Over the river and through the woods

What's the best way to spend a free day on Xmas around Napa? Muir Woods had parking available, but only for 8am. It's an hour drive from Napa, so we grabbed the reservation. As we drove through the southern end of Sonoma, we passed by Happy Pets Inn, remembering fondly how much our dog Shala enjoyed staying there. We also passed a few wineries that we remembered.

We arrived at Muir Woods at 8:05am, and the parking lot was already 2/3 full! We took the Fern Creek and Hillside Loop trail, and we had great views with solitude.

Since we were so close to the Golden Gate Bridge, we drove over to the Marin Headlands for some sweeping views. We got a great view of San Francisco, but that is as close as we will get this trip. 

Along the drive, we passed the Buckeye Roadhouse, which Greg mentioned to Brian just a few days ago when they were frantically driving the motorhome through Marin and Sonoma to beat the storms. Seems little has changed in the 17+ years since Amy & Greg moved away from the Bay Area.

The Marin Headlands were very crowded. Cyclists were pedaling hard up and down the hills, and they weren't using e-bikes! In addition to dodging the cyclists, there were many tourists. But the views were spectacular, as usual.

Took some down time back at the campground before picking up Ari at the Sacramento airport. Tomorrow, wine tasting!