M&M Tour de Northern California

Mike arrived Saturday morning after leaving their house around 3AM eastern time, and Missy made it in that afternoon after a week of conquering the Sierras. They got a full dose of standard northern California summer weather and microclimates. We left Sunday morning to tour Alcatraz and points in San Francisco, then across the Golden Gate and up the coast to stay overnight near the top of Mt. Tam. From there it was on to Muir Woods, Pt. Reyes, and further up the winding coastal highway to Gualala, where we stayed at St. Orres (where Mom and Dad stayed with us many years ago). The next morning, we cut across to the wine country and then made our way back home. It was a great visit, although way too much of it took place in the car! Aside from the sights, they may have been most impressed with the microclimates. On the last day we went from beautiful, sunny low-70's on the coast to 90 in the wine country to 62 and foggy in San Francisco, and back to our mid-70's sunny "weather best by government test" Redwood City.

I put a set of photos on Flickr (which may be updated later with Dara's). Here are some highlights, below.

After Alcatraz and Fort Point in San Francisco, we took a side trip to the Marin headlands just north of the Golden Gate. There it is, with San Francisco hidden in fog.

The next day, after a 6AM hike on Mt. Tamalpais and a walk through the old growth redwoods at Muir Woods, we drove out to the lighthouse at Pt. Reyes. Pt. Reyes was supposedly where Sir Francis Drake pulled in to overhaul the Golden Hinde on his round-the-world trip, and it was also the epicenter of the 1906 earthquake. Aside from that, it turns out to be one of the windiest spots on the Pacific coast. The fog was blasting over the cliffs, condensing on the cypress trees, raining on us as we walked out to the lighthouse. Fortunately the fog lifted a bit for us. The people walking up from the lighthouse are Missy and Mike, on their way to climb back up the 300 some-odd stairs.

The drive up the coast was slow and windy (that's true whether the word is taken as blustery or twisty, take your pick). But, the fog stayed offshore once we were past Pt. Reyes. Here are Missy and Dara with the coastline cliffs, as we stopped to let those in the back seat recover from my stomach wrenching driving.

Mom and Dad no doubt remember the Russian style St. Orres. We stayed there with them when Kyla was only 9 months old! It has expanded some since, but they kept the same Russian look. This is the little dacha we stayed overnight in. In the morning we hiked and climbed down to the beach and collected some driftwood that is now decorating our garden.