Monthly Archives: January 2012

Muir Beach Outlook and Stinson Beach

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

As if our Saturday outing to Bodega Head was not adventurous enough, Jake and I decided to add another outing to our weekend. For our Sunday adventure, we went south on 101, cut through Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais to Hwy 1, past the Muir Beach outlook, and then on to Stinson Beach. What a way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon!

Our first stop along Hwy 1 was the Muir Beach outlook. I can’t remember exactly where the turnoff was, because it was an unplanned stop, but it was up the hill a mile or two from Muir Beach itself. We pulled into the parking lot, which wasn’t too horribly busy, parked the jeep, and walked over to the outlook. It was definitely worth the extra stop! With picnic tables and old military bunkers/lookouts, it doesn’t look like much at first. And then you see it….the magnificent view of the ocean, Muir Beach, the coast to the north, and even the Sunset District of San Francisco. I highly recommend making a pit stop at this place if you’re driving along Hwy 1!

Next, we made our way to our intended destination, the town of Stinson Beach. We decided to have a late lunch at a restaurant called the Sand Dollar. They had the most amazing crab cakes, and by far the best fish tacos I’ve ever had. Messy, but delicious. After lunch, we walked down to the beach and stood staring at the ocean. There were so many people there. Not so much that it felt crowded, just, lived-in. The weather was sunny, mid-60s, and it felt even warmer because we were somehow blocked from the wind.

As we drove north out of Stinson Beach on Hwy 1, we started discussing the different cultures we see just around the bay area. I’ve traveled quite a bit in my life, so I’m no stranger to culture shock, but I’ve never experienced so many different cultural norms in just a few hundred square miles. You have densely packed urban neighborhoods, expansive grazing fields, grape vines, small beach towns with 400 residents… Each pocket has a different experience to offer. And then you drive out of a small town along the highway, look to your left, and see a group of seals hanging out in the water. Of course, we’re not quite used to this yet, so we pulled over and took a picture, but to see all the different environments for both people and animals is quite spectacular.

Another adventure down, and yet another we’ll have to do again. California is just so remarkable, it may take us awhile to see it all.

Hiking Bodega Head

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

The exploring continues! Yesterday, my husband and I drove out to Bodega Head, a peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean about 30 minutes west of Petaluma. The headlands are a beautiful place to hike around for the afternoon, and even do some whale watching. The hike around the outside loop of Bodega Head is about 2 miles, with an additional mile hike to the north. Of course, if you want to do some serious hiking, you can just keep going along the Sonoma Coast!

Our hike yesterday was lovely. The weather was perfect. 60s and sunny. There was a bit of wind for part of the hike, but overall it was quite nice.

Our first stop was the whale watching point, where local “whale watch” volunteers were waiting to answer any questions and help with whale spotting. We saw a few spouts of water blowing up out of the surface, but did not see any tails. Still, it was an exciting experience.

As we continued around Bodega Head, we saw beautiful cliffs, listened to seals and birds in the distance, and saw the “Hole in the Head” dug by PG&E in the 1960s. They had planned to build a nuclear plant on Bodega Head, so they dug a huge hole that would eventually house a nuclear reactor. However, the location of the hole is essentially right on top of the San Andreas fault line, so continuing the project would have been a horrible idea. The hole eventually filled up with rainwater and now serves as a freshwater pond for local wildlife.

Almost at the end of our hike, we had wandered off the beaten path and onto a sparsely used trail. We were still close to the road and the main trail, with the ocean in the background, and what did we see? A family of deer! We must have seen each other at the exact same moment, because right as I jumped up and said “Oh!” (to which Jake immediately thought I had seen something scary, like a snake!), all four deer turned their heads toward us with their ears straight up in the air. All six of us stood perfectly still for at least 30 seconds before any of us moved. As if I thought it would help, I started talking to the deer like I talk to my kids (our greyhounds) when I want them to be calm. Somehow, it worked, and though they wouldn’t let us get close, they did not run away. Eventually, we moved around them, even further off the barely there trail, and they continued grazing nearby. It was beautiful.

Bodega Head is definitely worth visiting. We only hiked about 3 miles, but it you can easily make it longer or shorter depending on where you want to go. Who knows where we’ll venture off to next time!

From Wayside Waifs to Beloved Pet

Posted on by annandmeg

Meet “Casey Stengel,” aka “Casey,” our family pet. Named for the baseball legend who managed the New York Yankees when I was growing up and Mickey Mantle was a star, the name perfectly suits the dog. Both dog and man are very charming, even charismatic, but not willing to follow anyone’s rules other than their own!

