Fort Ross and our trip home...

Wednesday morning we had breakfast, then loaded up the car. We decided to continue north on Hwy 1, and visit Ft. Ross. Ft. Ross was a Russian settlement from 1812 to 1841, and was occupied by a group of Russians, Alaskans and American Indians. The fort became a state park in 1906, making it one of the oldest state parks in California. Only Big Basin state park is older than Ft. Ross.

We wound our way north from Olema, going through the little coastal communities of Tomales, Jenner and Bodega Bay. Very winding, twisty roads! But, it was a gorgeous, clear day, and the views of the ocean were amazing! We saw more happy cows, and beautiful rolling hills, along with steep mountains and deep ravines! There was definitely some white-knuckle driving, or, at least, there was some white-knuckle passenging!

There was a field trip of probably 5th grade kids visiting the fort. They were dressed in Russian garb, with Russian names, and were doing crafts and pretending that they lived at the fort in the early 1800's. They all seemed to be having a great time.

The fort was restored in the '80's - they did a great job! There is one original building remaining, and it's held up pretty darned well. We probably spent an hour at the fort and had a great walk along the ocean bluff before we got back in the car.

Heading back down Hwy 1 south is such a beautiful drive! We pulled over a couple of times for some photo ops, and just to watch the waves for awhile. Fortunately, it was breezy, but didn't have the wind on Wednesday that we'd had on Monday and Tuesday.

We had lunch in Bodega Bay at a little place called the Boat House. I had calamari and Lee had fish and chips!! They were fabulous! We learned that this coming weekend was the last weekend for cod, but that November first begins the giant squid season! Can't imagine hooking one of those things!

We stopped at the Muir overlook for amazing views of San Francisco, including the Pt. Bonita lighthouse. From there we went to the Pelican Inn! The Pelican Inn is located at the entrance to Muir Beach, and is billed as the most authentic pub outside of jolly old England! So, of course we had to go in and have a beer! The inside is very quaint - very pub-like, and we've decided that a day trip to Muir woods, Muir beach and lunch at the Pelican Inn are on our agenda in the near future.

Then came the final leg of our journey home - back to Hwy 101,and across the Golden Gate bridge! Unfortunately, this was not the best part of our trip! The bay bridge had been closed for repairs and 1.2 million people were creeping along 101, trying to get to San Francisco. From the time that we got on the highway until we got across the bridge was over an hour! Very, very sad! We were SO thankful that we wouldn't be repeating that trip the next day, as most of the other bridge-goers probably would!

But, back to home-sweet-home at about 8:30!

A wonderful trip! : )

Fort Ross is also on the register of National Historic places!

This view of the fort is on the ocean-side, looking back.

Inside the fort. There are cannons placed around, and in the far left corner you can see one of the two story blockhouses. They were also equipped with cannons. Apparently the fort was very effective, as the Spanish were unable to evict the Russians.

The building to the far right is the Kuskove home - it's the only remaining original structure. Ivan Kuskov was in charge of the fort and all of it's ventures. He lived there with his wife and 7 children.

This is a view of the northwest blockhouse, officials quarters and the chapel. You can also see the well to the left.

The Kuskov House.

Fort Ross cove. This is where supplies were delivered, as well as goods loaded onto ships to be sent back to Russia.

The Sonoma coast - just beautiful! We had a wonderful drive down the coast. Life is good!

You'll have to expand this picture taken from the Muir overlook, to see the San Francisco skyline and Pt. Bonita lighthouse.

We didn't take any photos of the traffic jam on Hwy 101.......

Our trip to Point Reyes

Since it seemed like we should be traveling, we decided to visit the Pt. Reyes National Seashore for a couple of days. Lee had wanted to visit there for quite awhile, so we made reservations at the Pt. Reyes Seashore Lodge in Olema, loaded up the car and headed out! No issue with seats in the car - we weren't oversold! : ) We were traveling with our Amish Friendship bread starter though, as it needed to be mooshed each day. I wonder what the housekeeper at the lodge thought when she encountered our bubbling zip-lok bag?



Monday was a beautiful day, as we left Moss Beach and headed north. Pt. Reyes is not very far from San Francisco - north on Hwy 101 to Sir Francis Drake Blvd., then head to the coast. The weather in the Olema area was very nice. We got checked in, then headed off to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore visitor center for maps. We learned there, that due to heavy winds, the light house was closed. We decided to drive over there anyway, as there was a large group of elephant seals that had hauled out on Drakes Beach.



