Lupines

We drove home from San Francisco and along the way there were huge fields of purple wildflowers on both sides of the freeway. I was ready to stretch my legs so we stopped. There were two types of flowers - lupines and a kind I don't know. They smelled really nice - wildflowers don't usually have much fragrance.

Maritime National Park

We visited the National Maritime National Park and Museum Saturday. We were able to board and explore four historic ships. Here are some photos.

Is this the fore deck or the poop deck?

The colored sails tend to hang out together and the white ones together. Purposeful?

Steam tugboat with colorful sailboats in the background.

I don't think Nathaniel was supposed to ring the bell. It drew the attention of a docent who came over to tell the (long) story of how the bell was rung every half hour because the sailors didn't have watches. He described how many "dings" would be rung for a particular time and demonstrated by saying ding that many times with meaningful pauses.

In front of Eureka - a fancy ferry that used to run between San Francisco and Sacramento.

Nathaniel loves to explore and try things out. We visited the park and museum for him and the Ghirardelli shop for Davis.

Russian Hill in the background (Davis wasn't fast enough to get out of the shot).

Photo-willing family members with Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Of course, what trip down to the waterfront could be complete without a visit to Ghirardelli Square. The hot chocolate is a definite desert, not just a beverage.

Point Reyes National Seashore

The boys and I went to San Francisco this weekend so we could all stay in the tiny studio apartment. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County and out to the Point Reyes National Seashore. We were lucky to have a nice sunny day. We are starting to learn that in N. Cal. you either have fog and clouds at the beach, or you have sun and WIND! Wow, what wind.
Here is the beautiful seashore behind us.

We went out to see the lighthouse - but it was closed because of the high winds. Boo!

We saw lots of hawks, egrets, turkey vultures, a couple peregrine falcons, deer, elk, lots of cows, sea lions, elephant seals, and all we got a picture of was Nathaniel's favorite, the conglomerate rock.

Despite the cold wind, closed lighthouse, and whale noshow (it's whale migration season but we didn't see any), the boys managed to have some fun.

Waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to the visitor's center where there was hot cocoa and freshly baked cookies (not bad for National Park Service food).

Davis was the only one willing to hike out to chimney rock point with me. Lovely place, not sure if we'll make it back there since there are so many other places yet to explore.