continuing up the coast, Samuel P Taylor SP

After Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, we headed just north of San Francisco, into Marin county, to Samuel P Taylor SP. We are getting up into the misty, foggy redwood section of the coastline. The terrain was pretty rugged with roads to match and let's just say I am a regular Dramamine consumer. (Here's a hot tip, if anyone is wondering what stock to buy … we're on the road for another year plus, so Dramamine should continue to see record breaking sales.) 🙄 😂

We went into San Francisco on three different days in three different ways. One day we took a ferry to the waterfront and explored the fisherman's wharf area. One day we drove to the Golden Gate Park area where we went to the de Young museum to see an Ansel Adams photography exhibit and then walked through the botanical gardens. Now that was a day that checked all my boxes 😁. And then one day we biked across the Golden Gate bridge and then through the streets to Lincoln Park and the Legion of Honor museum.

Oh, and I surely can't leave out that we took the opportunity to head into the city one night and catch friend and jazz singer, Emily Day and the Cosmo Alley Cats at the opening of a new club. The club was gorgeous, the music was fab and Emily was dazzling.

Despite spending all that time in the city, we didn't completely abandon our outdoor explorations. One day we went out to Point Reyes, which included visiting the lighthouse (more on that later) and to the Muir Woods National Monument on another. Both were beautiful, but nothing alike. One very remote and beachy, but still with alot of people (I know, it seems counterintuitive, but it is California 🤷) and one very quiet and contemplative in the midst of giant redwoods.

Ok, no more torture, on to pics!

Exploring Fisherman's Wharf area

We visited the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. They had some interesting examples of ships and boats of all sorts. These are just a couple.

And these were some colorful boats lined up along a dock of fisherman's wharf.

This guy, a snowy egret, was hanging out at the water's edge. I thought he looked like he was dressed in formal wear with his white coat, black legs and yellow "gloves" on his feet. Either that or he was a clown with those feet. So funny.

Some iconic buildings and signs

And the wake of the ferry as we head back to Marin county and our campground.

The ferry also provided some unique views of the Golden Gate bridge.

The brilliant, beautiful Emily Day with the Cosmo Alley Cats at the opening of the Dawn Club.

The de Young.

I didn't actually take any pictures of the Ansel Adams exhibit. It would be impossible to recreate the depth, the textures, the contrasts. To evoke the imagery he creates and the feelings he leaves you with after viewing his photographs. So, I didn't even try. I know my limits!

But we did explore a bit more of the museum and I captured just a few images.

From a Kehinde Wilde exhibit, "An Archeology of Silence"

"riderless horse"

I've become really fascinated with glass, stained glass, blown glass, all types and was really excited that there was also a blown glass exhibit. Here are just a couple of pics of blown glass pieces.

The botanical garden.

I went absolutely wild in there. Martin was very patient and let me take tons of pics. I tried to narrow them down for the blog, really I did, but it was so hard …

The garden was separated into different sections; wild flowers, Asia, Australia, desert, ancient, etc. I wish I could name all the flowers for you, but alas I didn't do a very good job of keeping track of what they were … only what caught my eye.

beautiful columbine

Poppies

the wildflower meadow

New day, new view.

So the day we picked to bike over the Golden Gate was cold and windy. We tried to pick the best day weatherwise, but we are talking San Francisco, so …

I had been really looking forward to this. I think biking is just about the best way to explore new places. It's faster than walking, so you can cover more ground, but it's so much better than being in a car because you can really see and experience the area around you. I love the geometry and architecture of the bridge and knew I'd really be able to see it. So I was excited and figured I'd just layer up the best I could for the temps and wind.