Before going to the point, we drove up to the Tomales Bay State Park, and had lunch at Heart's Desire beach. A lovely little beach on Tomales bay. Again, the weather was beautiful, so it was hard for us to imagine that the lighthouse was closed. Of course, there was a mountain between us and it, so we started west. Sure enough, the wind picked up! Our first stop was to see the elephant seals. We nearly blew away when we got out of the car! We walked against the wind to the overlook and got some pictures, then blew back to the car. We wanted to do the hike to Chimney rock, but decided it was much too windy.



From there we went to the lighthouse. By the time we got there, the wind was terrific, and heavy wet fog was blowing in. We parked and started the 0.4 mile hike to the lighthouse. We could barely see, and talked about giving it up and going back to the car, but we were so close we decided to press on. When we got to the lighthouse, we were able to see it, as the fog got much lighter, and, while we were there, it cleared up completely! Amazing! We talked to the ranger at the visitor center, and her little wind thingy was recording gusts at 50 mph. We didn't have the camera, as the weather was so bad when we left the car that we knew we wouldn't need it - wrong!



Pt. Reyes is on a huge point, with a large ocean-side expanse of beach, as well as a bay side, Drakes Bay. http://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm



It's 21 miles from the Bear Valley Visitor center to the lighthouse, and the road winds through many historic dairy farms. Some of them were founded in the late 1800's. Between Pt. Reyes and the Sonoma coast north, I think that we saw most of the happy cows in California!

Wildlife was amazing. We loved watching the hawks sail on the abundant wind. There were lots of deer roaming around - either it's not hunting season, or there's no hunting allowed on the National park grounds. We saw a coyote and quail. Really cool!



On Tuesday we went back out to the lighthouse, with the camera this time! You'll see! We also did the Chimney rock hike and saw some amazing views. Between the two of us, we again took about 1.2 million pictures.



OnTuesday we also visited Drakes Bay, on the leeward side, and theoretically not as windy - sure! I've decided that Pt. Reyes is the windiest place on the planet! Our picnic on Tuesday was back at Bear Valley visitor center. They have great facilities there. We also did the earthquake trail walk there. Very informative!



Next to our hotel was a great restaurant, where we had dinner both nights. Our room included breakfast each morning, and cookies/coffee/tea in the afternoons. We missed the cookies/coffee/tea both days but enjoyed the breakfast. The room had wi-fi, but no television. However, they had a gathering room with a TV, so we got to see both nights of Dancing with the Stars! : )



It was great to spend time at Pt Reyes National Seashore. We highly recommend it. We'd love to visit again on the one day a year when it's not blowing a bloody gale, and walk on the beach without being sand-blasted!

Hearts Desire beach at Tomales Bay State Park.

Ok, this says it all about the wind at Pt. Reyes.

The elephant seals hauled out at Drakes Bay. There's a group of about 200 that have claimed this beach.
Lee at the elephant seal over-look!

And me

Pt. Reyes National Seashore - long, beautiful beach with layers of waves coming in.

Lee
Pat. Yes, we were on an arctic expedition!

If you expand this picture, you will see the 4 deer on the cliffside, with the ocean below.

Blowing grasses on the hillside. You can see that there is a prevailing wind - the tree branch is resting on the hill.

Pt. Reyes National Seashore plaque.

Information on the lighthouse - expand to read.

And there it is! And the 308 steps down and back up! Note the wire cages to the right - that's where you step in to catch your breath on the way back up so that you don't impede the progress of others.

In the early days, water, or lack thereof, was an issue at the lighthouse. So, they built a cistern to collect rain water. Expand the picture to read.

And here it is. Apparently it wasn't very efficient!

Skull of a grey whale.

Plants are amazing - this one is clinging tenatiously to the rocks.

This picture was on our hike out to Chimney Rock. You can see the ocean on the left and Drakes Bay on the right. It was beautiful and clear and sunny and bloody windy!

More beautiful scenery and a seculed beach.

This is on Drakes Bay. The building in the foreground is the old lifeboat station. Like the one at Pt. Bonita, the boats are slid into the water on runners. We also saw the Lifeboat cemetary. Not sure if it was for the people who manned the life boats, or for people who were recovered from the sea.

The top of the world! Note the wind is blowing the strap on my back pack straight out! We were thankful that we didn't have small children with us - they would have blown away!

Arch Rock.

The end of the world! There was a bench to sit on and gaze at all the beauty. The wooden fence was blowing in the wind! The only way it could have gotten any better would have been to spot whales!

On the bench... Life is good!

The Pt. Reyes National Seashore with multi-colored ice plant in the foreground.

The wind blowing the waves at Drakes Bay.

Lee couldn't resist taking a picture of this cow and her "earrings"! She's right in fashion with "two" earrings in each ear. She said mooooooo.

