Blog Camp Marin County Style

We continued our summer adventure with Relyn and Robin Bird by driving north of the Golden Gate Bridge, to Marin County. As luck would have it, Anjie from Studio Wellspring and Little Miss Peach were already in Marin. We agreed to meet at Dipsea Café in Mill Valley:

We did our best to not fight over the baby. After lunch, we drove ten minutes to Muir Woods:

I was quite taken with this wild rhododendron, which I believe to be a Western azalea (Rhododendron occidentale):

The sun was directly overhead, not exactly conducive for artful photography, but that didn’t stop passionate photographer Robin from doing her level best to overcome the handicap. I look forward to seeing her photos. In the mean time, Relyn, Anjie, and Miss Peach paused for a photo:

After bidding adieu to Anjie and Peach, we drove for about a half hour, up to the top of Mount Tamalpais. At elevation 2,571 feet, we got a terrific view of the Bay Area. It was a hazy day, but we could still make out San Francisco, one tower of the Golden Gate Bridge (on the right), the Oakland Bay bridge, Southern Marin, the Richardson Bay Bridge, and Alcatraz Island:

We followed the easy, paved one-mile hike around the peak…

…and enjoyed the views from all directions:

On our way down, we stopped to see the mountain amphitheater. I went to high school in Marin County and received my high school diploma here:

Mount Tamalpais has many madrone trees with beautiful red barks that are cool to the touch. I learned on a school field trip that madrones are sometimes called “refrigerator” trees because Indians used to strap their food onto these trees in order to keep it cool.

I just learned that Relyn and Robin are blogging at an internet café; they may soon tell you about our time at Stinson Beach. I didn't take very many photos there and I am certain theirs are better than mine.

We had a beautiful day of friendship, laughter, and stories as we wound around Highway 1, hugging the Pacific Coast, relishing in the gorgeous weather.

Blog Camp 1.1 with Bird Tweets and Relyn

Julochka, the Queen of Blog Camps, baptized our San Francisco adventure as “Blog Camp 1.1”

Here’s a quick executive overview of yesterday. Please forgive the hurried quality of the photos. No doubt, Robin and Relyn will do more thorough, literate and artful posts later, but I’m in a big hurry this morning.

I met Relyn “Thelma” of Come Sit by my Fire and Robin “Louise” of Bird Tweets in front of the magnificent San Franciso Conservatory of Flowers.

Then we popped over to the M. H. De Young Museum to visit some our favorite artists…

…and Oma’s favorite painting:

We tagged Baker Beach to say “hello” to my favorite bridge in the whole wide world:

We had dinner at Biscuits & Blues…

… to listen to torch singer Lavay Smith…

…and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers:

We ended the evening with a stroll around the Union Square area (opening photo), where we checked out the lobby of the St. Francis Hotel…

…and did some window shopping. Sadly, in this economy, most merchants are offering deep discounts. Marc Jacobs offered a 70% off sale with only a mild suggestion of consequences if you don’t partake:

All in all, it was a very good California day:

Thelma and Louise Come to San Francisco

They arrived! Relyn and Robin (AKA Thelma and Louise) came to San Francisco to visit tangobaby and me. They started on their road trip early this morning in Oregon and arrived around dinner time. It looks like they had a roaring good time:

I can’t wait to share this beautiful city with them!