cash.

We had a nice drive yesterday, once we got out of the tight and inflected confines of the city streets. The gate was unfortunately (but not atypically) completely shrouded in fog as we crossed, but it was sunny and warm as we arrived here in Hopland. This afternoon we will continue north into the redwoods. There are high wind warnings out for much of the state, including our route. We'll take it slow, and stay away from the trees as much as we can (redwood branches falling ~100' to the ground can be destructive or deadly).