And miles to go before we eat. Sightseeing, sampling, improvising from the Golden Gate to Portland, Ore. By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff | May 25, 2008. SAN FRANCISCO - We're waiting for our rental car at Avis. When the attendant pulls up, I wonder if there's been a misunderstanding. It looks like an unmarked police car, I tell my husband. It's even dark blue. I asked for something larger than a compact because we're driving so far, and I thought we should be comfortable, he says. Minutes later, we pull away in our Mercury Grand Marquis looking for all the world like a couple of unlikely narcs. Our final destination is Portland, Ore. (or PDX, as the locals call it, using airport shorthand). We'll stay there for a few days, and then drive back to San Francisco, all in one week. This trip is largely unplanned. We had round-trip airline tickets from Boston to San Francisco and at first we thought about taking day trips. One night I propose that we drive to Oregon, and just like that it's settled. The only reservations (we found everything online) are for inns on the route north; when it's time to turn around, we'll play it by ear. As we sail over the Golden Gate Bridge, just ahead of rush-hour traffic, we peer down into the bay. The sun is bright; the spot is beautiful; and something about this big car makes us feel like it belongs to Daddy and we're on a joy ride. We're on our way to Sonoma County, specifically Cloverdale, a town in the Alexander Valley, where we'll stay. Quickly we fall into our roles: My husband is at the wheel, and I'm madly studying maps and leafing through guidebooks to see what's ahead. He does his job well. Lacking a good sense of direction, I'm hopeless. Let's have an early supper on Sonoma Plaza, I announce. The car makes a sharp turn east. Sonoma is nothing like neighboring Napa. Where Napa has a Disney quality, Sonoma is refined and understated. That elegance is on display in chic and pricey housewares shops. The quaint 1835 plaza is eight acres; small adobe buildings around it were once food markets and dance halls. We find the Sign of the Bear, an outstanding cookware shop (you'll never see a place more crammed) and amuse ourselves. Then we slip into El Dorado Hotel Kitchen - light, spare, and stunning - for a glass of local wine. The lively bar looks onto a stone courtyard, and we settle into a plush banquette. It's so comfortable that we ask for a dinner menu and don't bother moving. It feels romantic to squeeze plates onto the little bar table. Cloverdale, it turns out, isn't around the corner. We get lost and nearly an hour later find Old Crocker Inn. Tony Babb shows us to our room. He and his wife, Marcia, and son Trevor run the place. The couple moved here from Menlo Park three years ago after Tony retired. A wide and inviting wraparound porch circles the inn. Old Crocker sits on five acres. The property was originally much larger and housed a hunting lodge owned by Charles Crocker, one of the men who built the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s. Marcia Babb's breakfast includes homemade berry scones, fine creamy quiche, sausages, and fresh fruit salad garnished with edible violets. The round dining room is rimmed with windows and glass doors. We hate to move on. But now we need to get to Interstate 5, which we'll follow all the way to Portland. Funny, the shortcut we take doesn't look mountainous on the map. We're very high, near snow-covered peaks, then down, down twisty roads, across the south rim of Clear Lake and east to I-5. We're a couple hours behind schedule, but then again, we have no place to be, except over the Oregon line to Grants Pass by nightfall. At Shasta Lake, we pass a real estate office advertising, Free list of foreclosures. We stop at a down-and-out IGA and buy fruit and yogurt for lunch, take off warm vests and sweaters, and eat leaning against the car in the sun. Mount Shasta, the highest peak in the California Cascades at 14,162 feet, looms in the