An Attempt at Fishing and a Family Trip to Point Reyes

Point Reyes Lighthouse

On the last post, I mentioned that we would have a fishing report.  So we did go fishing....and got skunked.  They had mentioning on the news for the previous week that the Fish and Game would be stocking local lakes on December 24th. So on December 25th, we took the kids fishing in the ponds at Heather Farms.  

Our kids are very dedicated fisher kids, so even with the temperature at 44-degrees and with showers, they did make it for about one hour; however, the fish were just not biting.  
 
This past Sunday we had the public speaker over for hospitality as well as our service group.  All went pretty well.  We are on a 8 week rotation and we are looking at doing this as a service group gathering.  We will see how it works. Beth made a chicken pasta pesto and her famous ham, cream cheese, pickle rolls which were great as always.

Today went took the family to Point Reyes.  Beth and I discovered the area a month a go and decided to take the kids there.  The elephant seals are pupping right now, and there were at least 100 at the grounds.  

This is also where Sir Francis Drake landed in 1579 to repair the Golden Hinde before the trek across the Pacific to the Philippines.  There was a lot for a history buff like myself, not so much for the kids.


After the elephant seal pupping ground, we went to the Point Reyes Lighthouse.  We were treated to eight grey whales on their migration to Baja.  It was an impressive site.  I have come to a realization that my kids are spoiled when it comes to whales. 

 I had lived 34 years before I had seen a whale in the wild in San Diego, Emma's first sighting at 18months old.  Then there was last year, when we went to Santa Cruz and saw the Humpback whales breaching off the pier.  It was really impressive.  Then there was the Humpback that was off of Ocean Beach last month in San Francisco.  He was just playing outside the break.  And then today, where they saw the additional eight.  I grew up thinking that whales would be extinct by the time my kids would be around, what a change.


After the lighthouse, we discovered a wonderful beach.  Definitely not a swimming beach, but the waves were wonderful.  I love the warning, beware of sharks, undertow, etc.  You know if you don't see surfers in the waves, this is definately not a good place to swim.

Our final stop was back at the Bear Valley Visitor center.  This time, we hiked over to view the Miwok village.  It was  nice hike, but the village was nothing to write home about.  I assume in the summer that there would be more interactive features or at least a docent, but not today.  The kids thought it was awesome though.

So the kids have one more week off for school and it should be good weather, though cold, for the rest of their time.  I go back to work on Wednesday.  It has been nice to have back to back four day weekends.

First Kidless Weekend.....

This past weekend, Beth and I had our first weekend just the two of us since Emma was born.  We have in the past left the kids with a sitter overnight; however, this was our first two night weekend experience.  And it was a long time coming.

 

We didn’t go far, only over to Marin.  We stayed at the Tamwoods Hotel just north of Sausalito.  It was a nice hotel, and if it weren’t for the rain, have fun activities, like making S’mores over their fire pit, and bicycling along the Richardson Bay Trail.  When the sun came out, we had a wonderful view of Mt. Tamalpias

So we checked in on Friday and got a really good night of rest.  We slept in, had breakfast, then drove up the coast to Point Reyes.  I have wanted to explore this area for years; however, it is kind of tucked out of the way.  This is the area where Sir FrancisDrake landed the Golden Hinde in 1579 on the first successful circumnavigation of the globe by an Englishman (and by a captain, Magellan died in the Philippines).  This area was also the epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.  Being a fan (nerd) of both, I was so excited that Beth and I could explore the trails where history occurred.

We also had a wonderful lunch in Olema at the Farm House Restaurant.  This restaurant has been around since 1870, and we had our fill of excellent fish and chips as well as my favorite, Fried Oysters.  I have loved these little fried creatures since my parents took me and my sisters to Nanaimo when I was in second grade.  This is when I had an oyster burger and stayed at a hotel where they later made an attack of the killer ants movie.

Later that evening, Beth and I had dinner at Pasta Pomodoro.  The food again was excellent.  We haven’t eaten at that chain in quite some time but it was nice that we could just spend time enjoying a good meal and to talk.  We then went back to the room and snuggled in.

On Sunday, we slept in a bit (for us that is 7:00 AM), had breakfast, then drove home by way of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.  We made it back it in time to take the kids to Wreck it Ralph.  Very good movie, although a bit intense in parts for small children. 

So all in all, a really great weekend.  I am so happy we had this weekend to spend together.