Tuesday was what runners call “a recovery day”. We used it to recover from the long day of running (and wine tasting) that we had Monday. The only problem was that Suzanne had an early reading scheduled, so Reveille came at 0630, about 45 minutes before my usually lazy start to the day. No matter, we were going sightseeing anyway. After a rewarding reading for Suzanne, we loaded the car and drove about an hour to the town of Pt. Reyes Station, where we stopped for coffee and pain au chocolat at The Bovine Bakery. (They don't really bake bovines here...) Laugh you may, but the coffee and pastry were excellent, so we also bought their pesto and chicken croissants for lunch. The town is small (pop. 350) and populated by assorted older hippies, organic farmers, weavers, and handmade jewelry craftsmen. The epicenter for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a few miles south of town, but fortunately we missed a recurrence today.
Pt. Reyes National Seashore is an amazing place. It sits just north of San Francisco in Marin County, and it reminds you of Scotland or Cornwall; the wind and fog whip in over the hills from the Pacific, the trees are stunted and bowed from the wind, or have been blown away completely, leaving the hillsides covered with grass, rocks, and thistle. By the way, thistle was thought to be a cure for baldness in the Middle Ages. I’m not sure how it was supposed to be used, since the flowers are often protected by sharp thorns. 
There are also oysters here, as this delightful sign proves. However, the oysters are much smaller than the Gulf oysters I'm accustomed to back in New Orleans, so I passed on these for lunch.
But there are also a few hundred Tule Elk here, and now is the rutting season. We were hoping to hear bugling and perhaps see some elk combat (the bulls fight over the cows and the stronger bulls collect harems). However, after hiking for a long way, we had seen about 40-50 elk, and none of them were bugling, rutting, fighting, or mating. In fact, it was as if they were all on strike; they were just lying around, being lazy. (Maybe they had just come from a wine tasting...)
This area is so windy that farmers in the 1800s planted cedar and eucalyptus windbreaks to cut down on erosion and to protect their homes. These windbreak trees are over 100 years old, and are upwind of a ranch that is now closed and marks the start of one of the trails.
There are also Elephant Seals on some of the beaches. These guys run to about 5,000 lbs (blubbery males) and 2,000 lbs (svelte females). They dive to 2,000 ft depths and beyond, and can stay underwater for up to an hour or more. Like elk, they fight over females and build harems. Males can be very aggressive if approached, especially if they think you’re after a member of his harem. (Full disclosure: I didn't really take this photo... I didn't want to get one of these beasts jealous).
After our hike, we headed back home via California Highway 1 (also called The Coast Highway or Pacific Coast Highway, PCH), which winds like a snake along most of the California coast from Mendicino County to Orange County. The road is narrow, and perfect for sports cars and motorcycles; we were glad we hadn’t brought The Bus. These motorcyclists from Switzerland had rented their bikes and leathers in San Francisco, and were enjoying the scenery. They chose these particular bikes (two BMWs and a Suzuki) because they had the exact same bikes back in Switzerland. They looked pretty cool, and I thought that maybe I should reconsider that Harley... and a tattoo? Naaaahhhhhh.....
These photos give you an idea how narrow and winding the Coast Highway is for much of its length; it’s not a very safe road, to say the least. We wondered about the sanity of two bicyclists we passed. The husband was pulling a small trailer with a toddler and his wife had a 4 year old on a seat on the back of her bike.
Back at home on the Coast Guard base, we took Rudy and Gretchen for a walk. We passed the warning signs about cougars, and then saw these two additional warnings. In this case, “Range” means “Rifle and Pistol Range”... “Lead” implies just what you think it does...and is much faster acting than the kind in paint.
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