Adventures on Hwy 1 - Part 2 Stinson Beach

I am blaming it on the GPS in Tom's car. So funny, we plugged in "Stinson Beach", in Mill Valley,and then proceeded to drive, and drive, through eucalyptus forests, bright green ferns, babbling brooks, redwood groves, old oak groves and spring blooming wildflowers, up skinny roads on Mount Tam.  Fantastic views above Stinson Beach of shades of turquoise in the Pacific Ocean, and every variance of the color green over the rolling coastal hills in Central California.  It was so crystal clear that we could even see the Farallone Islands  off in the near distance.   Tom was freaking me out a little by looking at the view, and not the road!

We finally made our way down to the ocean via the Fairfax-Bolinas Road.  Tom officially declared this beaut of a highway the most twisty road he's ever driven! (me too)  Always love an adventure - and then we were rewarded with dropping down onto Hwy 1, right at the Bolinas Lagoon.  Gorgeous! Full of egrets, grey herons, and elusive sand pipers. So shallow, that seals were sunning themselves on the sand bars.  (too far away - wrong camera)







Stinson Beach, according to the road sign, has just over 450 people living there.  I suspect a lot of 2nd home owners too.  Cute cute cute beach town! A bookstore, a few restaurants, surf shops, art galleries.. We had a wine and appetizer break at the "Sand Dollar" - fun, busy restaurant decorated like the inside of a steamer ship.  Yum! Fab Zin from the Dry Creek area, the most tender calamari that I have ever eaten and look at this ahi creation!  We will definitely go back here. Maybe you can come with us?


 Take a look at some of the beach houses that I captured on our beach walk! No rhyme or reason - all different, all different colors.

Very nice state park at Stinson Beach with lots of room for picnickers and tons of sandy beach stretching out for kids to create sand castles, sand angels - or simply jump in the waves.  Isn't it funny how kids never get cold?  The sea, sometimes can be a universal language...

I have found sea glass here, but only a few pieces, more often I find pieces of shells rolling in the surf.  Mostly we just walk,  and enjoy the crashing waves and sea birds skittering in the foamy tide.

If you would like to go - here's some handy links!

http://www.stinsonbeachonline.com/
http://www.stinsonbeachrestaurant.com/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471
http://www.bolinaslagoon.org/

More Adventures on Hwy 1 - Central Coast of California part 1

Well... let me start off by saying, we got sort of lost. Our goal was Stinson Beach, and we "sort of"  knew the way from Mill Valley. If you have ever been this way over to Stinson Beach, you will have to agree that it is not well marked at all.  Driving up windy, twisting, skinny residential streets, you just hope that you're going the right way.   We even used the GPS  in Tom's car, and boy did we go the wrong way! Sometimes getting lost can be the best thing though...

All the way up Mt. Tam, we kept saying to each other "wow, I don't remember this" and "do you remember this view", "maybe it was foggy the last time we came this way?"  We kept passing signs on steel gates "park road closes at sunset" - sure didn't seem like we had gone this way before??

Look what our view was from the top! By the way, it looks a lot warmer than it was.  The wind was blowing incredibly cold and just about blew us over...

So glad that we did go off the beaten track, we would have missed this opportunity to see the city from one side, and the expanse of the Pacific Ocean on the other side... all the way down past Pacifica.

In the span of 5 minutes, I am once again reminded of how small we are and how incredible the world really is.

Stinson Beach Sunsets

Had an absolute dream day on Saturday, driving to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore on Hwy 1, in Northern California.   Hard to imagine that another perfect day could be topped off any more beautifully.  

These photos were taken overlooking Stinson Beach, and the Pacific Ocean  from the road that rises up to Mt. Tam, and then back over to San Francisco.  Just had to pull over and drink in this incredible view!

Watch the progression of colors as the sun sinks further into the Pacific..

The sky was absolutely on fire with brilliant pink and orange flaming clouds! Love this view with the curve of Stinson Beach. During the day, when driving down this hill, the view that stretches out with white sand and all the blues of the color wheel is one of my favorites! Some days you get lucky and the surf is whipped with the white caps of the Pacific Ocean.

Tom thought he was so sneaky! Taking a picture of me, while I tried to capture one more image on my Iphone....