The Redwood Forests

Crossing off another item on our California bucket list, we headed out to see some Redwood trees. The closest Redwood forest to San Jose is Muir Woods near San Francisco. So we headed out around 7:30am, only an hour late! (You know me! Always behind ;-) ) And it was a bit cloudy. Of course the cloud and fog cover only got worse as we approached San Fran. We began to worry that we wouldn't be able to actually see any trees, but have no fear. The trees are actually lower than the fog cover. We arrived around 9am, still well before the said "busy time" of 10 am, so we were able to fairly easily find parking. We bought Claire a little monkey backpack/leash for this particular excursion. It worked REALLY well for her. She loves to walk as opposed to being carried. And she hates for us to hold her hand because she feels restricted. With the leash, she is able to go where we want her to go without us holding her hand, but she is also free to wander. Perfect!

Claire had fun running after us along the boardwalk. Everyone laughed because she was on a leash, but I was very grateful!

There was much "ooo-ing" and "awe--ing" over the tall, tall trees. There were also birds to look at.

We then headed over to San Rafael Point. That is a REALLY long road! It's only like 20 miles, but you can only go 30 mph! It took F.O.R.E.V.E.R!!! (Pretty much as long as it took me to write that correctly! haha) When we got there it was cloudy, windy, and slightly rainy. Just before turning down the small road, it was a warm, bright, and beach-worthy day. They had also just closed the steps that lead down to the light house--the main attraction. But we thought we would meander toward the visitor's center anyway so that our trip was not for naught. We got to the beginning of a smaller road, which you aren't allowed to drive down, which said that the lighthouse and visitor's center were a 1/2 mile away. We had already walked over a mile with Claire through the woods. And this was a windy, cold, and wet 1/2 mile. So we took a picture and left. Haha!

The beginning:

The end. See that same sign about 20 yds back?

To make up for that disappointment (and avoid going back home over a toll bridge) we traveled up to Napa Valley to end our day. Holy cow! It is SO pretty up there. The hills are just covered with rows upon rows of green vineyards all hanging with grapes. Peter's only regret was that we weren't able to see the Napa Valley Wine Train that goes along Highway 29. All we did was look and eat, but it was definitely fun and nice.

The wineries are huge! We probably could have taken a tour without actual wine tastings, but it's fun to just look on the outside too.

Yummy fries!