Point Reyes National Seashore

As per my plan as described in the last post, i took the Pimpmobile north from San Francisco saturday morning, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and stopped in Sausalito for brunch and a Bloody Mary at a nice little waterfront restaurant...after that, made my way up to Point Reyes, although it took awhile because i took the 1 (the coastal highway) instead of the 101, which is fine because the 1 hugs the coast and offers great views (the whole point of this trip in the first place)...drove through a bunch of small towns and through some windy-ass mountainside roads before i finally made it up to Point Reyes...at that point, it was getting to late afternoon and the daylight was running out, so had just enough time to go check out Limantour Beach in the park before checking into my hostel...turned out to be a pretty clean hostel full of friendly folks, and it only cost me $20 for the night, and it's actually right in the middle of the park itself, so i can't complain...actually met a couple from MA who are biking clear across the country! they've already worked their way west from their New Hampshire starting point and are now working their way down the west coast...sounds like quite an endeavor, although i'd rather have a big purple cadillac any day of the week! found a local bar saturday night in the village of Olema, right outside the park, had a couple of beers, a *delicious* French Dip sandwich, chatted with the bartenders, and watched game 6 of the ALCS (boo Sox!) as well as the Illinois/Michigan game (boo Michigan!)...

...got a good early start to the morning today (sunday)...unlike last sunday in Monterey, i didn't sit my ass down in a bar and watch football all day...instead, i did a ton of hiking and exploring all throughout Point Reyes National Seashore park...let's see, i hiked the short "Earthquake Trail" close to the main rangers' station, where you can walk along the active San Andreas fault and learn about plate tectonics, etc...i climbed down 300 steps to see Point Reyes Lighthouse (climbing down was easy, it was climbing all 300 steps back up that really sucked, naturally)...hiked the Chimney Rock trail, checked out Drake's Beach, purportedly the spot where Sir Francis Drake made landfall during his famous 16th century, 3-year long globe-circling voyage, had lunch at Drake's Beach Cafe, right on the water (and the only food concession actually inside the park)...then hit up Point Reyes North Beach...then a quick detour into Tomales Bay State Park to dip my feet in the placid and relatively warm (actually, probably more accurate to say "slightly less cold") waters of Tomales Bay at Hearts Desire Beach, then went to the end of Pierce Point Rd at the far northern tip of the park to hike down to McClures Beach and also hike about a mile down Tomales Point Trail, where i got a couple great pics of a herd of Tule Elk grazing in a field with the bay in the background! my knee that had been bothering me earlier held up ok, but now my goddamn right ankle is hurting like a bitch...be interesting to see how it holds up for the rest of the week considering all the physical activity i have planned...

...anyways, got into Sonoma Valley wine country this evening with just enough time to check into my hotel and get out to a local bar to watch the sunday night football game and game 7 of the ALCS (f'ing Sox)...i got a *great* deal on this hotel room by booking through their website, even the guy at the counter made a comment about it (i'm paying $130 a night when rooms in this hotel typically go for $200+ a night), plus the room has a balcony and fireplace! very cool! not sure exactly what the plan is for tomorrow...there's a bunch of interesting historical stuff in Sonoma, but i've been doing a ton of that already, so i might skip it tomorrow and just check out wineries instead...would like to rent a bike and ride around town, depends on how my legs/feet are feeling in the morning! anyways, i'll probably figure all that shit tomorrow morning over breakfast...back with an update (hopefully) tomorrow evening! only a week left before i fly back to MD!!!!!