Made it to Pt Reyes - Sunday 2/16/20

I hope every traveler knows that the best day to drive through any major city is Sunday; no hurrying worker-bees or lunchy-loos to contend with or school buses to avoid.  Just drivers out for a Sunday outing or church folks looking for a diner.  For us, this Sunday was plopped in the middle of a 3-day-weekend, so an above-average amount of drivers littered Hwy 1.  Yup, we drove from Monterey through Half Moon Bay, into San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge to the town of Olema, by Point Reyes Visitor Center.  All on twisty-turny, narrow Hwy 1 which hugs the coastline.  In San Francisco, Hwy 1 became narrow, hilly 19th Street, and slow-moving!  Jimmy drove in the city so I could navigate.  And we did A-OK.

But first, we passed and stopped at Pigeon Point Bluffs overlook, so we could take a picture of this handsome lighthouse.  We didn't try to go in because we're never sure if there's room for Tergel and Smartie together, or if we could turn around.  Made a pretty picture!

Is this a field of mustard?  Rapeseed?

Whatever it is, I love the color!

Jimmy also drove across the bridge so I could take pictures.  Haha, really it's because I hate driving across bridges, especially this one for some reason.  Heck, we've walked across this bridge from one side to the other AND back!  Anyway, I was too busy taking pictures to feel nervous for which I'm grateful.

Overlooking San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz.  Jimmy and I visited the island with my brother, Rus, and SiL, Anne, back in September 2012.  We toured the penitentiary, now a museum, but I tell you true, the four of us were glad to get back on the ferry and return to San Francisco (below).

Eye-catching skyline.

We figured a yacht club must be having a regatta 'cause we saw lots and lots of sailboats on the east side of the bay.  Two or three of them have black sails.

I suppose we must be nuts to travel without a campground reservation on a three-day-weekend, but we figured we'd get a site at Olena Campground.  Too bad our Good Sam card expired last June, and we were unaware of it, so we had to pay full price.  While many sites were taken, plenty were still available; we had no problem.  With a lot of families Out and About this weekend, kids were playing when we arrived, having noisy fun, but the night was quiet.  We slept well.

We wanted to get in a walk/hike after arriving and setting up, but the afternoon was waning -- so we picked a short hike that was the closest to the campground.  Giacomini Wetlands, off Hwy 1, is a restored wetlands habitat, and good for birding.  Goodness, when we got out of the car, a blast of cold north wind hit us in the face and we debated about continuing.  We did, but we never warmed up; we both needed our jackets (which were in Tergel).

The first "wild" animal we spotted was a black cow on the path.

And they were roaming the hillsides....

Next item of interest to me was this large shrub, which had a slightly pleasant fragrance, but I have no idea what it is. 

As you see, the tide was out (of Tomales Bay) where Lagunitas Creek crosses.  We heard geese but saw no birds or other wildlife.  Everything was probably holed up to stay out of the wind! 

Yacht for sale?  A fixer-upper?

Nice to get out after sitting in Tergel for several hours.

We put in a couple of miles.

Returning to Smartie, we encountered Bossie ambling down our trail.  Notice I said "our."  Get off our trail, we told her.  She gave us the stink eye.  She's big, like a-tank-big.  I was going to walk past her, but something in her eyes made me hide behind Jimmy.  She finally mooved and we could go by.

Hmmm, Number 326.  I don't remember what I told her, but she took offense.  As I started past, she made a hostile moove, like she was going to charge into me!  Whoa, Nellie, I said, get back #326, and hid behind Jimmy again.  We scurried by this gal and I realized this is the first time I've ever felt uncomfortable walking in a field with cows.  Guess I should brush up on my sweet-talkin'.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a fine weather day.  I bet we can find something cool to do ....

Da Bridge! Da Bridge! Thursday, 4/28/16

Thursday's sunny morning was far different from the rainy day before. It didn't even seem too windy, which was good for our plans. We checked out of Cow Hollow Inn, packing our stuff in the Prius, and drove to and parked at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center, San Fran side. Today we're walking the entire distance across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco to Marin County. Not an especially big deal, but it's something we wanted to do. And today is a stellar day to do it.

Dressed in layers against the chill morning, here we stand near the welcome center.

Lucky us, there's nary a cloud in the robin's egg blue sky.

Below this end of the bridge is Fort Point, a Civil War fortress.

Surfers wait for the big ones in the white water.

It's a nice three-and-a-half-mile scenic hike from end to end.

This "toy" helicopter flew UNDER the bridge; very strange to see!  It wasn't a toy!

Not often a real helicopter flies below you.

Jimmy is standing at a viewpoint on the bridge.

High rises in the City of San Francisco are visible left, center.

Lime Point Lighthouse sits at land's end on the northern side of the bay.