distance above the evergreens. The landscape in this northern stretch is so rocky and barren, so completely unenticing, you wonder why anyone ever settled here. Drivers seem to have a purpose: RVs, semis, pickups stuffed with gear or pulling a flatbed. Not many ordinary cars. Though ours is hardly ordinary. Before we cross the state line, the mountains emerge again looking like marble in the distance. I-5 cuts right through the spectacular Siskiyou Mountains, at 4,310 feet, the highest point on the interstate. We're desperate to stretch our legs and so we pull into charming Ashland, Ore., and Greenleaf Restaurant in an 1880 building. I dash to the ladies room. Two doors read People and Other People. Imagine the hippest place you know. It's nothing compared to Ashland, which makes Harvard Square look like the Bush White House. Our server is so calm we wonder if he's just come from yoga class. We sip tea and look around like we're in some sort of museum. We're tired and sorry we're not spending the night here. We have no idea how much sorrier we'll be. Buckle up. The bluemobile starts climbing again to Grants Pass. We fly by the turnoff for Central Point, where Rogue Creamery makes famous blue-veined cheeses (a stop for the return trip). The Lodge at Riverside in Grants Pass, a makeover of an ordinary motel on the Rogue River, is a log cabin update. When you weave past the vending machines and concrete walkways to the rooms, the motel part comes shining through. It's getting on 7 p.m. and the well-intentioned desk clerk doesn't warn us that everything in town is about to button up real tight. We roam aimlessly looking for dinner. Lights in all the downtown businesses are on; everything is shut. After an hour, we find G Street Bar Grill. They're counting the day's take and turn us away, but one of the cooks takes pity and makes us burgers. In the morning, we tank up at Dutch Bros. Coffee and rush away. By midday, we're in Eugene, home of the University of Oregon. Organic coffee kiosks line the route. One sign reads, Oil change espresso.. During lunch at Zenon Cafe, three men at the table beside us, in a business meeting, are dressed alike: jeans, navy blazers, white sneakers. Much of the menu is organic, there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan offerings, and dishes made with Tabil and other North African seasonings. Moving north through the Willamette Valley, we notice grapevines planted on the hills. We'll drink valley wine when we reach Portland, which we do midafternoon. The Benson Hotel is a luxurious spot with a most welcoming staff. The doorman tells us we can get our car with 10 minutes' notice, but we have no intention of driving for a while. We even take several cabs to avoid it. A chatty bellhop sends us for a walk around the corner to the Pearl District, Portland's renovated warehouse area. This is where the artists live, though there are plenty of Audi wagons among the rusting Volvos. The most famous shop is Powell's Books (my husband is champing at the bit), but several national chains - Design Within Reach, Lululemon Athletica, REI, Eddie Bauer, and Hanna Andersson - are behind beautiful old facades. We stumble on Pearl Bakery and this place, we decide, would be a daily stop if we lived in Portland. And, oh, by the way, we'd live in the Pearl. Like dozens of people we meet during several days here, many of them visited, liked it enough to consider moving, and did. We've never met nicer people anywhere. We walk miles, discovering neighborhoods, going to the East Side for dinner at the newly acclaimed Le Pigeon, where chef Gabriel Rucker, 27, is wowing customers in a small, unadorned spot; to Noble Rot, a wine bar with terrific French classics to nibble; and Rocket, where chef and owner Leather Storrs is growing micro greens on his roof to garnish outstanding food. In the Northwest section, we have an obligatory dinner at the PDX favorite, Paley's Place, and in spite of raves everywhere, we're underwhelmed by the s...

