Point Reyes

When I wrote about our trip to Kauai over the Christmas holidays, I said Kauai was a magic place. For me it really is. This past weekend I was reminded of another place that is magical for me: Point Reyes. (By Point Reyes, I mean the part of West Marin County near to and including the Point Reyes National Seashore.) Dave and I have been going to Point Reyes for years, but this was our first trip since Maisy joined our family. She loved it, too.

She's definitely one of us.

Happily, we can drive to Point Reyes in just a little over an hour (versus a five-hour flight to Kauai). Its proximity to San Francisco frequently has me dreaming of living there, or "at least" of having a second home there. Living there must remain a dream, for not only would the commute back to San Francisco be strenuous, but I am also fairly confident that the reality of residing in Point Reyes Station (population 848) or Inverness (1,304) would hit me hard in short order. I am from a very small town, and I spent much of the first half of my life cultivating resentment -- both deserved and not -- of small town life. Well, at least that small town. To be sure, the towns in Point Reyes are different from the one in Central Minnesota where I grew up, but they are still small. Anyway: live there? No, thank you.

Now, have a little cottage or cabin there? Yes, please. The cottage we rented was idyllic: a front porch, pretty gardens, a back deck and yard. Maisy thoroughly enjoyed running laps out the back door, over the deck, around the side of the house, up the front stairs, through the house, etc., etc. And Buster loved wandering out the back door to lie in the sunshine outside, a luxury not afforded to him by our city apartment lifestyle. Me, I loved seeing Maisy and Buster so happy, as well as sitting on the deck with a book and a cool drink, and dining with Dave at the table on the deck. Plus, we could walk from the cottage to all that Point Reyes Station has to offer -- breakfast at the Pinecone Diner or the Bovine Bakery, salads and sandwiches from Cowgirl Creamery, the Saturday farmers' market, a hike on a trail through a restored wetland, dinner at Stellina... Aaah...

Maisy, Dave and Buster early one morning at the cottage.

Maisy and Dave at the creek along the wetland trail in Point Reyes Station.

Maisy at the Pinecone Diner.

Our friends Hillier, Katie and Finn spent most of Saturday with us.
Here, Finn and Maisy play in the creek that runs along the wetland trail in Point Reyes Station.

We divided Maisy's waking hours pretty evenly between enjoying the cottage and the town of Point Reyes Station, and playing on the shores of Tomales Bay at one of our favorite beaches, called Chicken Ranch. The water in Tomales Bay is warmish; according to Dave even warm enough by later summer to swim in. This visit we did see some hearty women swimming their laps in Tomales Bay, but otherwise the water was empty of bathers. Yet Buster happily bounded after his tennis ball, looking part bunny rabbit. And Dave and Maisy waded into the shallow calm water, exploring sand, rocks, shells, and seaweed, and even seeing a ray. It is safe to say my family was in its element. 

Maisy and Dave wading in Tomales Bay.

Maisy and Dave at Chicken Ranch Beach.

A wet dog is a happy dog.

A wet child is a happy child.

I love Point Reyes. I love my family in Point Reyes. I hope we'll be back soon.

A rare family portrait.