Wednesday, September 2, 2009

California - Day 5


Day 5 started with a drive across the Golden Gate bridge and then on to Muir Woods. Muir Woods took our breaths away....the trees are amazingly huge and the area is so peaceful. We began our tour thinking we would do the one mile loop and ended up doing the 3 mile round trip tour instead. All five of us were mesmerized.

After Muir Woods, we continued north to Point Reyes National Seashore. Not too far into the drive, C complained of his stomach hurting. We stopped, let the kids play by an inlet for awhile, and then proceeded with our trip after C announced all was well with him. Once back on the road, C began to complain again. We agreed he was carsick. Not good seeing as our drive was to involve a lot of twists and turns. With Colin asleep on MK's carseat, we made it to our destination and hiked Earthquake Trail. The park ranger stated that hiking Earthquake Trail basically puts you straddling the San Andreas Fault Line as you walk. Seeing as I already was feeling like I was on the edge of the world, this made me a little nervous. We then proceeded onward to one of the many beaches that make up Point Reyes. The park ranger, after having told me that we were straddling a major fault line, chose to tell me also about the "sneaker waves" that are present among this particular part of the California coast line. His words were, "be sure that the children don't swim in the water or even wade as people have been known to be swept away by the ever present sneaker waves...." Ok. So we hiked a little over a mile down a skinny little path to this beach. The California landscape is just incredible, really the pictures that I have will not do it justice. Here we were hiking down this skinny little path between these two mountains, then we passed what appeared to be a desert sandhill - red sand even, and then suddenly there is the ocean with these ginormous waves crashing over rocks, breathtaking. Beautiful. Amazing. Our little C had a tough time driving back to the hotel but he made it and we were all pleased to be greeted by my parents, aunt and uncle upon our arrival. Lesson 5....Benadryl, strangely enough, has a lot to offer to a carsick child.


Looking for a sneaker wave.

Did I mention that the hike to the beach was over a mile long, down a winding narrow path? Well, then factor in that we had to come back UP the winding, narrow, ever so long path....not to mention that Ryan was carrying 30+ lbs extra! This picture describes how we were all feeling towards the last few steps.....

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