Saturday, February 26, 2011

Ring Mountain Loop

Saturday morning. My usual backyard warmup before taking on the day.... I had hoped to wake up in the big snowy mountains...it was not to be. We did venture out for a local hike with views galore.
Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve.
This piece of Open Space is 367 acres, and home to a very unique geology and microclimate.
Grassy slopes, coastal oaks and rocks thought to once lay at the bottom of the ocean.
We could see far with today's clear skies. Looking toward San Quentin, we meandered to the top of this 602 ft. mountain.
Mt. Tamalpais in the distance, with it's own ever changing weather hovering above.
Rocks, like rasins in a batter are at every footstep and in all sizes. The soil here contains much serpentine, which hosts extensive wildflowers come spring.
Rounding this bend we were now headed east.
Dad lingered.
Passing by views of San Francisco, and closer are the towns of Tiburon & Belvedere Island.
Happy face.
An amazingly clear day!
Ahhhh! Thank you!
Always nice to get a hug from mom :)
We could really see the shape of the Tiburon Peninsula.
The Richmond Bridge appeared in the distance.
Shadows with us.
East Bay in the distance.
We had now made a full circle.
Passing by a favorite local climbing crag, called Split Rock.
Another look back through mustard grass towards the Richmond Bridge.
We finished our hike with smiles.
A bit of a magical local spot. Hope we can return here for the wildflower blooms.
Have a nice rest of the weekend friends!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Day trips and updates :)

Wednesday morning roadtrip with mom and mom's mom :) to Pt. Reyes Station... The Bovine Bakery....a must-stop for many locals as well as travelers, for a cup of java and a most amazing pastry... A lap through Pt. Reyes Station...Toby's Feed Barn, family owned & operated since 1942!


Historic building with an upcoming art display...covered in bicycle rims...couldn't find information on this event.... If any friends remember this entry from March 2010 or before.....family property in Inverness....scheduled for a big remodel!
Changes started in Spring 2010..... demolition photo...mom's brother in charge, and in photo.
From March 8, 2010...and here we are now... We visited Wednesday morning...wow progress! The design is a straw-bale home, that will accompany an existing stray-bale cottage. Designed by mom's father (engineer), and is being constructed by mom's brother (contractor)... Take a look :) Quite far along...straw-bales already in....
Brother (in brown) and co-worker working on arched decking pieces during our visit.
I inspected the upper deck....ummmm...ehem! Careful here!
From the old deck, looking towards the new construction...and a hint of "nuckle hill"
And...here's the bigger view towards "nuckle hill!" A West Marin landmark :) From the garden, we looked up towards the older cottage (left) and newer structure (right and higher roof-line)
I sniffed out grandad's WORM COMPOST! Oh yeah! Super composty...and wormy. Wootwoot. Lots of snooter sniffs :)
Mossy trees looking towards the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Vision Road area. Quite a spectacular area....lots of great hikes...and recent sightings of mountain lion...
Checking things out....
Whispy clouds blowing in the next day storms...new roof-line.
Ahhhhh....but must leave you with a shot of where I ended up upon returning to MY neck-of-the woods! Run time...corral time...pal time....and mud time!
Have a most wonderful weekend my friends....we are watching the roads in hopes to hit some snow...but waiting for a better weather window! :)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Just a nice day

Today was mom's day off... Fantastic! Always happy to have a mom & me day. Errands and chores took up most of the day...but we did enjoy the pre-storm light and breezesStopping along a rock break, we watched kite-surfers sail around in the winds. Richmond Bridge in the background.
They criss-crossed the choppy waters
We took the senic way home from our errands. Passing through China Camp State Park. No doggies on trails, but we stopped for a short walk along the road shoulder.
The winds were blowin' my furs. I could taste the breezes.A road side farm stand was set up as a prop for a photo shoot taking place in the park Mossy colors, new buds and green grasses teased us with the possibility of Spring.Not quite yet...winter has indeed blown back in as we write this. High tide. We watched the waters then headed home before the rain started.
Mom's bracing for another busy round of work, and I'm resting up for camp!
Rains and wind are indeed upon us now.
Will see you again soon friends.