December 16th, 2012
Even with our bitter experience with
weather, we decided to go to Point Reyes National Seashore on Sunday.
It was cloudy and there was big chance of rain in the afternoon. But
it did not look like the weather would be anyhow great soon, so we
just had to suffer through it. I got J. out of the bed relatively
soon and we left around 8 am. The road was nice, pretty empty and we
even so some glimpses of sun. We had to drive across part of San
Francisco (pretty slow) and as well Golden Gate (first time). It was
interesting and kind of pretty (even with all that fog). After
crossing the bridge, we made a stop (there is really nice vista
point). Surprisingly, there was quite a few people (for Sunday
morning). And driving … driving … there were some big towns and
after that, we were driving through the country. It was strange, how
close we were to SF and how it looked there.
After about an hour and some change, we
were in the area of Point Reyes Park. It was really cloudy and we saw
a lot of fog. There was as well a lot of farming (cows). We did not
expect such a landscape, the grass was really green and it was
incredibly wet.
As usual, quick stop at visitor's
center, not much helpful. We already had a map of the park and more
less figured out what we were going to do.
In Inverness (small town), we had some
fun with local restaurant called “Vladimir”, serving
Czechoslovakian food.
Same town gave us some more
entertainment, when we saw some houses on the water. One of them had
towers like russian temple.
The whole area was pretty hilly. It was
not big hills or mountains, just nice farming hills with many and
many cows. Not the most pleasant driving.
On the way to the lighthouse, we saw
ocean few times.
As I said, there was a lot of farming
going on. Most of the farms along the main road were historical
sites. Getting closer to the ocean and lighthouse, the farms were
alphabetically named, starting A, with the one closest to the ocean.
Interesting.
As well surprisingly, we saw a lot of
deer. Few times we barely noticed them (fog). They were not really
scared of people. Once I even thought, it was a statue in the fog.
Getting closer to the lighthouse, the
fog was getting thicker and thicker. When we parked, we could not see
the ocean (or really anything else for that matter). There was not
many cars on our drive, by the lighthouse, there was probably ten
cars parked.
It was about 0.4 miles to the
lighthouse, walking up, then down (enjoying no view). On the top of
the rock, there were some supporting buildings, water reservoir and
as well 8 units house. We talked to the lady in small gift shop for a
moment. After that, we walked about 300 stairs down to the actual
lighthouse. The fog got thinner going down (at least something). And
along the way, there were some interesting views.
And then lighthouse. It is now mainly
the attraction, there is automatic light and fog horn. The old house
is still there, as well the old lens (nicely restored). We again
talked to the guy who was there (park ranger). They used to operate
the fog horn with coal motor, so they had to shovel about 160 pounds
of coal an hour. Hard life.
We were driving back (as the road to
lighthouse ended there), planning to visit few more places along the
way back. All those places were small roads off the main road (sir
Francis Drake Boulevard). The first one was the overlook of the Drake
beach. There were supposed to be seals. We parked and walked short
distance to the point. Along the way, we could hear some strange
noises. Apparently, the seals can make some loud noises when they
fight. Breeding/mating season is coming up. We were too far, but we
could see bunch of seals on the beach. Pretty nice.
The next one was actual access to Drake
beach. Small beach (it was as well high tide). Big parking lot. Not
much to see except of angry ocean. We stopped by visitor's center and
talked to ranger for a while. Apparently, male seal controls up to
dozen of females. And they fight for the dominance. Who knew?
Pretty cold. And wet. On the way back
to the main road, we stopped and observed elks. They looked almost
like farm animals. They were pretty close to the road and there was a
fence. They did not really care when we were so close taking
pictures. Really big animals.
Last stop was North beach. Again, short
drive from main road and relatively big parking lot. More less normal
beach. Obviously not at the time, it was cold, rainy and windy.
Otherwise, it would be probably pretty nice place.
And my favorite: Duck.
That was pretty much all from the park.
We were heading out. We stopped in Inverness, where Czechoslovakian
restaurant was. J. took some more pictures, we walked to the bay and
looked around. It was strange place. There was as well coffee shop
and small grocery store (it looked weird, half empty etc.).
We changed the road and continued on
road number 1. On the way to the park, we took “faster” route.
And it was pretty bad. So we were curious how bad this road would be.
It started nice, 55 miles speed limit, but then we did hit the ocean
and followed it. The road was really windy and super slow. No wonder,
this was the slower route. It was somewhat pretty, relatively empty
and rugged. We made quick stop at Stinson Beach (small town and
beach). It was actually pretty normal beach with huge parking lot. I
guess, you could surf there too. It was getting darker and colder.
J. made this sign at Stinson Beach:
Our last stop was next to the Muir
Woods Park. It was overlook of Muir Beach (how creative with names).
There was unfortunately tour bus, so it was noisy. It was colder and
raining. We walked down to the overlook, where we could see (more
less) San Francisco. It was nice, but bloody cold.
In short time, we were back on the
road, that we took in the morning. We knew, we were back in
civilization, when we saw 7/11 store. Too sad. Then it was freeway
and Golden Gate. After getting back to the city, we were enjoying the
traffic. It was pretty bad. But … there is more then two feet of
snow in Flagstaff. And it is freezing (some) at home in Michigan. So,
it is not too bad in here. And then just freeways: 280, 380 and 101.
We were kind of hungry, so we decided
to try some pizza. Pretty close to our place is Round Table pizza. So
we went there and got our dinner. It was kind of pricy, but pretty
good. The day was over.
