Sunday in Marin County: We woke up early for explorations and headed over the Golden Gate to Marin County and the Muir Woods. Walking through Cathedral Grove and the coastal red woods before the crowds was worth it. The air smelled so crisp, the temperature was perfect, the sunlight filtered down through the trees, birds sang their good morning songs, and Redwood Creek bubbled and flowed gently through the valley. We did a 3.5 mile loop (Canopy Trail / Fern Creek / Redwood Creek).
Next we drove another 1.5 hours north up the coast on a very windy road, past Stinson Beach and up to Point Reyes National Seashore. I didn't intend for this to be another National Parks themed trip, but it pretty much turned into that. The coast was beautiful even with wisps of fog rolling up the hills and a band of it sitting over the water. We drove all the way out to Point Reyes Lighthouse. Edison's highlight of the day was seeing and hearing giant elephant seals swimming in the water and flopping on the beach. Male elephant seals can be nearly 20' long and weight almost 9000 pounds!
After exploring Point Reyes, we drove back south to the darling beach town of Sausalito that sits on the protected bay north of San Francisco. Charlotte and Reed marveled at how many fancy cars we saw there (McLaren! Rolls Royce! Ferrari!) We got ice creams and strolled the docks of the marina checking out the many boats, including one live-aboard that was a replica of the Taj Mahal.
Finally, we winded our way up the Marin Headlands to a prime spot to view the Golden Gate Bridge. It was exceptionally windy, but worth it for an incredible vista. After dinner, we headed out to watch sunset at Alamo Square, the park with the view of the "Painted Ladies" Victorian houses and the modern city skyline that has grown up behind them. I was glad to share this spot with the kids after educating them by watching the Full House opening credits that (for me) made them famous. The kids liked the hill to views, played tag at the playground, and saw some more cool cars (Vintage Porsche 911!).
No comments:
Post a Comment