Travels with haRVy

Before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge for the next leg of our journey, we spent a day exploring the areas just north of the crossing. Fort Baker is practically under the bridge on the inland side and the Marin Headlands rise above it to the west. Both areas are part of the recently established Golden Gate National Parks. Decades ago, when it was still an active army post, I was lucky enough to stay at Fort Baker because a friend of mine’s father was stationed there. Though many changes have occurred since then, the National Park Service has managed to save the historic property from development.

The view from Fort Baker without those distracting heads in the way…

I had never seen Eucalyptus in bloom before.

And that bark is so beautiful.

The lagoon at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands

Rodeo Beach

The headlands after which the park is named.

What a great place this must have been to serve in World War II.

Near Point Bonita Light, which we could not get to as tunnel shown below was locked up tight.

The town of Bolinas, CA is known for its reclusive residents. It is only accessible via unmarked roads. Any road sign along Route 1 that points the way into town has been torn down by local residents, to the point where county officials held a ballot measure to which the voters responded by stating a preference for no more signs. That did not dissuade us from visiting this funky little town though! Coastal California real estate is so expensive that funky is hard to find these days. Bolinas proved to be a refreshingly so. Even the teenagers dressed like hippies. We figure they must be the grandchildren of the original hippie generation.

We explored for an afternoon and spent the night boondocked on one of the aforementioned unmarked roads. Al even got a chiropractic adjustment at the community center where a local practitioner offers $35 specials once a week.

How many towns have you visited that have a spiritual shrine on Main Street?

The house I want.

The Episcopal Church that seats about 20.

Of course, everyone surfs in Bolinas – young and old alike.

Surfside snack shop that serves a dozen different types of quesadillas.

While Bolinas was an unexpected treat, Sausalito was a huge disappointment. This town, which I remember as a haven for creative types, has mutated into an expensive and tacky tourist trap. We did, however, manage to score a great overnight park/camp site right in town, so the stop was not a total loss. Oh yeah, then there was the Carlos Santana sighting (no photo, sorry)!

San Francisco from the Sausalito waterfront.

Our in-town dockside boondock site. Not bad for $10.

I can’t even imagine how many beaches we have walked on and/or watched sunsets from over the past few weeks. They are literally around every corner along this amazing coastal road called Route 1. Each one magnificently beautiful. One could spend a lifetime exploring them all.

Unfortunately, some folks built their houses a bit too close to the ocean.

Our next notable stop was near the top of scenic Tomales Bay at Miller County Park and Boat Launch. While not actually a campground, they do allow overnight parking for boaters. We stretched the rules a bit and spent two days kicking back and enjoying the action on the bay for the bargain price of just $5 a night. We enjoyed sunny weather with 70 degree temps while our friends back in Rhode Island endured a nasty blizzard. Sorry folks.

Nick’s Cove Restaurant and quaint accommodations are next to the boat launch area.

Looking back at Nick’s from the Bait Shack (below).

View from our parking (camp) site.

Can’t get enough of the eucalyptus trees.

A haRVy sunset over Tomales Bay.

On the other side of the bay that runs right along the San Andres Fault is Point Reyes National Seashore. The night before our visit we boondocked on the opposite side (west) of Tomales Bay in the tiny town of Inverness.

We got up early to drive out to Drake’s Beach ahead of the anticipated crowds on this busy holiday weekend. Upon our arrival we were surprised to see several elephant seals on the beach, just a few yards from the parking lot. They were quite active in the early morning hours, but the light was terrible for photography, so I wasn’t able to get anything good enough to post. They sure were fun to watch though, as they crawled out of the surf and barked at each other.

Never thought I’d get this close to an Elephant Seal (no telephoto lens used here)! This shot was taken later in the day when they were all sedentary.

Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North America continent, so I guess we were lucky that just a bit of fog rolled in during our visit. We boarded the first morning shuttle bus to the historic lighthouse.

Historic photo showing location of light on the headland and the long stairway down to it from the top.

Our next stop along one of the most scenic coastal routes in the world was at Fort Ross, a California State Historic Park showcasing a historic Russian-era fort compound. It was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America between 1812 to 1842. We enjoyed a self-guided tour of the area.

