Farewell San Francisco

 3 July 2024

Our last drive over the Golden Gate bridge as we headed for the airport. We had an amazing holiday with Kevin & Michelle and Daisy dog , they've been fantastic hosts and lots of fun.

We managed to squeeze in a bit of help with polishing my brother's rowing shell at the Sausalito Open Water Rowing Club - check out that shine.....it's bound to go faster now 😁

A last cheeky lunch at the local Pho spot.

It was also a sad time as my dear old dad passed away in his sleep in New Zealand and whilst we were not able to get back in time for the funeral (NZ 3 July/SF 2 July),  it was lovely to join via technology and be together with our San Francisco family.

With 3 July being one of the biggest traffic days of the year on the road and in the sky,  as families travel in advance of  Independence Day, we got to the airport early. We hit no snags so had  lots of time for people watching until our flight mid evening.

14 hours later and just like that we're on the other side of the world. Sunny Brisbane!

Not bad for a winters day, beach walk in 22°C - lovely jubly!

Pt Bonita Lighthouse

 

Point Bonita was the last staffed lighthouse on the California coast.

Up until 1940 the lighthouse could be reached by a trail, but erosion caused the trail to crumble into the sea. A wooden walkway was installed, but when that became treacherous a suspension bridge was built in 1954. This is the only lighthouse in the United States which can only be reached by a suspension bridge.

Before you can take the suspension bridge you need to walk down to a tunnel - this is boys own adventure stuff! 

There were stunning views in every direction and of course we had a hot, sunny day....they say it never rains in California 😄

E Voila! The suspension bridge - very cool!

The lighthouse was often the first sight hardy sailors and new settlers saw as they approached San Francisco. It now has a fabulous little museum and great old photographs that tell the story of the lives of the early lighthouse keepers.

The marine life looked abundant. Seals sunning themselves on rocks way down on the shore, the biggest flocks of pelicans we've ever seen, shags busy working as a team herding fish for their dinner, fishing charters boats - wonderful. Highly recommend this short walk and glimpse into early life of the Bay Area. They have park rangers there too if you want information - great location but the rangers looked so hot in their uniforms I really felt for them.

The Bay Area

We've had some wonderful times exploring the Bay Area, it has so much going for it - a great outdoors playground. The parkland alongside the coast and in the high country is so beautiful and offers so many adventures - hiking, sailing, rowing, climbing, horseriding, trekking, bird watching, kayaking, mountain biking....I could go on but I'll stop there!

We've loved mooching about in Sausalito. 

Many times we'd park the car in the free parking and wander along the waterfront - icecreams were a factor on hot days😁

The view to the city changed on every visit taking into account the fog factor.

Across the bridge we took the Lands End track and had spectacular views, we had Miss Daisy dog with us, she knew the track and all the good sniffing spots.

Across from the park was the Legion of Honor museum and a very moving holocaust memorial.

The museum itself is an architectural stunner!  More Rodan sculptures than you could shake a stick at, incredible.

Photo of the day was Daisy on the track in the evening light👍

Highway 1 roadie

24 June 2024

We made our way back to San Rafael via highway 1 which provided a range of coastal delights. We started in the cute little village of Jenner. It was a misty morning with sea fog which made for a beautiful start to our drive south.
 

First things first and that was coffee at Cafe Aquatica - great coffee and right on the river.

Our next stop was Goat Rock and Blind beach. We had hoped to walk to the seals but as you can see from the pictures below the sea fog was quite thick so after a while we turned back.

Majestic rock formations just off shore  clouded in mist  - made it very dramatic.

It must be stunning on a clear day. We loved it none the less.

Next  we wound our way along the incredible coast line with so many little coves and beaches. We stopped at Portuguese Beach and School House Beach before arriving at Bodega Bay.

Bodega bay was established as a port by the Russian settlers who came for a milder climate to raise crops and fur trade with Alaskan settlements. (We passed by Bodega where the film The Birds was shot).

They picked a great spot. The wide sheltered tidal estuary is home to so much marine life it's incredible. In the short time we were there we saw sea otter, an Osprey flying with a fish it had caught in its claws, so many wading birds working the tide lines, seals and seabirds of all descriptions.

Our expert road trip advisers suggested we try the clam chowder and/or the Dungeness crab. So always one to follow instructions that's exactly what we did and it was perfect - we sat outside and spotted a sea otter!

On the road again, we drove all the way down beside Tomales Bay - stunning coastline and the sun was out. 

We poked our noses into the Tomales shops, think Martinborough and you'll get the idea - cute as a button!

Next stop another cute little town, only bigger, Pt Reyes Station.

We looked into the famous 'Tobys Feedlot' where we grabbed a coffee and checked out the amazing range of produce on sale. King Charles and Queen Camilla have visited here so if it's good enough for royalty...😁

The little gallery had an interesting exhibition.

Then we drove out to the Pt Reyes Lighthouse passing all the little beachside settlements along the way. Gorgeous road that hugged the coast for quite a while. The closer we got to Pt Reyes the more foggy it became. Oh no, would we see the light house?

Where there's a will, there's a way - a bit of foggy mist never hurt anyone.

There are 321 steps down to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was actually beneath the mist when we got to the bottom of the steps.

We smashed out the 321 steps back to the top no sweat - we have calves of steel from our rock climbing on the Likya Yolu in Turkey 😄

We drove the Lucas Valley Rd back to San Rafael. It was lovely to drive through a tunnel of towering Redwoods. 

Fun fact, the earliest AA garage is in Pt Reyes Station village - it has a wall of trophy heads too. What a fantastic day, one for the memory bank for sure.