HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL! ENJOY YOUR SPECIAL DAY & EVENING. WE’LL DRINK A TOAST TO YOUR BIRTHDAY TONIGHT!
Day 102 – It was 28 degrees this morning at 8:30 a.m., clear & full sun. Good thing it’s not snowing! And I thought it was going to be warmer today. We left around 10:30 for Point Reyes National Seashore. Not a cloud in the sky – should make for some good pictures & hopefully warm things up a bit, although it was only 39 degrees when we departed.
We had a great day, taking many excellent roads through the Seashore, both on the Tomales Bay side and the Pacific Ocean side. Earlier it was too cold & a bit windy for us to do much more than drive & become familiar with the area and the things we could do. There are many, many trails, both for hiking and for biking, and also for horseback riding. We found two places for kayaking with good launch sites. The National Seashore was set aside in 1964 with the cooperation of several large ranches who’d worked the land since the 1800’s. It is a wonderful and quite large park with plenty of recreational opportunities. Very crowded last Sunday when we’d stopped at the Visitor’s Center for trail maps, today there weren’t too many people. The drive to the top of the mountain on Mount Vision Drive had only two other cars (which was a good thing because the road was very narrow). As it warmed up in the afternoon, it got a little more crowded, but it was nice to get out of the car and hike around. The more popular places to visit, like the Point Reyes Lighthouse, had its parking lot filled to capacity, even today, a Thursday. There were many cows & some horses, lots of deer, and plenty of Tule Elk – all grazing on the very green hillsides. Drake’s Bay and Estero were beautiful; if it gets warmer & less windy in the next couple of days, we will kayak there. At Drake’s Bay there was a large Elephant Seal pulled up on the beach, lazily sleeping on the sand. It occasionally looked up to see what was going on around it, then dropped its head back for more sleep. We spent a lot of time walking on the beach. The waves were large & beautiful. Trails appeared to be nicely maintained & we will do several more in the next couple of days. A magical place – if you’re in the area, plan to spend at least a day here! Oh, and did I mention all the birds?
Point Reyes National Seashore, Inverness, CA
Tule Elk Preserve and Patrick’s Point Ranch
Drake’s Beach
Drake’s Estero and North/South Beaches
Estero Trail
Back to the RV at 5:30 p.m. It was cold already, 41 degrees. We had big bowls of pesto & pasta with garlic bread to warm up, then cuddled with the girls (who had gotten into the closet & pulled out Rob’s socks to chase around the RV when we were gone).
Your mention of cows made me remember how incongruous it always seemed to have cows by the ocean! Being from the Midwest, and even in NY, cows and oceans don’t mix, lol! 😅 Big paradigm shift!
Ha ha. Yeah. Also seeing Elk with the ocean in the background! At some points on Route 1, the cows were on hills that were essentially cliffs, ending in the ocean. We were worried they would tumble in!
It is Christmas Eve and I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. Enjoying your blog very much. I am a little worried you may never come back. Rob you Photos get better and better.
Hi Cathie! Merry Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, to you, too! Yeah, you probably should worry about whether we’ll be coming back…….life is good on the road. Perhaps too good. LOL. We miss you.
Love, Vicki and Rob