Surprise Mom & Dad! I'm here for TWO whole weeks.
December 5-19, 2007
So the problem with just showing up on someone’s doorstep is that it prevents proper visitor etiquette. Without the benefit of that all-important dialogue regarding the length of the visit, I was forced to make an educated guess on how long my parents would actually want me to stay. Since I am the highlight of their existence (he he), I decided to stay for TWO WEEKS! They seemed to be okay with that.
It was a fun visit--they are just fun people!--and such a beautiful area. Aside from movies and dinners and talks and drives, we also...
Rode the commuter train
I thought I'd start with this one since it's so non-momentous. My parents live right near the commuter train's Menlo Park station, so--like the four year old that I really am at heart--I made them ride the train with me to nowhere in particular, get off at some random point, then ride the train back to where we started. What can I say, I love trains.
John Muir National Monument
One afternoon we visited the John Muir National Monument, home to one of the last old-growth coastal redwood forests on the planet and chock-a-block full of these TALLEST OF ALL LIVING THINGS ON EARTH!
No kidding, these are BIG trees. The tallest coastal redwood at Muir Woods is about 258 feet. You can see a human-to-tree comparison in the picture below. It would take more than 45 Coreen Bousfields, placed end to end, to reach the top of one coastal redwood. That’s high! Further north, coastal redwoods get even taller, reaching as high as 379 feet.
And they are OLD. The average tree age at Muir Woods is between 600 to 800 years. The oldest is at least 1200. But actually redwoods can live up to 2200 years, so the trees here at Muir Woods are really still just youngin’s.
It’s a magical place. In fact, when John Muir heard about the establishment of the Muir Woods, he said “This is the best tree-lover’s monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world.” If you are in San Francisco, it’s worth a visit. And if you’re old like my parents, you get in for free! (he he)
Point Reyes National Seashore
About an hour north of John Muir is another member of the National Park System—the Point Reyes National Seashore. This one’s not a dazzler. I’m kind of at a loss to describe it even. It was set aside as a National Seashore in order to ensure that at least some small remnant of California’s natural coastline does not fall prey to developers. That’s good. Yep, that’s a very good idea.
But, truthfully, Point Reyes doesn’t have that “this is so spectacular,” wow-factor that most National Park System sites have. It makes for a nice drive, but not really worth a special trip in my opinion.
But, if you are going to ignore my advice and go there anyway, please log off now. Just kidding. If you’re in the area and want to check it out, there are some cool aspects of Point Reyes.
(1) Elk: It’s a great place to see large herds of tule elk in the wild, although they aren’t indigenous to the area. In the mid-1800s, tule elk were hunted to the brink of extinction. In 1874, the last surviving elk were discovered in Central California and were protected. Then, in 1978, ten tule elk were introduced into Point Reyes, where they have grown into one of California's largest populations, numbering about 400.
Unfortunately we didn’t have any interesting close encounters with the elk. Dad kept urging me to get out of the car, since it has become evident that I give off some bizarre animal vibe (or scent….eeuuu!) that makes any wild animal within a mile radius charge in my direction. I passed on his suggestion, but gee…that was so sweet of him. Always looking out for me.
2) Faultline:
If you are a Californian, you may be interested in seeing the dreaded San Andreas fault! The fault runs the length of Point Reyes, and you can even take a short hike out to see an old fence that was displaced 20 FEET during the 1906 earthquake. In the picture at right, that big gap demonstrates how much the earth shifted in just 42 seconds.
No wonder this quake still ranks as California's deadliest natural disaster.
The Winchester Mystery Mansion
The goofiest thing we did while I was visiting was to tour the Winchester Mystery Mansion—-the enormous but bizarre personal residence of Sarah Winchester, widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester.
Why’d she build mansion that is so odd that it's been turned into a tourist attraction? Apparently, a medium convinced her that evil spirits of those that had been killed by the Winchester Rifle had caused the untimely deaths of her daughter and husband, and that the only way to appease the evil spirits would be to continuously build on her house. Trusting in the medium, she poured her millions and her energy into the task, obsessed with keeping the carpenters' hammers pounding 24 hours a day for 38 years, until her death at 82 years old.
Visitors must participate in guided tours through 110 of the 160 rooms. It was a bit long, but worth it because the guide did a great job of sharing the history of the mansion and pointing out all kinds of bizarre aspects, like staircases leading to nowhere, a window built into the floor, doors that open onto blank walls, and room after room after room--all pointless.
And--of course, of course--the mansion is said to be haunted. Spooky. Hmmm...I did catch an 'orb' in one of my pictures below, right in front of the guide as he stood by a photograph of the house. Maybe it’s Mrs. Winchester herself. Or maybe it’s Warren. Someone actually told me to look for orbs in my photos in Africa—as proof that Warren is traveling with me. Trust me, if Warren could show up as an orb in a picture, he wouldn’t do it out of spite, considering what he thought of the whole thing when he was alive.
[For those who are asking "What's an orb?"...Some people think those circles caused by refractions of light on the camera lens are actually "souls trapped in this world and unable to move on." Ghost hunters often go to cemeteries to capture these circular trapped spirits on film. And to be clear--because sometimes I think people don't know when I am just kidding--I am not part of "some people". I don't believe in orbs. I was just making a little joke.]
