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.

California 2013 - Round 1 - Day 4

Feb 24, 2013 (Sunday)

John Muir National Historic Site

After breakfast at the house, we headed to the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. We opted to watch the twenty minute film about John Muir prior to visiting the home on the site. For those who might not know who John Muir was here is some basic information: he was born in Scotland (1838) and migrated to Wisconsin as a child (1849), he created a lot of inventions (1860), damages an eye in a factory accident (1867) and then decided to immerse himself in nature (1868). Once heavily involved with nature he campaigns for Yosemite to become a National Park and begins writing magazine articles. Muir helped found Sierra Club (1892) and was elected as its first president. Muir is probably America’s most famous naturalist and conservationist - basically he is the Father of the National Park Service. His writing convinced the U.S. government to protect places that he held dear to his heart. 

The John Muir site is free to visit. The home is quite large and is well furnished with period pieces. The only absolutely original item in the home is his desk. A guide is available inside the home to answer any questions that you might have. There are trails on the property that are available to walk. Also, on this site is an Adobe, which is part of the Anza Trail.  The Anza Trail runs from Mexico to the San Francisco area.

Red Oak Victory Shit at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front

After lunch with family, we headed to the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. This NPS site has not been open for very long and there are many parts of the park site are not yet open to the public.  The visitor center has nice displays and a few different videos available for viewing. We watched two videos that were both 15 minutes long.  The visitor center has a self-guided auto tour pamphlet that tells where all the different sites are. We were not very impressed with the actual memorial; it was just a bunch of metal with some photos attached to it. The ship yard and the SS Red Oak Victory ship are quite impressive. The ship was closed by the time we reached the site, so we will have to return to check the inside out. Hopefully, other parts of the site will be opened by then too!  The park ranger at this site told me about a really cool program that the NPS is a part of – NPS Trading Cards! The program is geared towards children to interact with park staff. It is said that the trading card program is more successful that the Junior Ranger programs. Adults also like to participate in the program. Currently there are 87 parks participating in the program. You earn the trading cards by completing activities – like watching a video or reading a display.

We headed back to Napa for dinner at The Thomas.  The Thomas has only been open for a few months, and Mike’s brother just happens to work there.  We tried a ton of appetizers and desserts, and of course we had a main course as well.  My favorite appetizer was probably the duck on flatbread; the grilled chorizo was pretty good also. I had the Thomas burger and fries as my main course, the burger was good but the fries were not as impressive as the ones I had while in NYC. My favorite dessert was the warm monkey bread.