Point Reyes National Seashore and Muir Woods

Today, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and headed North to Point Reyes National Seashore. On the way, we read about the Golden Gate Bridge and learned its construction was controversial and many groups were against it.

The drive to Point Reyes National Sea Shore was so pretty.

Once we arrived at the Point Reyes visitors center, we watched a very interesting movie about the area and then ate a togo lunch we purchased at a picnic table.

Then we did the most wonderful nature trail. What made it so great was there was a booklet that taught us things at different places along the trail. Lily read the information to us and it made the whole hike so interesting. It was one mile which was perfect given our time constraints.

These Bay Laurel trees bend and bend and bend to get to where the sunlight is.

Lydia bends and bends too!!
Sometimes the Bay Laurel trees bend too much and large branches fall down. Then new branches sprout out of the fallen branches and start growing!

We then drove to the lightouse, but we didn’t walk to it because we were very short on time. Our parking reservation was 4:30 – 5:00 and we were meeting Liem there. Still, the drive there was gorgeous and we walked to an overlook and had an incredible view of the ocean and surrounding landscape. We weren’t feeling too bad about not doing the longer walk to the lighthouse because Clarissa was asleep and it was so cold and windy! Also, the views we did see were amazing!

My sweetheart!
I really loved the read on the rocks. Is that red moss?

After seeing the view near the lighthouse, we drove to Muir Woods. Again, the drive was gorgeous (including this awesome tree-flanked road below), but it was also so winding. Mary got so car-sick, but fortunately she didn’t throw up.

It was so fun to meet Liem and Luan at Muir woods. It was great catching up on each other’s lives. We also were so happy with the weather and the fact that we had the park almost to ourselves because it was late in the day on a weekday. By the end, I think we were the only ones in the park.

Liem’s job is stressful, but going well enough and he’s hoping for a promotion soon. Phuong is working with messenger applications for businesses at Facebook. Her parents recently left after staying for a long time. Also, Liem reports that Luan is a great baby, and he and Phuong have still been able to do the things they want (often with him) like cross-country ski, travel, run etc. We love Liem!

We then went home and got some much needed rest after our big day!