Yesterday we went to Point Reyes National Seashore for Father's Day. At least it started that way. I sometimes wonder how guys like Louis and Clark made their way across the whole country carrying all their gear on a raft, canoe, or when the going got tough...their backs. Our family goes to the beach for the day, and the minivan is loaded to the roof! We have our red wooden wagon with fat tires to carry all our stuff: folding chairs, a cooler, a bin of sand toys, a shovel (you don't expect to use those little plastic shovels to create a worthy castle, do you?), two boogie boards and a skim board. We also rented wetsuits for everyone since it looked like it might be a little chilly from Marin Surf Sports, off the Highway 1, Stinson Beach exit, 254 Shoreline Hwy., Mill Valley, (415) 381-9283, $10 each.
We drove out almost to the tip of Point Reyes, then turned left near the tip to go down to Drakes Bay. Here's a handy map to illustrate - we drove out on the point on the red road, then almost to the end, we turned onto the little black line that goes down and hits the water:
The whole Point was totally fogged in and overcast, but it was blue skies and sunny driving across the Marin Peninsula. One thing I like about Drake's Bay is at least there's a snack bar, restrooms, and a little ranger station/museum you can check out even if the weather's not great. At the visitor's station, we talked with a Park Ranger who pointed out the point is out in the ocean, and some days, the fog never burns off. It will sometimes burn off up to the coastline, but stay foggy out over the Point.
After some debate and a family vote, we piled back in the minivan and drove back to Stinson Beach, where it was beautiful and sunny and not a cloud in the sky (Stinson is about where the Highway 1 symbol is on the map just south of the Point). We could look across the ocean to see Point Reyes, which remained in the fog all day. Kind of a surprise, because we've been out to Drake's Bay many times before, including days when the Point is so fogged in you can hardly see the road, and it's been beautiful out at Drakes Bay as long as you get behind the big cliffs on the shore. I still think it's one of the prettiest stretches of coastline I've seen.
Hannah and I went out on the waves first, and Laurie rode for a while, too. The waves were a little small but we still had some fun rides.
We built our traditional Father's Day sand castle at Stinson Beach, but I must say the engineering of the kids is getting much better as they get older. Having the full-size shovel also helped. The wind was blowing probably 10-15MPH and temperatures were in the 60's so it was pretty cool unless you had a wetsuit on. As you can see from the photo (click on the thumbnail below for the full-size version), with the wetsuit we were all very cool...
For some reason, after a day at the beach, we always have a hankerin' for Mexican food. This time, we punched Mexican food into the GPS and it came up with Chevy's at Bon Air Center, 302 Bon Air Center, in
Greenbrae, CA. Laurie and I had a margarita and fajitas, which were great but we felt stuffed. Next time, we'll split an order and get a salad or something else on the side. The kids were happy with their quesadillas and burritos, and most of all, with the tortilla machine, aptly named, "El Machino".
All in all, a great Father's Day!
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