Initially, I had planned to spend a little time in San Francisco this morning. But, to be totally honest, I was done with big cities and their big city traffic. Instead, after going to the grocery store for lunch food, I left Oakland and headed straight for Point Reyes National Seashore. I'm glad I did because I beat the crowds planning on spending a beautiful sunny Saturday at the park. My primary destination was the park's iconic light station located on Point Reyes. As I walked the .4 miles to the lighthouse, I noticed the surf pounding the shores of Point Reyes Beach.
When I reached the observation deck, a daunting series of steps going down to the lighthouse lay before me. Going down was obviously easy, but walking back up those 300 steps would prove a challenge. I wasn't going to let that stop me, though. After admiring the carpet of purple flowers along the cliff side, I started down.
Once at the bottom, I looked at the lighthouse inside and out, and also walked through the adjacent building that once functioned as the lighthouse keeper's dwelling and workshop. The building also housed the old foghorns that are no longer used.
The long climb back up the flight of stairs was pretty tiring. They actually painted numbers every 10 steps to either help motivate you or remind you how many were left to go. There were also a few rest stops along the way, which doubled as a spot to admire the view. When I made it back to the top, I took a breather at the observation deck, hoping to see whales. The gray whales migrate north during the winter, and I heard it was still possible to see the females and their young (calves) swimming by. The docent stationed there explained by swimming close to shore, the calves are better protected from sharks who typically attack the young whales from below. After searching the waters for a moment, the docent suddenly spotted a female and calf. I waited and watched and my patience paid off...I saw them in the water! I got a good look at them a couple of times as they broke the surface of the water and took a breath. I wasn't able to get a photo, but it was thrilling nonetheless.
Since I had a long drive ahead of me in the afternoon, I only had time to do one other thing while at the park. I drove to the Chimney Rock area and took a short trail to the Elephant Seal Overlook. Along the way, I took photos of the many wildflowers growing along the sides of the trail. Here are some of them.
Blue-eyed-grass
Mule's ears
Douglas iris
Checker bloom
Hedge nettle
I could hear the elephant seals before I got to the end of the trail. It was a mixture of yelping, honking, groaning and burping. Maybe farting, too. The overlook was a bit far from the beach, but my camera got some nice shots anyway.
As I walked back to the parking lot, I took a photo of Drake's Bay and the historic lifeboat station building. It couldn't have been a more perfect day at Point Reyes.
Well, tomorrow is my last full day of sightseeing as my road trip winds down. I'll be spending the following couple of days at my parents' house before heading home for good. It's been fun, but I'm missing my cat and my own bed. I can't say I necessarily miss work, but it's a necessary evil. I can't be taking these long, enjoyable road trips if I didn't have the money to do it!
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