Occidental 2015

Freestone, from the parking lot of Wildflower Bakery.

Shots from the CYO camp where the mushroom camp was being held

Cooking demo.

Every time I travel down Hwy 116 from 101 through Cotati, Sebastopol, and then onto Bodega Hwy, turn right on Bohemian Hwy to Occidental, I feel nostalgia for what was once my hometown. For someone with no roots at all, this can be a little odd, like feeling nostalgic about a Valero gas station only because it's on the way to Occidental. But the natural beauty of the place is undeniable, and I have old friends who live here, and remember others who have passed away or moved away. When I rode down that stretch of Hwy for the first time in 8 years back in 2013, I realized at that moment how I had spent my years back in Texas thinking about this wonderful, beautiful place.

Basic shot of Bohemian Hwy, or "Downtown" Occidental. One of those buildings on the right, the Union Hotel, really was a bohemian hotel, and there was a notorious madam running working girls out of those rooms during the days when logging was king and there were railroad tracks instead of asphalt. I remember the day the patrician of Occidental's oldest Italian family died, and how his funeral was a huge deal. Heard someone say he was the last person alive who remembered when the trains still ran. 

Barley & Hops. When I lived in Occidental, this place was Pignoli's. Got offered a job there and turned it down, sort of. Which was one pivotal thing that didn't happen which would have radically changed my life, i.e. I would probably have never moved back to Austin. But then again, the bad times I experienced in Austin in 2006-2013 made me a much stronger person as I learned how to better handle tough times. I am a very different person now. That said, there were some good things which happened with the path I did take. For example, would I have ever met Robin?