Sounds great, except…I'm not quite the same as I was before the concussion and I don't react to things in quite the same way. Sometimes I forget that.😳

They are doing construction so bikes and pedestrians used the same side of the bridge with two way traffic and we were also facing the 3 or 4 lanes of cars (and trucks 😱) crossing the bridge. One of the things that I "struggle" with is vision, in particular peripheral vision. If my brain is receiving a lot of sensory information it tends to shut down my peripheral vision without me being aware. I know it sounds weird, but believe me it happens. What I am aware of, is that without any warning, suddenly something is right beside me or just in front of me and I had no idea there was anything even close. If I'm lucky, it just startles me, but sometimes it makes me swerve. I also find noise can be overwhelming. So we're about ¼ of the way over the bridge and I realize, this is not fun … this is terrifying. The noise. The conflicting movement. I'm not sure I can do this. Martin talked me down off the proverbial ledge and with my entire focus zeroed in what was just ahead, we kept going, slowly and deliberately. (I desperately tried to pay no attention to the bike commuters who zoomed past 😂) I'm sure I'm making it sound way more dramatic than it was, but it turned out to be a really hard thing for me to do. We made it across and even stopped for a couple of pics. But it wasn't how I had imagined it would be. And way fewer pics.

See how happy I look, I've made it across in one piece! 😂 Yay

Cables and towers

The towers. So many bolts. So tall.

The Legion of Honor

The Legion of Honor is set high on a hill in Lincoln Park and has lovely grounds with stately trees, a giant fountain, impressive views and statuary. The inner courtyard contains one of Rodin's "The Thinker", (I was surprised to learn that there are (+/-) 25 of the 72" enlarged versions) and a glass pyramid (like at the Louvre, in Paris), which lights an exhibition hall below. It is also surrounded by a raised pillared walkway on all sides. Apparently this is "the place" to have pictures taken. We saw a photo shoot for a ballerina (complete with multiple outfits, my fav was a tutu, and point shoes with a jean jacket), more graduates than I could count, (Berkeley, Stanford, etc. We saw at least 3-4 different schools represented) and a bride and groom. And we hadn't even gotten to the front door yet!

Once we did get in the front door, there was a collection of old masters, including a Rembrandt that was so incredible you could feel the textures just looking at it .

And a fabulous collection of impressionists.

Sailboats on the Seine at Petit-Gennevilliers, Monet

As well as an esteemed collection of Rodin. We visited the Rodin museum and garden while in Paris and I'm particularly moved by the earthiness and passion that he portrays in his sculpture.

Self portrait

Writer, Victor Hugo

St John the Baptist Preaching

Of course, after our day in the city …I had to ride back over the bridge 😳

It turned out to not be as bad as the ride in. But, just sayin', I don't think I ever have to do that again. Haha

Riding back. The Marin headlands in the background.

Point Reyes

The light at Point Reyes is at the end of a lonely tall rocky outcropping, except it isn't at the top of the outcropping. Oh no, it is tucked some 313 plus steps down into the side of the cliff. And to visit it ... of course, you have to go down and then back up those stairs.

Views from the bluff

A close-up of some of the rocks. They were covered with birds. Now I know they look a bit like penguins, but they are actually Common Mures. Remember, we met them at the aquarium. (And of course, the rock isn't actually white … it's covered with, well you know what is covered with) 🤭

As we hiked out in another area along Point Reyes, see who we found in the middle of a meadow.

And this is who we found when we climbed up on a bluff and looked way down to the beach. Napping seals.

and here we have some wee ones hanging out near some moms.

Looking in the other direction.

pelicans

As we walked through the grassland to the end of this point we found wildflowers.

❤️

Muir Woods National Monument

We really enjoyed our hike through Muir Woods. It was peaceful and contemplative. The Giant trees, the babbling stream, the verdant greens of new life growing from old. It was restorative.

(And it just so happened that we met a young man who was heading to UVM as a freshman in the fall. He was very excited.)

I saw this quote on a little sign in the visitors center and I really appreciated the way it summed things up.

"Thoreau read Wadsworth, Muir read Thoreau. Teddy Roosevelt read Muir, and you got National Parks." Robert Hass