Today was checkout day for us. We woke up early (again) and packed up all of our things before heading out. Our goal was to cross the Golden Gate Bridge in full sunlight and then enjoy the view from Battery Spencer Park before heading to our reserved time at Muir Woods. Well…. The fog won again!! Driving over the bridge was amazing in a foggy “the red towers appear out of nowhere” kind of vibe. And we could tell Battery Spencer was a really beautiful park but we couldn’t see anything. Like not even a hint of the bridge. So, we packed it up and headed to Muir Woods a little early.
Muir Woods, however, did not disappoint! It was spectacular from the moment we entered, with towering redwood trees right off the boardwalk. We took our time enjoying the forest and hugging the trees. We even saw some wild deer just munching on the side of the mountain — one of them with antlers! A small side trail let us really get away from the crowds and walk among the trees. We honestly took so long going so slow that we only hiked for about an hour before we made it back to the boardwalk and needed to head out to keep our timeline intact.
Next we made our way to Point Reyes National Seashore. We GREATLY underestimated the size and scope of this park. It reminded us a lot of Death Valley with the winding road through nothing-ness and the bumpy yellow grassy mountains. We stopped at the cypress tunnel and then headed to the elephant seal viewing platform — which was literally at the tip of the park, jutting out into the ocean. Again the wind was ridiculous and even with our puffer jacket and beanie on, the temperature was chilly. But it was worth it because we saw three elephant seals on the beach below and playing in the water. They were so cute playing with each other!
We had a 3+ hour drive to our timeshare at that point and it was 3:30pm so we needed to start moving, unfortunately. We were going to stop at the North Beach lookout on our way out, but the fog was rolling pretty heavy when we passed by, so we decided to just keep moving.
Dinner was at the Fishertarian — another order-at-the-window-and-find-a-seat kind of establishment. Everything was gluten free, even the beer battered cod. We split fish and chips and fish tacos and both were pretty amazing.
The rest of the drive to Point Arena was spectacular. It was the prettiest drive I’ve ever been on — with cliffs lining the ocean, waves breaking in the distance. The road was super curvy, in a kind of crazy way. My head feels a bit like we spent the day on a boat right now. We pulled off several times to get better views and just enjoy it.