Point Reyes National Seashore & Lighthouse

Steps down to the acutal Lighthouse (which we did NOT climb!) are equivalent to a 30-story building! We never did see the lighthouse, as the fog was very thick this day - bummer!

Ice Plant.

Interesting trees in the fog, blown/grown in the constant wind of Point Reyes (pronounced 'rays').

Area before the lighthouse steps. Notice the small grey whale head near the middle?? (front view) Rock cliffs on the right and around are full of small circular erosion areas - interesting. On the left of the fence-line is where they collect rain and dew water and distill it for drinking for the rangers that live here.

High up on the point looking down to the shoreline.

Matt and Trish beneath the trees and fog.

Close-up of interesting things growing on the old trees.

Small out-building on one side of the point (probably storage &/or pump station of some kind - there are several of these all around).

Read the next entry, too. Today was a big day :)~

Enter at your own risk =-) ??

This is what greated us before we got down on the sand itself. Pretty funny, actually, though the water was cold, the beach slope was steep and the sand was kinda rough (BIG sand as apposed to little sand - do'ya know what I mean?)
And apparently they'd had a shark attack up the beach a-piece a week or so earlier, so "you've been warned!"


Can yo smell the salt yet??


Can you hear the waves crashing?


This is what Heaven looks, smells and sounds like to me :~)


This is what coastal 'mountains' do -- just like in Oregon and Washington - keep the fog on the beach while the 'east-side' valleys stay a little warmer.


Trish's and Matt's house - there are 3 dormer windows - I stayed in the one in the middle, behind the trees (which are Crepe Myrtle, btw) 'his' and 'hers' cars - guess who drives the Jeep?

This is an OLD California dairy, on the coast! who knew?!? Trish says they're not the "happy" California cows in the commercials :-)

The oldest and the first one on Point Reyes Peninsula is "Historic A Ranch", closest to the Lighthouse. Following, then, are B, C, D (which we didn't see), E and so forth, all the way to Z ranch. According to the booklet I have, a wave of 'new' immigrants came in search of gold, in 1849, but instead they made their fortunes in giant wheels of cheese and butter for the growing city of San Francisco (which is to the near south of Point Reyes Peninsula). By 1919, many of the immigrant families were able to buy their land that they had worked so diligently.

This is the last of the "historic" ranches that we saw on our drive.

This was in a little town called Point Reyes Station. Gas was this expensive, though in Sacramento it's about the same that we pay in Vancouver/Portland, which averages around $3.67 or so.

This station was 'older than dirt' --- when I was a little girl, this "Flying A" also had a horse attached to the wings - like Pegasus.

This one's for you, Boni! Pelicans flying over the shoreline - lots of them :~)

ICE PLANT! I haven't seen this since I left California in 1972! It's juicy and it snaps when broken. Makes great ground cover, which is what Gg always used it for in big areas. It covers the slopes of the Lighthouse point.

Mountain passes *** 3 added notes

All of these picutres are taken on the drive from Sacramento to Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some are taken on the way up, and some are at the Donner Memorial Park, in honor of the pioneers who tried to make their crossing of the Sierra Nevada's too late in the season, and got caught by an extremely bad and very early snow storm. It's to honor those who did not live to see the other side of the pass, and those very few who did make it to safety. The lake is Donner Lake (it's a snow-fed lake and extremely cold - I know! - I swam in it in the mid-1960's on a family campout! -- brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!) ...*** see some new notes below.

Tomorrow's trip is to the beach =-)

*** FYI - most of these mountains and passes are lined with these granite boulders....





...*** distance shot - all the light colored ground is granite...

...*** it's amazing and dumbfounding that the pioneers were able to take wagons across this!!! It's very 'hilly' without much smoother, grass covered land. I'm sure there are places, because it became an important pass through the mountains, but still...amazing! The Donner party became one of the groups to show (in retrospect) "what NOT to do". In their travels across the US, this is the pass that 'broke the camels back' for them. This is also the infamous pioneer party who canabalized some of their group (after some had died of exposure and starvation) when conditions became so seriously dreadful - it's quite a story. Wikopedia has the condensed version of the story.

today ~ Thursday

Today Trish went walking and as I watched her walk down her cul-de-sac (she slipped out thinking I was still sleeping) I decided to do my Tae Bo up in my room. Then we ate breakfast, and got ready to play.

Today our trip was to "Old Sac" - the old town before it got so BIG! Here are a couple of pics - it was fun and they had some fun little shops to play in. I bought a little bit of candy (how could I possibly resist, right! - salt water taffy!), a new pen (hey! they had a nice selection and I love pens - so there! =-), moccasins for Evoly (then Laurie) size 5 - made in Minnetonka, MN - buttery-soft white leather, and a couple of cards to mail to Gg and Mandy. A third card is pictured below.

Trish's and Matt's daughter, Rebecca, husband Adam and baby boy Matt came over for dinner and we had steak-burgers, and three really yummy salads - potato, fruit salad (like Lynnette's 'cept it was made with strawberry jello and fresh strawberries and fresh peaches) and broccoli. Water to drink.

Then talked for a while and "went to our rooms" for a little R&R before our long driving trip to the mountains tomorrow!

2nd half of day one and 1st half of day 2 ~ phew~

Here are a few shots of what I've been up to this first full day in Sacramento, CA. I have come to visit my friend Trish, whom I met while living in Singapore. Tuesday, she and I ate lunch at Red Robin and in the evening she, Matt (her husband) and I attended the new Temple in Sacramento. We were up bright and early for a 1-1/2 mile walk in the morning, then off to Placerville and the apple orchards near there. We ate lunch at one orchard (pulled pork sandwich - yum yum yum) and had an apple cider donut, FRESH peach cobbler and unpasteurized apple cider to drink at another. We had fun looking at all the sorting machines and such. They don't let you pick from their trees; at least not at this time - maybe later?? I think I ate Porkie's brother (or sister?) for lunch =-) Then later in the afternoon, Trish watched her 2-1/2 year old granddaugher for a while and now we'll be off to other adventures for the day. It will end with a nice dinner at home. Nope -- hehe -
then we went and shopped at the Folsom Outlet Shopping Center and got her 3 grandkids a new
outfit each. And now you can wait with baited breath for the next installment sometime tomorrow.

I took another beach trip

Here are a few pictures from my trip - they are all of the North Head Light House & surrounding area on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State ~~ enjoy =-)

This is one of 2 of the original lighthouse keeper family homes. The other building is the old barn turned into a store/gift shop. The homes can be rented for summer vacations - cool! They're up the hill from the lighthouse.

Special Thoughts and Prayers

I was not personally impacted by 911 ~ and I am thankful for that ~ I want "you" to know that my prayers and thoughts go out today for anyone who was affected by the devastation. God Bless America - may we be strong and honest and honorable, always & forever.