Napa, CA - September 2016 - Days 3, 4 & 5

September 5, 2016 (Monday)

Kule Loklo - Coast Miwok Indian Village

Family outing!  We visited Point Reyes NS, our first stop within the park being the Bear Valley Visitor Center where we watched the introduction film and checked out the displays.  We also hiked to the Kule Loklo recreated Coast Miwok Indian Village. It was a short walk that provided a few nice views.

Heading to the Lighthouse from the Bear Valley Visitor Center is about a 45-minute drive. The drive provided lovely cattle ranch views as well as ocean views. Once we finally arrived to the lighthouse, the parking was out-of-control. The parking lot is quite small and additional parking is along the side of the road. Luckily, we were able to find a space near the parking lot along the side of the road. We had our picnic lunch along the roadside on some rocks before heading to the lighthouse viewing area.  The hike down to the lighthouse is 308 steps.  The lighthouse itself was not too impressive.  The cool part was that we saw a whale!  Once done visiting the lighthouse, we headed to the Drakes Bay Beach.  We wondered the beach, enjoying some sand castles; built in the previous day sandcastle building contest.

Baby Muir with a sand sculpture

Drakes Bay Beach

Leaving the park, we stopped at Point Reyes Station for some ice cream before heading back to the hotel. We had dinner near our hotel at the Hilo Hawaiian BBQ. I was excited – since while we were in HI, I had the Kalua Pork with Cabbage pretty much every day.

September 6, 2016 (Tuesday)

Muir Woods

After checking out of the hotel, we dropping Mike’s parents off to spend the day with the baby. Mike and I headed to Muir Woods NM.  Muir Woods was quite busy in the parking lot areas.  We were able to find a space after maybe 10 minutes of driving around. After a quick lunch at the on-site café, we ventured out on the trails. We opted to check out the Hillside Trail. It was an easy hike.  The site was a lot drier/duster than when we had previously visited.

Our next stop, the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front NHP. The plan was to visit the SS Red Oak Ship.  It was supposed to be open, but we arrived to find it was closed for a few days since work was being done in the area leading to the ship.  Maybe the third try will be the charm…  We visited the Education Center and watched the film about the Port Chicago Disaster. Port Chicago Naval Magazine is on our list of places yet to visit – they have limited hours and require clearance to gain access to the active military base site.

Jill, a friend I used to work with, met up with us for dinner at Zachary’s Chicago Pizza on College Street in Oakland. The pizza was pretty good. For dessert, we went to Smitten Ice Cream, which was also yummy.

Our trip was wrapping up, we headed back towards Sacramento, meeting Mike’s parents near Fairfield.  We stayed at the Best Western Sandman Motel in Sacramento – total dive.

September 7, 2016 (Wednesday)

We had a 6:40am flight back to Flint with a short layover in Minneapolis. After landing in Flint, we headed home, but not before stopping in Clarkston for some of the best BBQ ever at the Union Woodshop.