The Freestone Retreat Center is located in West Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, California. This travel essay introduces you to the area.
In October of 2002, I headed west on a plane, leaving my native New York State, escaping the jaws of one of the coldest winters on record. Within two weeks, I realized I had stumbled onto an oasis – pastoral, calm, conscious, alive, and warm. With only one acquaintance in the area, I settled into the small community of Sebastopol, California, population 7000. Now two years later more than a dozen families from my former town are also living here —part synchronicity, part due to the two-day whirlwind tour I offer when friends come to ‘check it out.’ Here’s a taste of the experience.
Arriving between January and April is the best beginning. This time of year, the entire West Sonoma County is greener than green. The winter rains turn all the pasture land into iridescence.
Those who arrive straight from a gray New York winter day find the sunlit green fields and ocean irresistible. Those who arrive in the midst of the rain itself actually never come to stay. My own theory is that the sun shines only on the chosen ones who are ready to forsake snow, cold. And truth be told, it’s a 50-50 chance whether you’ll hit a sunny stretch or a stormy time. If you only want sun, come between April and November, when rain is virtually nonexistent.
From the San Francisco or Oakland airport, your drive takes less than an hour and a half northwest on Route 101. In a short time, you approach the green hills of Sonoma County and the town of Petaluma, the highway bordered by cows, sheep, or vineyards. Another 20 minutes and you arrive in downtown Sebastopol.
I always arrange to meet my friends at the heart of Sebastopol: a huge, modern, fabulously stocked Whole Foods. For an experience of the resident ‘Sebastopolians,’ we take out food from the Whole Foods deli, and eat on the bench in the sun, or in the green town square. People of all ages seem to know each other, even when they don’t. And somehow, it feels like you know them all too. And, indeed you do. Imagine a place where all the baby-boomers of the 60’s decided to move after they had ‘done their thing’ in the world, and you are picturing a good portion of the local population. Yes you knew them, because we all marched together, picketed together, and now are growing a wee bit grayer together. Then there are the kids of the baby-boomers, a younger generation who know that life deserves to be lived with ease. The rest of the population includes artists, people who love and work the land, and a sufficient number of East Coast transplants.
A brief tour of the downtown area, which is about two blocks long, highlights the local interests. The town hosts 3 bookstores (one just for spiritual books), 3 coffee shops, 2 organic restaurants, a Japanese restaurant, a local ice-cream shop, local brewery and half-dozen other restaurants. If you get the idea that people in Sebastopol like to eat and read, indeed we do. There’s also a first class art store, as well as one of the best-equipped Community Art centers all in the small compact area.
So much for the ‘city.’ Now for the heart of our tour. We head due west out of downtown Sebastopol. Within 15 minute we are surrounded by spreading ranches with lambs on one side and cows on the other. Hills upon hills, sky falling into sky. Along the way, I point out the smaller towns- Freestone and Bodgea. Freestone is home to the Wildflower Organic Brick Oven Bakery, and Osmosis – an enzyme bath established in Japan and exported to this tiny town. Bodega claims its fame as the site where The Birds was filmed. It has a great coffee spot—we stop for a cup at “Cup of Mud” and photograph the white steeple of the small church, one of the most picturesque in the area.
Resuming our drive, we reach the reason I live in West County: the Pacific Ocean. We have driven only 25 minutes to gaze at infinity. A county park, Doran Beach, offers an unobstructed three-mile walk along the sand.
To the left are the headlands of Point Reyes, a national seashore, and to the right is Bodega Heads, a great sunset watching spot.But for now, we just walk along the water watching surfers in their wetsuits and sea shell collectors. Most weekdays, we have the beach to ourselves. Growing up in Brooklyn, fighting for my piece of sand at Brighton Beach, it’s hard to believe now I have all this. My parents would have loved it!
Time for lunch, so we drive through the town of Bodega Bay, right on the bay which ebbs and flows with the tides, along the coast to Salmon Creek. Just in front of it, we stop to eat at a little Mexican seafood place I love, Brisas Del Mar. The corner seat by the window gives great views of ocean, sky and exquisite sunsets. Out the other side- just huge, vast, unpopulated hills of green. Lunch matches the view.
Heading back to my house, we take a short cut over Bay View road. This is one of the two roads that cuts over the hills from town to the ocean. Once up on the road, there is nothing but land on either side—vast amounts of rolling hills. The contours of the land are feminine, the sky is huge, and the sight of ocean behind us sparkles as we delight in being totally alone with nature.
Soon we pass through the town of Occidental, a story book town nestled in the redwoods. Boutique stores trimmed with white Christmas lights line its one block main street. The town feels like a high-mountain town, clear air, and a feeling of complete relaxation. Turning right on Bohemian Highway, we drive through redwoods, vineyards with the last orange of fall, and wide open meadows with llamas, sheep and cows.
Ending the tour at the Freestone Retreat Center, a 100-year old Victorian farmhouse, we sit in front of the warm woodstove as the moon rises over the hills. I offer a cup of tea to my New York visitors, and wonder if they will be the next ones to make the migration west. Mysterious are the ways of destiny.
© 2005 Laura Duggan
