After our Saulsalito pitstop we headed straight for the Shoreline Highway, the Golden Gate Park and view would have to wait for the return trip. Much to our amazement and mutual pleasure, Route 1 out in front of us was freshly paved! We crested the hill and headed down toward the Pacific Ocean with an amazing view, beautiful weather and fresh pavement. I mean they must have paved it yesterday, it didn’t even have lines on it yet!
We got to the coast on Route 1 at Muir Beach, just a sleepy little seaside town similar to many we would see along the less populated portion of the Shoreline Highway north of San Francisco. None were very big and you would miss them if you blinked. We ended up heading out toward the Point Reyes National Seashore and lighthouse, and what a great detour. We totally recommend this stop. Heading west on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard from Point Reyes Station, we paralleled Route 1 and then headed due west toward the lighthouse. Hardly anyone out on the peninsula and no development to speak of it seemed we had it all to ourselves. That’s probably something we should mention – we revel in solitude and enjoy the juxtaposition of complete solitude interspersed with being in and amongst the buzz. Anyway, cruising out to the lighthouse, you can see the area is probably much as it was a century ago. Still big open grazing pastures, which seem to be shared with elk or some similar deer-like animals. We got out to the lighthouse and looked up and down the coast. It’s a pretty amazing sight to see such a stretch of California coast so undeveloped. Looking down at the water, knowing how cold it probably was and how churned up it looked, made us happy to be on dry, albeit very windy, land.
From the light house we returned back to Route 1 and headed up to Bodega Bay where we would overnight. We headed through towns that brought west coast oysters to mind: Inverness, Sir Francis Drake, Tomales Bay, Bodega Bay. We arrived in Bodega Bay for our second Airbnb experience. We sure hoped it would be better than the first, and it was. Our hosts were very welcoming and the place was comfy and very clean. They invited us to enjoy dinner on the front patio to watch the sunset. Weary from a day on the bike and amped up all at the same time, we relaxed, ate and watched the sunset. It was a memorable one as we both got to see our first green flash at sunset. There was no mistaking it, I always thought if you blinked you would miss it – not true, it lasted a few seconds and was really neat to see after hearing so much about it that you thought it was mythical. The trip was off to a great start.
