Day 20 - 18/09/2022 - Gualala to Santa Clara

The sounds of the rain hitting the windowpane to which I had fallen blissfully and immediately asleep the night before had turned, in the morning, into a full-blown storm. I was never more grateful that I couldn't drive in my life and that, as a consequence, someone else would have to do it, as we made our way through the mist and the rain. This didn't stop us, however, from making a little stop where, if anything, the weather added to its mystique: the famous Lucky Mojo shop in Forestville. In the rain, I made its way through its beautiful garden, filled with curiosities that included a miniature city. I was the only person there (I'm guessing the weather had something to do with it) and so spent some time talking to the lovely staff, who were incredibly friendly and welcoming. There was a delicious, particular scent to the shop that I felt I carried with me through the rest of the day.

On the way back, we stopped to eat at Tasca Tasca, a Portuguese restaurant where I had Portuguese food like I had never tasted before. This was the tapas restaurant, while the one to its right is the gourmet one, where I was told the president of Portugal himself would be visiting the following week. As it turns out, he will be in Santa Clara, and I can't help but think about how funny it would be to meet the president of my country for the first time not in Portugal, where I travel to about three times a year, but all the way in California!

The garden at Lucky Mojo

The Tasca Tasca restaurant (Sousa's Restaurant being the name of a previous restaurant owned by the same person)