This coyote was on the road, stopping traffic. I'm sure that it wasn't just a photo op - he/she doesn't look very happy. Hopefully he/she's not sick....

The quail at Bear Valley Visitor Center. They were in a median, and every time a car would come by, they would all disappear under the bushes at the top of the picture.

October 25th - the week in review

Last Saturday was the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin festival! It was the 39th annual festival. When Val and Cathi were in the 3rd and 5th grades, they along with friend Cindy, marched in the parade as a horse and rider! Cindy was the front of the horse, Valarie was the back, and Cathi rode on Val's back. No wonder Val has had problems with her back!

Saturday was also the day that we were leaving for our trip down under to Aussie! We were going to visit Andy and Linda and girls, and spend a week or so in Sydney! Lee had been carefully watching the Delta flights from LAX to Sydney, and they kept filling up and getting oversold! There is only one flight a day on Delta, so we decided to stand by for the Qantas flights. We had a ticket to LAX on Virgin America, so that leg of the flight wasn't stressful! When we got to LAX we went to the Qantas ticket counter, and they told us that they would not list us for any flights for the remainder of October. Due to fare specials started by Delta, and then matched by Qantas, the flights were all full. In fact, there were over 60 Qantas employees trying to get home! We did stand by for the Delta flight, but didn't get on it. We decided to give up and go home. We spent Saturday and Sunday night in LAX, and got home Monday evening.

We were very sad, but our timing was clearly bad! Andy, Linda and the girls were really disappointed, too. We're going to try again in the spring.

So, here we were, at home, when we were supposed to be in Australia! Tuesday was a shopping day, as our cupboards were bare! Wednesday morning we did mundane things, like laundry, then went for a walk up to the Montara light house in the afternoon. The weather was beautiful!

The ocean had been very busy this week, with really high waves. We heard that they were going to begin the waiting period for the Mavericks competition in November, which is really unheard of. It's usually in January or February. In fact, Jordyn was born on the day of the competition in 2006!

Mavericks is a major surfing competition, where certifiably insane individuals come from around the world to ride ridiculously huge waves: http://www.maverickssurf.com/

We hiked from here down to Mavericks, and watched the waves, which were pretty impressive! We packed a picnic and spent some time on the beach before hiking back.

Since we had a hiking theme going, we went into SF on Friday, to Lands End. There's a great trail that begins at the Cliff House, and ends in the Sea Cliff area. The trail follows along the coastline, toward the Golden Gate bridge. The weather was as spectacular as the scenery.
http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/lands-end.html

We saw the bridge of the USS San Francisco, a ship that fought in Guadacanal, had a birds-eye view of the Pt. Bonita light house, and saw one mile rock, which used to be the site of a light house. We went down to China Beach, and had a picnic there before hiking back. We took a side trip down to Mile Rock beach, which were comprised of lots of STAIRS!! But, it was great exercise!

Saturday we went for a hike in Pacifica, and figure that we walked about 10 miles in 3 days! It's great to be able to take advantage of the wonderful Indian summer that we've been having.

So, in spite of the fact that we're SUPPOSED to be in Australia, we had a pretty great week!

And there was a pretty special day in this week, too - Cody's golden birthday - he turned 24 on the 24th! Happy birthday, Cody-o!

Carving the giant pumpkins at the Pumpkin Festival

The winner of the Pumpkin Festival weigh-off. Sadly, not from Half Moon Bay, but came all the way from Iowa on the back of a truck!

Wednesday- the beach by the Montara light house with some wave action!

Thursday at Mavericks! Lots of waves!

Along the trail to Mavericks

A large group of harbor seals have made the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve home. They were all up in the sun, taking advantage of the warm weather.

Dewey nasturtiums

Friday - the Golden Gate Bridge from Lands End

A great stone bench -

Perfect for a "breathing break", after

Climbing these! And there were that many more ahead of us! Nice of them to put benches along the way!

China Beach is a great little beach, just south of Baker Beach. It was my first visit there.

And here's China Beach! There were picnic tables, where we enjoyed our packed lunch and the wonderful view, and a much appreciated restroom! We really enjoyed just soaking up the sun, and watching ships sail under the Golden Gate bridge. Life is good!

Here's information on Mile Rock lighthouse! The lighthouse has been dismantled, but the base is now used to land helicopters!

And here's the landing spot! I personally would not want to try and set a helicopter down on that little circle! But I'd sure like to see someone else do it!

Here is what's left of the Sutro Baths! If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the birds are still enjoying it!

Happy Birthday, Cody! You still have that great smile! We love you and are counting the days till you get back! Take good care of yourself.