12/3/13 - Coastin'

We drove South all day today to Tomales Bay. We passsed through beautiful, dry rolling grass hills scattered with herds of sheep and woolly black cattle. The land here is mostly empty, and incredibly lovely. We finally found the sun! Although the temperatures are in the low 50's during the daytime, it isn't raining. Word from home says it's snowing in Bellingham.

Some of the roads we passed made my heart ache for my KTM Supermoto. Tight twisties, smooth asphalt and hardly another soul in sight are enough to get the pulse of any motorcycle rider going. I marked the point on my GPS for further exploration of the two wheeled kind! We pulled off the road at one point so Dave could take some pictures. I walked over to an old, abandoned shed and kicked some grass piles, one of which contained the perfectly preserved skeleton of a coyote. Coyote was always my favorite character in the old American Indian fables we read. He was a trickster, clever, always laughing and on the move. I kept a tooth for good luck, then we got back on the road.

We pulled off the road between Tomales Bay and Marshall, and are parked right on a strip of beach protected from the wind by green hills thick with Madrona and pine. A seal popped his head out when we pulled in, eyeing us with puzzlement. He must have been unimpressed, because after a few minutes he snuffed heavily and sunk below once more. Some pelicans were squawking and fighting in their odd, slow motion way on the pier, but they have turned in for the night. Dave is cooking cajun beans and rice to make wraps, which will serve us well on a cold night like tonight. Tomorrow we should make San Francisco, and see the Golden Gate Bridge!