Redwoods and bridge views

Had a FANTASTIC day...and I wasn't even in San Francisco! I made the short drive north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County. After picking up a sandwich at a deli in Sausalito, I spent the morning at Muir Woods National Monument. Once again, I used my park pass...what a great deal at $80 a year...and took the paved main trail through the redwood forest. I wasn't the only one with the same idea. There were a couple of tour buses that had already disgorged their passengers, and a number of visitors who arrived via car. There were almost TOO many people there for my taste. It did help that the main trail split into two...I selected the one less traveled. In addition, about halfway down the trail, the Hillside Trail branched off from that. I decided to further distance myself from the crowd by taking that dirt trail. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt designated the Muir Woods as the nation's 7th national monument. The residents of the Bay Area are lucky to have such an awesome redwood park so close to home.

After spending about two hours walking through Muir Woods, I drove back south to Sausalito to do some more sightseeing in the Golden Gate Recreation Area. I took a LOT of photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, the bay and coastlines from the many Marin Headlands view points. The sun was shining, and it was just beautiful. Such a perfect day! Besides the scenery, there were a couple of places of note that I visited in the vicinity. The SF-88 Nike Missile Site is a remnant of the Cold War, when the U.S. operated such missile sites around the country to guard against Soviet attack. I also checked out The Marine Mammal Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating injured and sick marine mammals, mostly seals and sea lions. You often hear about people who do that type of work, but it was nice to see their efforts first hand.

Well, the wait is almost over. The Bash for Augie's Quest is TOMORROW! Good eats, great music and a lot of inspiration. I'll be posting a blog when I get back from the Bash to tell you all about it! It's supposed to be rainy and windy tomorrow, but I won't let the weather put a damper on things!