Olema (4)

This was a foggy beach weekend in a place we should really visit more often. The Olema Campground is a private place, ideally located if you’re looking for a day trip to Pt. Reyes National Seashore. We’ve stayed in this RV park a few times, and it is nice if you have a spot on the outside of a loop. There are other sites that are right next to other campers, and you can’t reserve a specific spot when you make the reservation online. If you call, you might be able to request a certain spot. We lucked out this time. There is a large, open field with a volleyball court and dry tent sites on the edge of the park, and this is where they hold an annual T@B rally. This would be a great place for an Altogather actually. Someone should make that happen. Hmm….

We could see the fog rolling in over the hills as we drove down into Olema, and sure enough, all day Saturday the coast was socked in. It was plenty warm though (Thanks climate change!) so Richard got in a bike ride to Limantour Beach. I met him out there and we went on a hike along the Limantour Spit trail. This is a brushy, uncrowded hike that takes you out along the other side of the dunes until it kind of disappears. It is a short walk over to the beach at that point, so we strolled back in the sand, enjoying the sound and smell of the surf.

We noticed a whole lot of jellyfish stranded on the shore. I’d never seen that many on a beach. When we got back, we Googled it and I guess that just happens some times. I also looked up whether any creatures eat jellyfish, and that’s a no. They just shrivel up like lost contact lenses and that’s it. Seems a waste somehow.

There were multitudes of shore birds all up and down the beach. There was one group that was particularly entertaining because they were clumped together, facing the same direction, into the wind I assume. It just looked very much like they were collectively saying to each other, “Wow. Would you look at that. That’s not gonna end well.” Then, every so often, a wave would lap their feet and they would all flap and complain and move a few inches farther from the surf. Fun times. Dory’s windows got a good cleaning after the rains from last weekend. Her roof is still a mess, but at least that doesn’t ruin my view.

On Friday, we drove out via Lucas Valley Road, noting the subtle, yet high tech entrance gate to Skywalker Ranch. Once upon a time, I got to go through those gates for a job interview, and that was quite thrilling. Now I just notice its existence as we go by, wondering how my life might have been different if I’d gotten that job. All things considered, I’m glad I didn’t because I’m pretty happy with where I landed. I am also happy, however, that I got to see a real live Yoda.

There is a very dicey part on Lucas Valley Road now. They are in the process of trying to build back a section where one whole lane seems to have fallen off down the hillside. They’ve got traffic control lights to let one direction of cars go at a time, but I wasn’t filled with confidence that what remained of the road would stay there. We went back via Novato Blvd. and past Stafford Lake instead. That’s a pretty way to go, and gets you to Highway 37 eventually. We noted the low levels in the Nicasio Reservoir, and also in Stafford Lake. There is no denying the drought.

It was a lovely weekend, with a lovely Blue Apron dinner, pretty good movies on the big screen, and ample margarita down time. I also slept better than I had all week. I think my body relaxes more in Dory than at home. And that makes perfect sense to me.

Total miles: 63.6, 16.0 mpg. Site 128, nice and out the outskirts of the loop. Hookups. Dump not so great but not awful. ATT had some service at the site, but dark in other places in the campground. Campground wifi pretty useless. Laundromat on site. No generators allowed.