First settled in the 1880s by railroad pioneer. the Crocker Ranch has hosted dignitaries and travelers for over 100 years. Today, the ranch operates as a bed breakfast for Sonoma County wine country visitors. Secluded in the hills above. one of the great California wine regions, the inn offers eight guest rooms, full breakfasts, massage service and a swimming pool. and dozens of family wineries are all close at hand. Check availability and book securely online or call us at 800 716 2007. 1126 Old Crocker Inn Rd | Cloverdale | California | 95425 | 707 894 4000 tel | 707 814 3900 fax. ABOUT US The Old Crocker Inn is a bed and breakfast retreat in Sonoma County wine country. Our guests are typically looking for lodging or accommodations close to the area's wineries, vineyards and tasting rooms, but not in a town or on a main road. We are on a secluded ridge overlooking the grapevines of Alexander Valley. The ranch is quiet, private and is home to deer, quail, jack rabbit, tree frogs, wild turkey and a variety of other birds. Old Crocker Inn was featured in. Secret Hotels of California Wine Country in the April issue of. Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine. Please explore this site for more information about the history of the Crocker Ranch guest rooms and cottages. Sonoma County wine country. We have information about local. 3-diamond rated and members of the. Russian River Wine Road. Historic Inns of Cloverdale. California Association of Bed and Breakfasts. Professional Association of Innkeepers International. You may read reviews from some of our guests on. LOCATION Old Crocker Inn is located in the northern part of Sonoma County, between the towns of Geyserville and Cloverdale, just north of Healdsburg. We are a short drive from Hopland, Willits and Ukiah in Mendocino County. The major wine appellations in this area are Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley. Please note: the Sonoma Valley and the town of Sonoma are located in the Southeastern part of Sonoma County, about an hour and a half away. SEASONS With certain exceptions, we are generally busy during Northern California's dry season, April through October. We require a two night minimum on weekends in June through September and during sponsored wine event weekends, such as the Dry Creek Valley Barrel Tasting weekends in March, Russian River Wine Road Passport Weekend in April, Alexander Valley's Taste of the Valley in November. GETTING HERE US Interstate 101 will bring you north to Sonoma County from the San Francisco Bay area, or south from Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The nearest full-sized commercial airport is Oakland International (OAK), which is recommended for travelers seeking the most direct route, as it is accessible to Sonoma County entirely by freeway. Travelers arriving at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) must drive through the city of San Francisco. The best route is to take US380 West to US280 North to San Francisco, straight through the Sunset district on 19th Ave, straight through Golden Gate Park, straight on Park Presidio, straight across the Golden Gate Bridge, north on US101 to Sonoma County. Get directions and maps here. The nearest airport with a commercial carrier is Santa Rosa, with Horizon Air service daily between Seattle and Los Angeles. Santa Rosa Airport has car rental agencies on site. The nearest private airport is Cloverdale. We will happily fetch you at the airstrip if you would like to fly here in a private aircraft. ROOMS Our guest rooms are named for the Big Four railroad pioneers and other figures and names related to the Central Pacific railroad. Rooms in private cottages are named. Rooms in our 1906 lodge are named check availability online using our secure real-time booking engine. Standard rates are $155 to $245 per night, double occupancy. There is a $30 charge for each extra person in rooms that can accommodate more than two people. CANCELLATIONS We require 8 or more days notice to cancel a reservation for one room. We require 15 or more days notice to cancel two or more rooms. A $10 administrative fee will be charged to your credit card for each cancelled room reservation, with a total fee not to exceed $25. If you cancel a reservation in fewer than the required number of days notice, you agree to pay for the room unless we are able to rebook it. PAYMENT We require of you a debit or credit card number to make a reservation. We will verify the validity of your card. However, your account will not be charged until the end of your stay, or in the event of a cancellation (see policy above). At the time you check-in we will ask for a credit card again. You may use any valid card or pay for your room with cash or gift certificates, or any combination. MARKETING In addition to. we are listed with over a dozen tourist information websites. They include: sonoma.winecountry.com innsofcloverdale.com. EVENTS We host a limited number of corporate and private events at the ranch each year. We can offer overnight accommodations for up to 20 people, a dining room that seats up to 60 people, a commercial kitchen for catering services, meeting spaces, picnic and campfire areas, professional audio-visual photographic equipment, and full organizational support. We also have a network of trusted local service providers who can meet any of your event needs. Please contact us at 707 894 4000 to discuss an event you are planning. all images copyright 2007 Old Crocker Inn

 Credit cards accepted
 Dinner may be served in the room
 Facsimile services
 Access to internet
 Ironing facilities
 Jacuzzi tub
 Smoke-free guest rooms
 Pets are accepted
 Parking lot
 Private park, garden, courtyard
 Quiet surroundings
 Clock/radio
 Restaurant
 Private/Ensuite bathroom
 Swimming pool
 Tea and coffee making facilities
 Phone at reception
 TV sets in rooms
 Patio, summer terrace
 Common room with a TV set