We left Santa Rosa and headed west and within a short time noticed the temperature dropping as we neared the coast. After a short drive we arrived at a nice county regional park in Bodega Bay where we would be staying for four days. Bodega Bay is a very small harbor village with beautiful views of the bay. We have found this area of Northern California has no Walmart or franchise restaurants that we are used to seeing. You will most definitely not find a McDonalds in this area of the state! While we were in Southern California we noticed that due to city/county ordinances, some Walmarts and grocery stores have done away with plastic bags and we have become accustomed to taking our own bags with us instead of paying ten cents for each paper bag. This is most definitely true for ALL of Northern California. We went in a McDonalds in San Francisco and there was a sign saying they charge ten cents for each paper bag they put your food in. Now that is taking “going green” a little to the extreme!!

We loved our campsite in Bodega Bay where we had a great view of the channel with boats passing by and plenty of waterfowl to observe. For the first time we noticed the beautiful wildflowers everywhere. 

 

Our first day we drove up to the Bodega Bay Visitor Center and found out in 1963 the Hitchcock movie “The Birds” was filmed in Bodega Bay. We were told that last year they had a big 50^th Anniversary celebration and Tippi Hedren, now 84 years old, visits Bodega Bay every year. The guide at the Visitor Center told us that around 8,000 people come here every year just because it is where the movie was filmed. We picked up a map with several locations to visit where they did filming for the movie. While in the area we rode past the schoolhouse shown in the movie, which is now a private home.  We also took a scenic drive along Bay Hill Road which is the same route that Tippi Hedren drove in the beginning of the movie and we were rewarded with some very picturesque scenery with the Pacific Ocean on one side and pastures with cattle grazing and calves running after their mothers. The road was narrow and very curvy and one we would have never taken without the map. We were very glad we did!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also rode up to tip of the peninsular Bodega Bay Head where they have magnificent views of the Pacific coastline. When we pulled up the parking lot was almost full and we noticed people with cameras standing and sitting on top of the cliff. Thinking something exciting was happening we hurried up there only to find that people spend hours here waiting for a whale or two to make an appearance. We are not quite that patient but we did enjoy the view!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The highlight of our visit to Bodega Bay was a visit to Point Reyes National Seashore Park that was only about 40 miles from Bodega Bay but took about an hour and a half due to the narrow and curvy roads both on California Highway 1 and inside the park. Our first stop was the Visitor Center where we read informational displays about the Coast Miwok Indians who were the first inhabitants of the area. We watched an interesting and informative movie on the history of the park that included English (Sir Francis Drake in 1579), Spanish and Mexican inhabitants in addition to the Indians. There have been generations of dairy farmers who have farmed the land and there are currently thirteen active ranches in the park. Throughout our drive around the park we saw cattle and crossed many cattle guards. President Kennedy signed legislation in 1962 making it a National Seashore Park and in 1966 Mrs. Lyndon Johnson formally dedicated the park to the American people.

The first thing we did after touring the Visitor Center was take a short walk on “The Earthquake Trail”.

 

 

 

 

 

They had blue stakes showing the location of the San Andreas Fault and at one point on the trail a twenty-foot movement had split a fence during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next on our list was to drive to the Tule Elk Reserve. Before 1860 thousands of tule elk roamed the Point Reyes peninsula. Due to hunting they died out and in 1999 a herd was returned to the land. Today approximately 750 roam the land. We really wanted to see some elk and we had the mistaken impression all we had to do was drive to the edge of the reserve. Turns out it wasn’t nearly that easy. We came to the realization that if we wanted to see elk we would have to do some hiking so we found a popular trail and started out. The weather was sunny and fairly warm at the Visitor Center, but by the time we had driven ten miles to the reserve the weather was chilly, windy and foggy. We started down the trail and came upon a man who was carrying a huge elk antler on his back. He said they carry them out and grind them up and bring them back and spread them on the ground because the minerals are good for insects. Since we had seen a sign warning us not to collect antlers, we had to take his word for it.  We really wished we had thought to get his picture because it was really quite a sight to see!

After walking for a while along the narrow hilly trail we saw some elk far in the distance. Definitely too far away to get a decent picture. We decided to hike a little further and came across two groups of hikers on their way back. Once group told us there were elk about 150 yards away. After walking what seemed to be much further than fifty yards we came to some more hikers who told us we would see them after about a five-minute walk. We continued on and walked much longer than five minutes. Either these hikers have a poor concept of time and distance or the elk were really on the move! When we reached the two-mile mark we decided to give up and head back.

Just at that point Bill looked to the left and saw a small herd lying down in the grass. They all turned their heads and looked right at him. The view was not perfect with the fog, but at least they were close enough to see them but Bill was able to enhance the pictures on his computer. We left the trail and walked toward them to get a better look but stopped when one of them stood up in alarm. We didn’t want to scare them off.  We took some pictures and congratulated ourselves on finding them and not giving up. We headed back down the trail and Bill stopped suddenly and pointed ahead. There on the hillside happily grazing on grass and wildflowers was another group of twelve. They were close to the trail and did not seem alarmed at all by our presence, but we moved slowly and quietly so as not to alarm them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During our elk hike we not only enjoyed seeing the elk but we saw beautiful fields of wildflowers and lovely views of the Pacific coast that would have been even more spectacular if it hadn’t been for the fog. 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though it was foggy we decided to take a chance and drive up to the Point Reyes Lighthouse that is supposed to have breathtaking views of the area. Along the way we crossed more cattle guards and continued to see many cattle and calves nursing. One highlight for Bill was seeing the RCA Ranch and historic Radio Station KPH that was once at the forefront of communication technology. There was once here a wireless telegraph station where operators tapped out Morse code messages across the Pacific as far away as Hawaii. During World War II military and coast guard personnel used the property. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) owned it and the park service acquired the property from RCA in 1999.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today park personnel use the building as offices.

 

 

 

 

 

You may recognize the arched driveway of cypress trees leading to the house because it has been used in numerous car commercials. 

 

 

 

 

 

We reached the lighthouse but just as we expected it was fogged in with heavy fog and we couldn’t see a thing. We drove the ninety minutes back to the campground marveling at all we had seen today!

We are finding that Northern California is simply enchanting!!