DAY 25 was a big surprise in a few ways. We did get up on time to avoid paying the parking fees and slowly meandered to Muir Woods National Monument. When almost to there, we see signs saying parking reservations required, but no other info so we kept going. Down at the parking area we meet with an attendant that was marginally helpful giving us a card as to how to reserve a spot. Problem was there was no signal . . . so we moved on to Muir Beach. There we had signal and info on parking reservations. We opted out of visiting the woods and spent some time at the beach.

From there we went back towards Battery Spencer, stopping at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center. The rangers there were very helpful and the exhibits encouraged using all senses. I especially liked the jars that had the scents of the plants along the seashore. The other highlight was learning about the draw that brought my great grandfather on my father’s mother’s side out to California. Many people from the Azores came during the gold rush seeking gold. Failing at that, they became cattle farmers where they made a good living. This matches up with what I heard from my dad a while back, minus the drive about the gold rush. Turns out he was pretty well off. That’s a story for another blog entirely.

We toured the Marin Headlands spotting a lot of wildlife including Pelicans and Harbor Seals. After grabbing some cloudy photos from up top at Battery Spencer, we headed down to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Presidio Visitor Center for a few more photos from a different vantage point before heading to Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad (closed due to heat) and finally to Pinnacles National Park.

I wasn’t expecting much at all from this park so I couldn’t be disappointed. Well, I was really impressed but getting there was a little tense. It was a one lane road for about 6 miles. On the way in we passed exactly ZERO cars thankfully but had a relatively close call with a fox. We got there about 2 hours before dark and managed to get a hike in. I don’t think I could have made a hike during the day due to the 95 degree plus heat. Check out the pictures through the cave and on the ridge. We had the park pretty much to ourselves.

Before leaving, we managed to make some rice since there was electric at the visitor station (no fires allowed due to the high fire danger rating) and also get some great night photos. Leaving the park we passed one car – who apparently didn’t think we pulled over enough to the side to let them pass, as they decided to drive partially off the road. We got through it and made it to where we planned to stay for the night. The Pilot Travel Center was not what I would have considered safe or restful, so we looked for another spot. On recommendation of a site, we found Food Co and asked if it was ok for us to stay for the night after explaining the Pilot situation. The manager understood and asked what vehicle we were in so she could alert the towing company to let us be. We’ll see how the night went in the next post.