Point Reyes

After hiking the Muir Woods we drove north on highway 1 to Point Reyes. Here is a map to help show you where it's at.

We stopped at the visitors center and grabbed a map, but really the only place we were drawn to was the lighthouse at the very tip near Drake's Bay. Once we finally parked we walked up to the entrance and noticed it closed at 4:30... It was literally 4:18. The sign also said it was a half mile walk to the stairs of the lighthouse. We hustled along, but stopped when we spotted a couple deers. I started shooting with my camera and the shutter click got the one deer's attention which just made for some better photos.

We definitely didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. After a half mile walk from the parking lot there over 300 stairs just to get down to the lighthouse! Actually after reading one of our tour books when we got home... there are 308 stairs. Walking down wasn't so bad, but as you can see in this picture we didn't know where the lighthouse was... you couldn't see it.

Finally the lighthouse emerged from the fog... but we still had a ways to go. Normally I wouldn't complain about something like this, but keep in mind we had just hiked for a couple hours at Muir Woods so we were not well rested.

We had just enough time to snap some pictures before they kicked everyone out and closed for the day.

Then it was back up the stairs. In case you were wondering I only know there were over 300 stairs at the time because they were labeled every 10 on the way up. That made it hard at first, but it was motivation after a while.

On our way back to the city we stopped in Stinson Beach for dinner. Neither of us had ever heard of this town or the beach, but it was very nice. It's weird how it can be dark and foggy and if you drive 5 minutes the fog is gone and the sun is out. Stinson Beach was one of the lucky areas where you could actually see blue skies. We ate at a small cafe that served the best fish tacos ever!! I wish the restaurant was closer so we could eat them all the time!

Muir Woods

Joe and I got up early Saturday morning for our last Saturday sight seeing trip for a while. If you live under a rock, next week is the first weekend of college football. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited, but let's just say I'm nowhere near as excited as Joe.

We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods. Unfortunately it was so foggy in the bay we could hardly tell we were on the bridge while driving over it.

Most of the pictures we took include the incredibly tall redwood trees, the creeks that ran through the forest and the trails we hiked on. Muir Woods was beautiful.

We started on the main trail that was paved.

Then we got on more of a hiking trail. You had to walk carefully because of the tree roots. redwood roots only grow 10-13 feet below the ground, but they spread out nearly 100 feet. That is crazy to me!

 

We found a really narrow and steep trail and decided it was a great idea to follow it. It was so steep we both grabbed sticks to help us climb. It ended up being really cool because it was so deserted and quiet. Funny enough when we got towards the top there were 2 old chairs sitting on a landing.

This was the Kent tree named after William Kent who purchased the land of Muir Woods to protect the redwoods from being logged. It was the tallest tree until 2003 when it fell down. If you're wondering, it made a sound... the crash was heard by a worker over half a mile away.

Our hike ended up being over 2 hours before we got back to the visitors center. It was a really fun hike and we just barely skimmed the surface of Muir Woods.

We were so close to Mt. Tamalpais so we started driving to the top. I think it was the combination of not drinking any water during our hike, the windy roads and the altitude, but I got sick before making it to the top. Unfortunately we decided to turn around and head back down, but at least we got a picture from above the fog. Look how thick that is!

I took a quick nap on our way to our next stop, Point Reyes.

Around The World

Friday night we had an apartment crawl. You know, just like a bar crawl, but only with apartments. Genius, I know. It worked out great since most people in Joe's class live in one of two apartment complexes in San Francisco that are only about 4 blocks away from each other.

The theme for the apartment crawl was around the world. Each apartment picked a country and provided drinks and food that matched. I didn't get any pictures of the food/specific drinks, but it was fun to see what people had come up with.

To name a few Curacao served hurricanes, Ireland served car bombs, Germany had Jagermeister and the USA served Budweiser.

Some of the food was questionable if they were truly matching the country, but no one complained since the food was good to snack on.

You can probably tell from these pictures that the party turned into everyone wearing hats (and a beard). Someone brought them to wear and pass around. Hope no one has lice!

Proof

Remember last week when I talked about meeting Mr. Marriott? Well, here's proof. Not the most flattering picture, but it will definitely be framed and sit at my cubicle/office for as long as I work for Marriott.

Concours d'Elegance

While at the Concours d'Elegance in Carmel we went into the auction tent to get a look at the cars before they were auctioned off. We had a fun time walking around and seeing the cars up close and guessing how much they might sell for. The best part about it was the hood ornaments. I enjoyed taking pictures of the car details. The tent even had chandeliers!

There was one car that was projected to break the world record for the amount spent on a car at auction. The Ferrari ended up selling for $14.9 million! It was a beauty, but I don't see that much money in it.

Carmel In One Day

All jokes aside Joe and I drove south from the city about 2 hours to visit my aunt and uncle for the weekend. We rented a car and even though it was nicer than the cars either one of us actually own, it was nothing compared to the cars cruising around Carmel.

The annual Concours d'Elegance was taking place this weekend which meant there were Ferraris, Lamborghinis and many other luxury cars. Not only did you see the new flashy cars, but there were lots of classic refurbished cars too.

 There seemed to be lots of prep work to get the cars ready for the competition.

Some of the motorcycles were so old they were made before motors and were actually petal bikes.

The hospitality tents were where all the fun freebies were located. Not to mention some incredibly expensive cars.

Deb and I fell in love with the Lotus. Surprisingly not a super expensive car (realatively speaking of course). It also wasn't an easy car to get in and out of.

After seeing and analyzing enough cars to last until the event next year, we headed home for lunch. Afterwards Joe and I walked down to Carmel's downtown shopping district and did some window shopping.

We continued down Ocean Avenue (one killer hill) towards the beach. We didn't stay long, but most of our time there was spent watching a whole group of dolphins. It was really neat to see them surface and slap their tails every once in a while while they swam back and forth along the shore. Some got surprisingly close to the beach!

Like I said, Ocean Avenue is a killer hill that ran down to the beach. This meant the whole time walking down we kept thinking how hard it was going to be walking back up. We were right, but we did stop in side a cafe enjoyed some pastries. Well deserved treats! Notice the sweet yellow car in the window?

We finished off the night with happy hour while watching the live car auction online. More on the auction results later. Oh and do you see the Infiniti logo on the wine glasses? Those were free!