I drove my parents crazy by singing "Winchester Cathedral" the entire time. I couldn’t help it. Just my little way of repaying them for their warm hospitality during my stay. :)
So the problem with just showing up on someone’s doorstep is that it prevents proper visitor etiquette. Without the benefit of that all-important dialogue regarding the length of the visit, I was forced to make an educated guess on how long my parents would actually want me to stay. Since I am the highlight of their existence (he he), I decided to stay for TWO WEEKS! They seemed to be okay with that.
It was a fun visit--they are just fun people!--and such a beautiful area. Aside from movies and dinners and talks and drives, we also...Rode the commuter train
I thought I'd start with this one since it's so non-momentous. My parents live right near the commuter train's Menlo Park station, so--like the four year old that I really am at heart--I made them ride the train with me to nowhere in particular, get off at some random point, then ride the train back to where we started. What can I say, I love trains.
John Muir National Monument
One afternoon we visited the John Muir National Monument, home to one of the last old-growth coastal redwood forests on the planet and chock-a-block full of these TALLEST OF ALL LIVING THINGS ON EARTH!
No kidding, these are BIG trees. The tallest coastal redwood at Muir Woods is about 258 feet. You can see a human-to-tree comparison in the picture below. It would take more than 45 Coreen Bousfields, placed end to end, to reach the top of one coastal redwood. That’s high! Further north, coastal redwoods get even taller, reaching as high as 379 feet.
And they are OLD. The average tree age at Muir Woods is between 600 to 800 years. The oldest is at least 1200. But actually redwoods can live up to 2200 years, so the trees here at Muir Woods are really still just youngin’s. It’s a magical place. In fact, when John Muir heard about the establishment of the Muir Woods, he said “This is the best tree-lover’s monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world.” If you are in San Francisco, it’s worth a visit. And if you’re old like my parents, you get in for free! (he he)
Point Reyes National Seashore
About an hour north of John Muir is another member of the National Park System—the Point Reyes National Seashore. This one’s not a dazzler. I’m kind of at a loss to describe it even. It was set aside as a National Seashore in order to ensure that at least some small remnant of California’s natural coastline does not fall prey to developers. That’s good. Yep, that’s a very good idea.
But, truthfully, Point Reyes doesn’t have that “this is so spectacular,” wow-factor that most National Park System sites have. It makes for a nice drive, but not really worth a special trip in my opinion.
But, if you are going to ignore my advice and go there anyway, please log off now. Just kidding. If you’re in the area and want to check it out, there are some cool aspects of Point Reyes.
(1) Elk: It’s a great place to see large herds of tule elk in the wild, although they aren’t indigenous to the area. In the mid-1800s, tule elk were hunted to the brink of extinction. In 1874, the last surviving elk were discovered in Central California and were protected. Then, in 1978, ten tule elk were introduced into Point Reyes, where they have grown into one of California's largest populations, numbering about 400.
Unfortunately we didn’t have any interesting close encounters with the elk. Dad kept urging me to get out of the car, since it has become evident that I give off some bizarre animal vibe (or scent….eeuuu!) that makes any wild animal within a mile radius charge in my direction. I passed on his suggestion, but gee…that was so sweet of him. Always looking out for me. 
2) Faultline: If you are a Californian, you may be interested in seeing the dreaded San Andreas fault! The fault runs the length of Point Reyes, and you can even take a short hike out to see an old fence that was displaced 20 FEET during the 1906 earthquake. In the picture at right, that big gap demonstrates how much the earth shifted in just 42 seconds.
No wonder this quake still ranks as California's deadliest natural disaster.
The Winchester Mystery Mansion
The goofiest thing we did while I was visiting was to tour the Winchester Mystery Mansion—-the enormous but bizarre personal residence of Sarah Winchester, widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester.
Why’d she build mansion that is so odd that it's been turned into a tourist attraction? Apparently, a medium convinced her that evil spirits of those that had been killed by the Winchester Rifle had caused the untimely deaths of her daughter and husband, and that the only way to appease the evil spirits would be to continuously build on her house. Trusting in the medium, she poured her millions and her energy into the task, obsessed with keeping the carpenters' hammers pounding 24 hours a day for 38 years, until her death at 82 years old.
Visitors must participate in guided tours through 110 of the 160 rooms. It was a bit long, but worth it because the guide did a great job of sharing the history of the mansion and pointing out all kinds of bizarre aspects, like staircases leading to nowhere, a window built into the floor, doors that open onto blank walls, and room after room after room--all pointless.
And--of course, of course--the mansion is said to be haunted. Spooky. Hmmm...I did catch an 'orb' in one of my pictures below, right in front of the guide as he stood by a photograph of the house. Maybe it’s Mrs. Winchester herself. Or maybe it’s Warren. Someone actually told me to look for orbs in my photos in Africa—as proof that Warren is traveling with me. Trust me, if Warren could show up as an orb in a picture, he wouldn’t do it out of spite, considering what he thought of the whole thing when he was alive. 
[For those who are asking "What's an orb?"...Some people think those circles caused by refractions of light on the camera lens are actually "souls trapped in this world and unable to move on." Ghost hunters often go to cemeteries to capture these circular trapped spirits on film. And to be clear--because sometimes I think people don't know when I am just kidding--I am not part of "some people". I don't believe in orbs. I was just making a little joke.]I drove my parents crazy by singing "Winchester Cathedral" the entire time. I couldn’t help it. Just my little way of repaying them for their warm hospitality during my stay. :)