Fort Ross is surrounded by sandy beaches, panoramic coves, and redwood forests, with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. The 3,400 acre park offers pristine natural landscapes as well as historic structures and exhibits that bring to life the former Imperial Russian settlement, early California Ranch era, and Kashaya territory.

The Chapel was originally built in the mid-1820s. It was the first Russian Orthodox structure in North America outside of Alaska.

The Northwest Blockhouse has seven sides (the Southeast has eight). As a watchtower for sentries with muskets and cannons, it protected the north and west stockade walls from potential attack by land.

Fort Ross had two windmills. The first windmill west of Mississippi was constructed in 1814, not long after the Russians settled Fort Ross. The second mill was built in 1841. The windmills served two purposes: to grind grain into flour for baking bread for both Settlement Ross and the Russians’ Alaskan settlements, and to power the stamping of local tan bark, used in the hide tanning industry.

 Calla Lilies seem to grow wild all along the coast.

Sandy Beach Cove lies below the fort.

Interesting joinery

School kids learning a Russian dance. Some 6,000 students take part in the fort’s Environmental Living Program every year.

Of the seven buildings presently within the fort compound only one, the Rotchev House, is an original Russian-built structure. The Rotchev House is unique and nationally significant because it is one of only four surviving buildings built in the Russian-American colonial period, and the only surviving Russian-built structure outside of Alaska.

The Kuskov House was the residence of Ivan Aleksandrovich Kuskov, who founded Ross and was the first administrator.

Back on the long and winding road again…

With an incredibly favorable weather forecast, we headed back towards the coast to continue our meander down Route 1. We made a couple of stops along the way, the first of which was a totally spontaneous lunch at China Camp State Park. What a pleasant surprise this location proved to be!

A Chinese shrimp-fishing village thrived on this site in the 1880s. Nearly 500 people, originally from Canton, China, lived in the village. In its heyday, there were three general stores, a marine supply store and a barber shop. The park is nestled along the shore of the San Pablo Bay. The road through the park offers beautiful views of the waterfront.

Next we stopped for an overnight stay at Diane and Ron’s place in Sebastopol. Diane is the older sister of a high-school friend who allowed us kids to hang out and party at her apartment back in the day. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in decades, we had a fun visit as well as a delicious curried chicken dinner Diane cooked up. Thanks for hosting us!

Shortly before reaching Route 1, we stopped in Duncans Mills. The town was founded in the 1870s. It featured two hotels, a general store, a saloon, a meat market, blacksmith, livery stable, and a notion shop. Today, thanks to a 1976 restoration project, Duncans Mills resembles the way it was originally built.

The drive along Route 116 traveled through some beautiful countryside, but we wanted to see the Pacific Ocean and breathe salt air again.

The beauty of the Northern California coastline continues to amaze us.

Stillwater Cove, a short hike from our campsite.

From Oakland it’s a fairly easy ride on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)  into the city of San Francisco, so once the stormy weather had passed, we decided to head over for a day.

A couple of scenes as we walked along the Embarcadero. Coit Tower above. Oakland Bay Bridge below.

Our primary objective for the day was a visit to Alcatraz Island, a former military garrison that eventually became a State Penitentiary, and is now part of the National Park Service. Al’s niece’s husband, Chad, captains the Hornblower Cruise boats that take tourists out to Alcatraz, so we were given a bit of VIP treatment onboard. Thanks, Chad, we really enjoyed our time on the bridge!

Chad showing Al the controls aboard Alcatraz Flyer, which is a hybrid utilizing wind and solar power as well as diesel engines.

Note solar panels and wind generators on the roofs.

Chad at the helm.

Approaching Alcatraz with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

In the late 60’s, after the prison closed down, Native American Indians occupied the island to protest their treatment by the US Government.

The warden’s house has seen better days.

We learned that this is the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast.

Conservation and restoration is ongoing…

Some areas are in worse shape than others.

A terrific audio tour made being in the cell block a bit too realistic with the voices and sounds from prison times.

This cell is styled after one occupied by a prisoner who tried to escape. He gained access to the central utility corridor by painstakingly scraping at the cement surrounding the air vent with a spoon.

I occupied this solitary confinement cell very briefly. An eerie feeling indeed.

The prisoners could occasionally view downtown San Francisco from this small bullet-proof window in the hallway.

Hospital operating and treatment rooms.

Gardens planted by families of the original Army post, and later by families of the prison guards are maintained by volunteers today.