We adopted Casey from Wayside Waifs, a no kill shelter that places over 5000 animals a year in Kansas City homes. It is a wonderful place to visit and the staff and volunteers are very helpful and enthusiastic.

When we adopted Casey in May of 2008, the shelter had just completed a huge adoption event that seemed to have nearly emptied the building. Casey was one of the first animals to be brought into the shelter and I met him in the shelter’s clinic shortly after he had been neutered, vaccinated and treated for heartworm. Needless to say, Casey probably wasn’t feeling his best. Two days later our family came to meet him and took him to our “forever” home.

Casey was scared of everything. He was afraid of the car, the garage, the kitchen, the back yard. He had no idea how to climb stairs. He seemed afraid of grass and was certainly afraid to cross the street. But from the beginning he was gracious and accepting of love and attention.

That was nearly two years ago. He now goes with us everywhere we can take him. He loves our Sunday drives and willingly visits the nursing home where dad lives. He receives lots of attention, which he accepts with grace. I am often asked his breed, because he is a beauty. I’ve also been asked if he is a designer dog, since he obviously has the characteristics of a Tibetan breed. I have finally decided to think of him that way, as a designer dog. Like other mutts, he has unique physical and personality traits that are particularly endearing to me. In that way, at least, he seems to have been designed for us.

If you are looking for a pet, before you go to a pet store, or the classified ads in the paper, how about considering a shelter pet, or a retired greyhound. They need homes; most are wonderful pets and almost without exception will dedicate their lives to giving you unconditional love.

Hiking Muir Woods

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

To kick off the new year, I suggested to everyone visiting CA for the holiday weekend that we get out and do something outdoors. I thought a hike through Muir Woods would be the perfect way to get some exercise and do some family bonding. We packed up two carloads of people and drove the windy road through Mill Valley to get to the ocean side of the hills, and in we went to the redwood forest. I do have to give a shout out to Jake and Tio for generously dropping the rest of us at the park entrance. They apparently had to park a mile away, hoof it back and forth for the rest of us, and they didn’t complain once…at least not to “management” (aka, me and Auntie). Thank you gentlemen!

So, for those of you who have never been to Muir Woods, it will be difficult to explain how magical and humbling this forest is. Even with all the other visitors walking through and taking pictures, you almost feel as if you’re stuck in a different time, perhaps even walking through a real life “Lord of the Rings” forest. The forest is filled with redwood trees, which according to the brochure, can grow up to over 300 feet tall. How amazing! The land was donated by the Kent family in the early 1900s as an effort to protect the forest from the booming logging industry. President Roosevelt declared it a national monument in 1908.

Muir Woods was very busy on Sunday, with nearly 50,000 visitors according to the park rangers. Nearby attractions were also very crowded, likely due to the beautiful weather we had in the bay area on New Year’s Day. Even the Alcatraz tours were sold out! Of course, that will be something we do when our little brother comes out to visit us in a few months. Oh, the things to see in California!

When I walk through these amazing places, I am reminded that humans are a fairly new species in the history of the world. Redwood trees, for example, live to be hundreds or even several thousand years old. It is a humbling experience to walk among them, and to realize how close we came to wiping them out in the logging of the early 1900s. It is a reminder that people need to be careful of the resources they abuse and to be cautious of our growing impact on the balance of nature.

The hike was indeed a wonderful way to begin the new year.

Ring in the New Year: Happy 2012!

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

What an amazing year! A lot of things happened this past year, and 2011 definitely did not disappoint. We adopted a new handsome greyhound, my husband got a new job, I graduated from law school and passed the bar exam, and we moved to sunny California! All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good year. So naturally, we had to say goodbye to 2011 in style.

Last year we went to a fabulous black tie party in downtown KC with even more fabulous friends. This year, we celebrated in CA with a yummy dinner party at Auntie and Tio’s. After a delicious five-course meal, with each course prepared by a different couple (I made chocolate pots de creme!), we all stayed up until midnight drinking champagne and swapping proposal stories at the table. What a wonderful group of people! Auntie and Tio (the hosts of the evening), Robert and Kathleen (from Roswell, NM), Lina Jane and Bruce (from KC), Janet and Michael (from Manteca, CA), and me and my cute hubby (Petaluma of course!). It was a wonderful evening, and hopefully we can do it again next year.

As we look to the future and what we have planned, it is good to reflect on where we’ve been and what we’ve experienced. This last year was very busy and exhausting, but also very rewarding. I hope 2012 is not quite as stressful, but I look forward to discovering what the new year has in store for me.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you have a wonderful 2012!