Thursday 04.16.09 (click photos to enlarge)

Wednesday I didn't take pictures... dunno why... I was driving around in wine country again. It was kind of cold and windy so I stayed inland, Sonoma mostly. I guess I just was not inspired. Anyhow... Thursday I had some fun! I started off by driving the Russian River Valley again because it is so pretty.

Russian River right before it gets to the Pacific.
Then I drove down highway one. There were state park beaches all along highway one between the Russian River and Bodega Bay...
The Pacific as seen from highway one...
So pretty...
I wanted to go walk on the beaches here but I had a lot of other things planned for the day so I didn't...
I like the rocks...
Lots of rocks...
Here is a house overlooking the pacific... I just liked the way this one looked and the tree. There were other more interesting houses along this stretch... but I didn't have time to stop and take pictures of all of them... I just liked the color of this one with the sky.
After driving all the way down highway one I got to Marshall... and The Marshall Store. Known to the locals as having the best local oysters around. (Or so I have heard). Anyhow, I grabbed an outdoor table next to the water and ordered a half dozen BBQ oysters since that is the local specialty. They also serve them raw or Rockefeller style. This is my view from my table.
This is the best kayak rental place next door... I don't know why it is the best... that is just what the biker guy I was talking to told me.
Flying rat in the dining area!!!
I scared him away.
MMMMMMM.... my oysters... They were SO good!!! And it seems they gave me one extra!
The Marshall Store, right off of highway one.
The front of the Marshall Store.
And Finally... Point Reyes... I say finally because I had been wanting to get back out here earlier in the week but couldn't because the light house is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
View from the trail down to the lighthouse.
Window on light house, house.
The whales are migrating this time of year and you are supposed to be able to see them from the point. I didn't expect to see any whales and wasn't looking for any... then everyone started to squeal. Haha... lucky I had my big zoomie lens on.



More lighthouse... the light house area was kind of a zoo... and there wasn't much parking. I almost had to throw down with a tourist in a big floppy red hat for a parking space I was waiting for... that is a long story though.
After excaping the crazyness that was the lighthouse I decided to go for a walk in Abbots Lagoon. To my delight there were only two other cars in the parking lot for this trail head! The trail started out with rolling hills...
Western Grebe in the lagoon....
You follow the trail out to the lagoon and then you can walk in the sand and follow the lagoon out to the Pacific.
Lots of kelp on the beach..
And I found two red abalone... these guys don't usually just come off the rocks as far as I know... I think that someone fishing for them lost his loot because I found an innertube with a rope on it that looked alot like the ones in this picture nearby. You can see the mother of pearl on the inside of the shell in this picture... According to the article I liked to above these guys are worth 60 - 100 each on the black market.

Underside...
Topside...
I was kicking the abalone around trying to get it close enough to the water to wash off some sand so I could see it better and almost got eaten by multiple "sneaker" waves. This is not a swimming beach. But it sure is fun find stuff on the sand!
Walking back... the lagoon...
Walking back..
EEK! all of a sudden I started sinking! I almost lost my shoes to this quick sand!
Pretty..
Another Western Grebe??? Dunno..
Bird!
These birds are funny! The run on the ground and run into the bushes when they see you. They also had a "lookout" perched up on a fence post when a whole bunch of them were eating in the field next to the fence. When the one on the fence pole saw me he jumped down and the all scattered.
There were deer everywhere.
Clover dairy farm. Possibly where my breakfast milk came from.
"the lookout"
uh oh... he saw me...
MOst of them were just brown blurs running into the bushes... I caught this one though.