Up, up and away

Hiking was the word of the day on Thursday.  The morning hike was along the McCurdy trail just outside of Stinson Beach.  Unfortunately, if Mr. McCurdy knew the shape of his namesake trail, he would be quite embarrassed.  In fact, Maleia and Josiah called it the "grass and flowers in your face" trail.  It could have kept a hard-working Salvadoreño and his trusty machete busy for a couple of days, if not weeks.

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to coffee/donuts at the Parkside Cafe and let the kids play on the playground.  

The afternoon hike was much nicer . . . up the trail with a great ocean view as your reward, well, that plus a couple of wild, ripe blackberries.  

One last splash in the cold, cold water to end the day.

Fun in the Sun (and Wind)

Jon picked us up yesterday and we drove to our home-away-from-home on Stinson Beach about 5:00 p.m.  We stopped to buy groceries on the way out of town so we were ready to settle in.  First stop, a walk along the beach and our first impression of the beaches in northern California--windy and cold, but beautiful.  Grilled chicken, fresh asparagus and corn-on-the-cob made an excellent dinner and a nice change to eating out every day since Saturday.   

We walked to the little town a few blocks away this morning and had a late breakfast.  Then drove up Highway 1 for about 10 miles and then south in to Bolinas--a quaint little town that loves it's privacy.  The townspeople are so intent on keeping their town hidden that they have been known to take down the highway signs at the intersection of Highway 1 and the main road into town.  Stephen read that fact on a website about the town and, sure enough, we missed the turn the first time because there wasn't a sign.  

We got back to the house about 1:30 and within less than 30 minutes, Daniel, Maleia and Josiah arrived.  Hurray for grandkids!  The temperature of the ocean didn't matter to them--there's nothing more fun than running along the beach and having the water sweep over your feet.

We took a walk to the park and while they played, Daniel and I stopped at the little market to buy a few pizza toppings.  Jon made his special homemade pizza dough and with everyone helping with the slicing and dicing, we had two delicious homemade, gourmet pizzas for dinner.  

The kids took another walk on the beach while I baked up a couple dozen Snickerdoodles.  Warm cookies before bed . . . . perfect.  The kids are settled in and the four of us are starting a card game.