Built in 1883, but I don't know if it's still operating.  It was off limits.

Hooray, we made it to the other side!  The bridge wasn't too crowded, either.

What a great walk, and now we get to turn around and go back where we started from!

Both sides of the bridge approaches are being seismically retrofitted.

Ongoing work includes new support towers. 

Did not know a thing about Angel Island, but now we do.  The entire island is a state park (1962), accessible by private boat or public ferry.  In the mid-19th Century it was used for cattle ranching.  Later in the 19th Century, Fort McDowell was established. From 1910 to 1940 it was used as an immigration station, processing approximately one million Asian immigrants into the US.  It has an active lighthouse at Point Blunt.  Tourist activities, biking and hiking and even limited camping are what's happening these days. Oh boy, another new place to explore.

 Telephoto of Alcatraz Island, stuck out in the middle of that cold bay!

At Vista Point, some guy sidled up to us, took my camera in hand, and said, "Have some fun with those pictures!  Here, hold your hands like this, and like this."  And he moved back and clicked the shutter! The Marin County side of the bridge has a much bigger parking lot, and it was chock-a-block full of cars and buses and crowded with people.  More restrooms, too.  I think I heard every language spoken on earth at this spot.  That's how famous this bridge is.  Both ends of the bridge touch the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, but on the Marin side, the NRA extends a long way.  More fun in the works!

Back on the SF side.

Of course, it took us much longer than we intended, as we stop often to gawk or study something, but we weren't in a hurry.  This was what we wanted to do -- so be it.  I can tell you that Tues-Wed-Thurs were high counts on the ol' fitbit.  Yesterday we put in over 19,000 steps (yep, we were in bed early). 

So, we enjoyed our brief SF outing.  One evening we devoured pizza, and we ate in Chinatown the next evening at R & G Lounge -- love their spicy eggplant.  We took the #30 bus to Union Square (that actually was a lot of fun and a lot easier than driving and looking for a parking place) where we shopped at Uniqlo and bought a few things.

Transamerica Pyramid from Chinatown.

We finished our bridge walk around Noon, and headed for home, with a stop first at Ikea, and then a short visit with Matt and Jen in Sacramento. They're redoing their front yard landscaping with drought resistant plants, and it was beginning to take shape, looking very nice, very professional.  We finally got home around 7pm.

Time for a cute pic.  Our friend, Fran, handed us this goofy toy to give to either Sophie or Maggie (Matt and Jen's doggies), tho I'm here to tell you that no way, NO WAY, was Sophie going to move with that "monkey on her back!!"

The Mighty Task is Done! Wed aft, 4/23/14

Here's another one of those bucket list things.  If I had a bucket list, which I don't and neither does Jimmy, crossing the 1.5 mile Golden Gate Bridge on foot or bicycle, would be right up there.  Never thought we'd actually do it, either.  Wrong!  We walked to the South Tower (larger tower in photo below).  We didn't go all the way to other other side for two reasons:  One was we only had a half bottle of water between us, but the main reason is we wanted to visit the Disney Family Museum this afternoon, and we were running out of time (again!)  We live close enough. We'll be back!

Spectacular location, graceful lines, emblematic color = one famous bridge!

Aw, lovers below the bridge!  Sweet!

The bridge is way up there!  Fort Point is practically underneath the bridge.  We spent considerable time milling around here.  The fort was built between 1953 and 1861.  Now a National Historic Site, it houses a museum (which wasn't open today).

Yes, we were surprised to see waves like this, and surfers riding the waves!

Durn critters are everywhere....

It's easy to see why the Golden Gate Bridge is possibly the most beautiful, and certainly the most photographed bridge in the world. Construction began on Jan 5, 1933, and it opened on Mary 27, 1937. Until 1964, the Golden Gate was the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 ft. In 1984 this magnificent bridge was added to the list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

  

Yup, here we are, on our way to the South Tower.
BTW, those towers reach 500 ft above the road.

Looking up:  South Tower from the walkway, with Art Deco details.

No hats up here!  Very windy.  Crowded, too, with walkers, joggers, and bicyclists.  We've decided walking across would be more fun than riding across (unless we rode really early before hoards of tourists got up).  We started walking today from the dinky-looking pier in the distance.  That's San Francisco's skyscrapers beyond.

The subject line refers to a poem written by the Chief Engineer, Joseph P. Strauss.

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We didn't get to the Disney Family Museum, also on the Presidio grounds, until 3 pm.  It was so interesting and so artfully presented, and brought back so many memories, that we closed it down at 6 pm!

Another superb (and very full) day.

(tickets say 5 pm, but closing today was 6 pm)

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From our room:  A fantastic sunset on our last evening in the city, highlighting the bridge and the Palace of Fine Arts dome.  What a wonderful mini-vacation-anniversary this has been!

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