For memorial Day weekend 2012 the family and I headed up to Salt Point State Park between Jenner and Gualala. I've always enjoyed the area, it's a relatively small State Park with two campgrounds, Woodside (east of Highway 1) and Gerstle Cove (west of 1).
Fort Ross is only a few miles south and is a favorite destination for us, it's a 
recreation/restoration of the rich history fort that served as a self-sustaining but never profitable Russian trading post and later as a export post for the US shipping sandstone to SF and timber. The fort is very nicely maintained and free for visits if you are camping in one of the Sonoma County parks. We spent an hour or so visiting the fort itself and then strolled out the western gates and viewed the shoreline, beach, and had a brief picnic near the caretaker's cottage.
Like much of the Sonoma county coast, Salt Point features dramatic bluffs and tranquil beaches. Sunday we visited Stump Beach which is only couple of miles north and the creek was still feeding into the ocean and our girls and other kids loved playing in it, creating dams, wading, looking for critters, etc. We explored the sea caves, tide pools, and even saw a curious seal who came close to the shore to visit.
Originally we planned on staying 3 nights but unfortunately we're a little more tethered to the Internet than we may care to admit and Sunday afternoon we headed back. This did give me time to get everything put away on Monday and to give the Airstream a much needed bath and do some maintenance.
