Sonoma

Our first stop was downtown where they have a nice plaza and we sat in the shade to escape the 92 degree heat! There is a lot of history in this little town. Here the Mexican government overthrew the Spanish government in 1823. All church properties would be secularized which included the Mission San Francisco de Sonoma.


Gen. Vallejo was sent from Mexico to confiscate the property and he then founded the town around a central plaza. The barracks were erected in 1836 and were headquarters for the Bear Flag Party. Later they housed the US troops.


On June 14, 1846 they proclaimed a California Republic and raised the bear flag in the plaza. 23 days later the United States took possession of California. A monument stands in the plaza.


Settlers were lured to town for the free land but were not allowed to own land so the group threatened with deportation and calling themselves the bears arrested Vallejo and proclaimed California a republic with Sonoma as the capital. They raised a bear flag in the plaza which was soon replaced by the Stars and Stripes. In 1911 the bear flag was adopted as the state flag. Much of the town is laid out around plazas where the shops are located. We managed to locate an English Pub and a Mexican restaurant which or ivied relief from the heat.


Sonoma means valley of the moon. It is a most pleasant little town where I would have enjoyed staying longer. The Sonoma Valley is also quite famous for wines and is filled with wineries along highway 12.


We went to the laundromat and then stopped for ice cream. The town appeared to be quite unfriendly to rv's desiring to sleep cheap - sign, sign everywhere a sign - so we made another loop around the plaza.


We then took the winding backroads to Rohnert Park where we were delighted to find a quiet Walmart with a few other rv's parked. It isn't that we mind spending money; it just seems a waste when all we need is a small spot of ground on which to park. Towns are quite opposed to people sleeping in their vehicles and with the number of people we are seeing doing such I can understand why. "But not in our town!"  The towns appear full of homeless people roaming the streets or hanging out in the libraries. It is a sad state of affairs and I would guess many of them are veterans. We prefer to spend our money on winery tours, restaurant meals, museums, gas and such.