Monday, March 31, 2008

Elephant Seals





See my seal photostory on my Facebook page. One seal forces his way into the group and forces another one out.







Whale Watching at the Point Reyes Lighthouse

Can you see the whale's tail??

People watching for whales

The Lighthouse . . . . . . . even closer

The Lighthouse . . . . . . . closer

The Lighthouse . . . . . . .

How many steps down? Over 300? And the same back up????

More Wildflowers







There are many more Point Reyes wildflower photos on my Facebook page.

Plants, Wildflowers, and Ladybugs






Do you see the Ladybug in the bottom photo?

Birds and Deer









Surfers, kites, and relaxing




This guy had the right idea: relax on the beach! More photos of the kite flyers and the surfers are on my Facebook page

Point Reyes Beaches









Saturday Overview

Today I went to Point Reyes National Seashore (http://www.nps.gov/pore/). It was fun. I walked along the beach, watched people surf and fly kites, and looked at the wildflowers, seals, whales, birds, and deer. The only disappointment was no seashells! Only sand and a few small rocks on the seashore. I drove up to the park on Route 101 as suggested by the web site. Kinda boring as the road went through some small towns and urban and commercialized areas. I did get to see some typical northern California suburbs and weekend life (high school car wash in one town, a grade school rummage sale in another). Going back to San Francisco I took Route 1 along the shore. Much more interesting. The road winds along the coast, in and out through the woods. A much more scenic drive. Here are some photos of Point Reyes.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Preparing for California

Ah yes. Time to travel once again. Although, to be honest to all of my intrepid readers, I did take short trips in both January and February but decided not to share those exciting adventures with an audience. Now it is off to California for the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute user meeting on Genomics of Energy & Environment in Walnut Creek, one hour by train northeast of San Francisco. For those interested, the meeting web site is http://www.jgi.doe.gov/meetings/usermtg08/ I plan to spend Friday afternoon and evening in San Francisco and spend Saturday all day at Point Reyes National Seashore (http://www.nps.gov/pore/). I just got a new "super zoom" lens for my camera so I hope to take pictures of whales, sea lions, birds, and flowers at Point Reyes. Let us hope that it doesn't rain on Saturday and that the day will be sunny so that I can share some good photos.