Olema (3)

California seems like an entirely different place to me when it is all lush and green. Likewise, the Olema Campground left me with a better impression this trip and I wonder if that is just the spring wildflowers talking.

This is a privately run campground, and as such, it does pack in the sites so it can maximize income. They’ve done a clever thing though in some of the loops, where they put a pull in right next to a back in, so your front doors are facing away from each other. That helps to make the space seem more private. And as it turned out, the loop next to us was closed for maintenance, so it really wasn’t too bad at all. Plus, I reserved the site on Tuesday after having officially been notified that the last of my Wright’s Beach reservations was cancelled. So for a last minute booking, you can’t get much better.

Richard was thinking of going on a big ride, but Saturday brought intense winds. Instead, we drove to Pt. Reyes Station for a bit of lunch before heading out to Point Reyes National Seashore. Our first stop was the Bear Valley Visitor Center, which was packed for Easter weekend. I was lucky to get a parking space, and that was only because I circled for a while until someone left. We decided to do a part of the Bear Valley Trail up to Divide Meadow, and then double back. That’s an easy, beautiful hike that also offers protection from the wind.

After that, we decided to drive out to the point, although the lighthouse is currently closed for restoration. That road has seen better days. The whole thing is full of potholes and bumps, and in some areas, parts are falling off and short stretches are one lane only. There was a pretty good size flood too, and believe me, we wouldn’t have crossed it without seeing others safely cross in front of us.

We took a little side excursion down to Drake’s Beach where I had to yell at a family of tourists for literally poking a sea lion with a stick! The grandma was taking video on her iPad of a poor tired soul, trying to rest out of the way on the beach. Then grandpa reached over and grabbed a stick to poke him! I could not believe it. The sea lion roared at him and she laughed, like “Ha ha ha, do it again so I can get the shot.” He started toward the sea lion again and I went running up waving my hands (I don’t think they spoke English). “SIR!! Please don’t POKE THE SEA LION WITH A STICK!” The adult daughter looked embarrassed, saying “Oh sorry, sorry,” as though this was some obscure, surprising rule. They scurried off, but I was still mad and told the ranger on them. Didn’t do any good because they’d already left, but I guess it felt good to see the rangers standing guard so no one else would do it. People. Seriously.

After that, we drove a precariously narrow road to Chimney Rock. That’s a nail biter if you encounter cars coming the other way, which we did. The parking lot was also full, so all we could do was turn around and go back. From there, we headed out to the last point on the lighthouse road you can drive before you encounter a gate. The wind was serious by then, but we scrambled out to a lookout and tried to not become kites. Richard was 100% glad he had not chosen to try riding out there.

For dinner, we drove back to Pt. Reyes Station for some awesome pizza at Cafe Reyes. That’s some yummy pizza! They make their dough fresh daily and use fresh mozzarella, all baked in a wood oven. Give me that and an IPA on tap, and that’s a damn good day.

Easter Sunday I baked a lemon blueberry cake in the Omnia (success!), and we drove home via Nicasio and Stafford Lake. The former was full to the brim with lovely water, while the latter was all a-fluff with spring goslings. I don’t know much about goose social structure, but it sure looked to me like there were two geese caretakers in charge of the entire gaggle of goslings, while the rest of the adults hung out together and mingled. I wonder if they take turns, or if jobs are permanently assigned.

Then home again, home again. It sure lifts my soul to see California this green. It also reminds me that things come back. Even after a long drought. That’s a good reminder for the woes of the world and a lesson I needed just now. One more metaphorical lesson was learned this weekend. I bought new plastic (not real wax) candles to replace the melted Romance Package 1.0. I decided to hang them from the front wall on a shelf, and ever so slightly underestimated the distance needed to fit the tallest candle under the California State Parks map. I stared at it and puzzled for a long while over breakfast. If I tried to reposition the sticky shelf mount, it would be ruined, but I do have another. Or I could trim a tiny bit of laminate off the bottom of the map, but it’s unlikely I could do that without having it be jagged, and that would bug me. Or I could try to make that candle stand out from the wall just a bit so it will go in front of the map…. Then it occurred to me that if I simply turned the candle around so the lower contoured side was against the wall, the problem would be removed. So that’s the lesson: when faced with problems that are tricky or complicated to solve, see if just turning something around will do it. Perspective is everything.

Total miles: 64.4, 2 hours 17 min taking Sir Francis Drake (don’t do this), 15.3 mpg. Site 208. You can’t reserve specific sites through the website. I requested a couple from previous notes (125, 126, 127, 145, 146, 147) but knew it was late in the game. Bathrooms are nice and the place seems to be getting a facelift. Wifi doesn’t work unless you’re right by the office. Bad cell service for us both, but ATT was boostable to pretty good LTE. Electric, water, dump on site. Walking distance to Olema restaurants.