Well, for a long time now I have wanted to see Point Reyes --and I'd still like to.
The weather forecast was accurate: Sunny and warm, high around 78F. I have no reason to believe that it was not sunny and warm --somewhere above the fog. We had intermittent glimpses of the shoreline far below the point which suggests that it really must be spectacular to see!
Getting to the lighthouse (or rather, back from it) is a challenge. After walking about 1/2 mile from the parking lot -which we enjoyed- one is greeted with a sign that warns that the return climb of 302 steps (not including the long inclines) is the equivalent of climbing the stairs of a 30-story building. We decided to take this vertiginous challenge, even though I had serious reservations. Taking it "slow & easy," the climb was not all that bad. We did stop and rest occasionally. I experienced no pain or dizziness and just a little puffing. Walking the hills of Penryn is about equivalent.
At one of the "Historic [letter] Ranches" on the way to the Point, we saw a cow birthing a calf. On the way back we stopped and watched as the mother was cleaning her newborn. They were close to the fence where we parked and we could see the whole nature show up close.
We drove out of the fog as we returned to our cottage just south of the town of Inverness. The Bayshore Cottage was an experience. What I at first thought was the cottage turned out to be the owners' home. The cottage itself was a little shed behind the home's carport. Funky is the best description we came up with. But it was fine and reasonably clean. We shared a back yard with the owner but didn't actually see anyone except their two dogs "Lulu" and "Freebs." From the back yard there is a path about 100 yards long through a garden to an old, run down gazebo at the marshy end of Tomales Bay. It is described as one that is in regular use by the local birdwatchers as a viewing location for their bird counts. Uh, OK.
If you read the description at the website
http://innformation.com/ca/bayshore/ you might get a little different feeling. That is to be expected, of course. Also the living area in the photo is enhanced because the Murphy Bed is folded up (described in the write-up as a "queen sized Eurobed").
Funky. But, really, we enjoyed it a lot and have no serious complaints.
Because of the clouds and fog, we decided to leave Monday mid-morning and take a leisurely drive home. Instead of returning via Sir Francis Drake Blvd., we went over the hills toward Petaluma and cut back to Highway 37 through Novato, through Napa and up the mountain to Lake Berryessa. It was a fun road trip as we both like that kind of thing. We stopped at Monticello Dam, then continued our normal route home through Winters and Davis.
We grabbed a turkey sandwich at my local Subway and had our lunch on my patio picnic table. Joss was anxious to get home to mail a Halloween thingy to Sara. In spite of the fog, we had another wonderful, relaxing California road trip.
Photo credit: The photo was saved from the following website:
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=66