Sam's Return to Muir Beach

Just over a month ago, we decided to take a trip to Muir Beach. Cam wrote about it and shared some pictures on his blog at the time. I have been putting off writing about it from my perspective because I knew I wanted to do a Then & Now posting and it would take some time to put together. Here it is. I hope you enjoy the flashbacks as much as I do.

So, you probably know the story about how in April of 2001, I quit my job in St. Louis and Sam and I drove around 2,222 miles to San Francisco in search of a jellyfish beach, a new job for me and all of our dreams to come true.








I didn't end up finding a job that would allow us to stay and there were no jellyfish at Muir Beach but Sam and I still found the first beach we made it to spell-binding.

Thanks to Cam, five years later, those dreams are our reality.







I love this picture of Sam perched on the giant ocean rocks at Muir Beach.

Then.

Now.









I think I sat him on top of the rock when he was little. This time, he gave a rock climbing demonstration.
































































































































Getting down was a bit different this time too.















Cam had wanted to take one of his notorious long, solo hikes that morning. I wasn't into vegging out at home this time. So, we agreed to go to Muir Beach together where Sam and I could get out of the house, breathe the fresh air and chill out on the beach. At the same time, Cam could do a long, solo hike in the area. He's off.

Going.












Going.
















Gone.

We had agreed to meet back at the beach a couple of hours later. Sam and I were going to drive to the Muir Beach Overlook and see if we could see any Gray Whales migrating while Cam hiked.

But less than an hour later, we were pleasantly surprised when Cam rejoined us on the beach. Part of the trail he had been planning to take was closed and he said he just decided he wanted to be with us so he came back. He had been able to see us playing on the beach from the trail high above.

We enjoyed playing on the beach together for awhile.














Cam couldn't resist wading in the waves.








He spied some starfish clinging to this rock.

They were completely covered when the water was in and exposed when it was out.

We decided to save the Muir Beach Overlook for another day.







I'm glad to have been able to go back there with Sam and share the experience with Cam.

Ariel's Return to Cliff House

When Ariel was 17, she came to California from Ohio by herself to meet some relatives on our side of the family and see her mom's grave. During this trip, our Uncle Mike took her to Cliff House & the Sutro Baths. It was the first time Ariel had seen the Pacific Ocean since she was a baby.

Last Sunday afternoon, she introduced me to the area. I was captivated by this beach. It as in a part of San Francisco I hadn't seen before. You can see the Cliff House off to her left in the top picture.

The remains of the Sutro Bath House are behind Ariel in this picture. The parking area is elevated significantly above the beach.

We climbed down the lengthy, steep staircase to the area near the bath house. Then, we entered the tunnel you see on Ariel's left.

When we emerged on the other side, we were met with this awesome site.











The waves were still quite large and crashed into these rocks dramatically.

We walked back through the tunnel to explore the rest of the area.






It must have been high tide. Ariel said that during low tide, you can walk out to these rocks and that sometimes people fish from them.

It was fun walking around on what was left of the bath house so close to the ocean.





The setting sun was glorious.

Exploring Pfeiffer St. Beach - Thanksgiving Day

As I mentioned in my last post, Cam and I spontaneously decided to road trip to Big Sur on Thanksgiving Day when Sam was in LA visiting his dad. We arrived in the area around 4pm, got a room and headed to Pfeiffer State Beach.

Sam and I visited this beach on our way back to the Midwest from California five years ago. (I will save the flashback pics until Sam and I are back there together.)

I didn't remember exactly which road to turn on but knew the turn-off was on the right just past a couple of signs for Pfeiffer State Park on the left. The first time, we missed the unmarked road but eventually circled back and found it. Luckily, there was a sign just after the turn-off assuring us we were on the right path. The one-lane road takes you through dense foliage for two miles, past horses and a man selling firewood, before you reach the parking area. Then, you walk along a little path through more trees until you finally reach the beach. This view, emerging from the trees onto to ocean, I remembered.

We walked over to the cove where Sam and I spent most of our time the last time but the sun was shining so brightly there that we decided to explore further along the beach.

The sun was playing off these rocks in a very dramatic way. We decided to take a closer look.


Cam climbed right out onto the rocks.

Waves were slamming into the rocks right behind him.

You can see the surf swirling around at his feet.







At first, I hung back a bit but a wave snuck up and got my feet and pants wet.









At least then I was free to take a closer look.







We could see the area much better from the shade of these rocks.

They protected our eyes from the brilliant sunshine.










The sun and rocks provided a majestic backdrop.







We had fun walking along, talking...

























holding hands.


I am lucky.


I am loved.

Back in the saddle again...

So we're calling it Rodeo Beach. And since we were so impressed with the splendor and sea life we observed the weekend before last, we decided to take my folks there last weekend. Of course, low tide was at midnight so we didn't see any starfish, sea anemone, sand dollars or crabs. We couldn't make it to the rocks because they were surrounded by water.




It was a bit cooler too but that didn't keep all of us from wading.














We had fun gazing out at the crashing waves...








and walking along the coastline.











The most remarkable creature we encountered on this trip was not from the sea. Rather, it was a dog. He approached us and literally threw his ball to Sam as a way of requesting a game of fetch. Sam took the hint and threw the ball. The dog brought it back and tossed it at Sam's feet again and again and again. Sometimes the dog would honor one of the rest of us with a toss. If the person he threw his ball to didn't respond in a reasonable amount of time, the dog would nudge it closer to you with his paw.

One other couple at the beach didn't appreciate his invitation when it came with slobber, sand and sea water being sprayed on them but we sure did. This dog could surf too. One time, he rode a wave while going after a ball. He caught it. We were hoping to arrange a play date with the dog but didn't manage to finagle the owner's phone number. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted and at least we have these pictures.

An evening at the Rodeo. (or is it Ro-day-o?)

One nice part about the jobs Cam and I are working in now is that occasionally, we are able to spend time together during the workday. Friday, I returned home from work around 1:20 pm. Cam was working from home. I made a salad for us from the lettuce which is growing nicely in the patio garden.

The good people at Marin Honda were putting a new odometer in our car. The original, digital one appeared scrambled from time to time which wasn't a big deal but it always seemed to do it when I was trying to use the tripometer to navigate during directions. Since repairing it is covered under warranty, we took it in to have it done.

The funny thing is that after installing a new one, they forgot to set it to the actual mileage. When I got home from the dealership, I finally looked at the odometer and noticed that our car appears new again. It read 6 miles. Since they checked the mileage when I dropped the car off, I'm sure they will notice the discrepancy when we go back for the next oil change. Actually, I probably need to bring it back next week but it is fun imagining we have just added 35,000+ miles to the life of a warranty.

Anyway, Cam suggested that when I got home with the car, Sam got home from school and he finished work for the day, we head out to the beach. Honestly, I was a bit tired from the week and would have been ok relaxing at home and going out over the weekend but we worked so hard to get here, I'm not passing up trips to the beach lightly. So we went.

He'd thumbed through our infamous, Marin Hiking book and selected Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands. This beach is in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a remarkable area very close to our friend, the bridge. We have often headed out a bit to explore which is wonderful but are excited to dig deeper into this area that is so close to home.

We drove up the highway just a couple of exits to Sausalito. We've been there before and enjoyed it but this time we drove through an entire area of downtown and of the bay front we'd never seen before. We're looking forward to going back there soon too. So we wound around past Sausalito and ended up at the base of the bridge. We circled back past some historic buildings and the Bay Area Discovery Museum and found the road we wanted. It takes us through a tunnel under Hwy 101 at the base of the bridge. It is a one-lane tunnel. The sign said it has a five minute red light. We didn't mind waiting our turn. It is a pretty lengthy tunnel and fun to drive through.

Emerging on the other side, we are greeted with rolling hills and open space. This is the area where early one morning, Cam and I saw a bobcat when we were trying to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. No bobcats this time but we did see more deer. We joked that seeing them is becoming common but they are still extraodinary. Cam really enjoys seeing the bucks. I'm amazed by the fawns that seem to be everywhere these days.

Just a few minutes down the road, we arrived at the parking area for Rodeo Beach. As Cam mentioned, we had to cross a marsh (easy via an interesting bridge/walkway). Many pelicans and other birds were enjoying the water. Then we were there.

Cam had said the area was known for semi-precious stones. I refused to call them semi, all of the stones we found there were precious in my eyes. And we did find some beautiful ones. My favorite was this tiny, bluish-green little pebble of what I'm calling agate. I wasn't going to keep it but held it in my pocket for a bit so I could look at it again later. When I pulled it out the next time, it was a duller grayish green. Still beautiful but not the stunning, radiant color it looked in its natural setting, wet from the surf and lit up by the setting sun. I threw it back immediately.

While the beach was brilliant, the sun was illuminating the hills behind us. I enjoyed looking at them too. Loads of surfers were making the most of the impressive waves up the beach to the right. We decided to walk along the beach, to our left, toward the interesting rock formations in the distance.



We kept picking up and admiring the pebble like stones along the way.



Then, suddenly, I saw a sand dollar. This was the first one I'd seen since we've lived here. It was beautiful. I knew they were animals but the hole a bird appears to have made cleanly in the center led me to believe this one was no longer alive. Upon returning home, I read in Vera Vello Capogna's "Did You Ever Wonder About Things You Find at the Beach?" that live sand dollars are a pinkish color. I don't know that I have ever seen one. This one was still fascinating.



We made it to the rocks and continued to be captivated by the water sparkling brilliantly.












I found another sand dollar. This one was tiny, not much bigger than the tip of my thumb. (The other one had been larger than a silver dollar.) I loved this tiny, little sand dollar. We must have found a wind break too because the sun warmed us up. Notice Sam climbing the rocks in the background.



As few minutes later, Cam noticed starfish clinging to the rock. While we'd seen many on our trip to the tide pools at Agate Beach, we hadn't been expecting them here. They snuck up and surprised us in the wild.

STARFISH!! A purple one, an orange one and a pink one.




We spent awhile running back and forth, into the water when the tide went out, trying to catch a glimpse of the starfish. Then running back out, away from the waves, trying to try to avoid wet britches.


A bit further down the beach, I saw these guys on a rock. They appear to be barnacle-type creatures as they are hard on the outside and seem firmly attached to this rock but I don't know exactly what they are yet.

Then Sam called us over to the rock to see a crab he had found. As we were watching that crab, we saw another then another. Suddenly, we noticed that there were crabs hiding in nearly every crack of these giant rocks.






Literally hundreds of them peeking out until we approached. Then receding, "Nothing to see here." This one was almost purple. We didn't use the flash and they were hard to see with the naked eye. I'm glad some of the pictures turned out.

We saw another starfish that appeared engorged. Cam thought it was pregnant. I thought it had just eaten something. We'll have to do some research and find out. Anyway, it was huge.

He stood next to it to put it into perspective.














Farther down the beach, the boys climbed more rocks.







What a glorious day.