Seligman, AZ and Westward - May 26, 2008

Monday, May 26
I woke up early since I was anxious to be out of the dump of a place where we were staying. I went outside and put a few things in he car that weren't needed and grabbed my binoculars. Just standing around outside in the parking lot I managed to spot: Cassin's Finch, female Wilson's Warbler, Mourning Dove, Great-tailed Grackles doing their mating ritual and a bunch of mice with wings, I mean House Sparrows. I also saw a young jack rabbit making his way across the street. Everyone else got up and got around and we got on the road as this place didn't have a complimentary breakfast and even if it had I wouldn't have risked the ensuing food poisoning roulette that I'm sure I would've encountered. We drove to the big town of Seligman, AZ where we enjoyed a good sit down breakfast at a local place (finally!) called the Copper Cart Cafe. I had the Mexican skillet that had home-fries, egg, and pulled pork covered in a homemade green chile sauce with cheese on top...it was quite yummy.

We went next door to Seligman Sundries and checked out the store there. They had a variety of things there, we picked up a metal Coke sign for the kitchen to go with our slowly emerging diner theme. At the register they had a number of foreign coins and bills that various patrons had given to the owner. Seligman is on Route 66 and a number of foreign tourists have stopped in there as part of their US Route 66 experience. I was quite jealous of the collection, she had money from everywhere.

After our breakfast stop was complete we got back on the road and continued our westward trek. We stopped for gas around the Lake Havasu City exit and it was a mad house. Memorial Day weekend, trucks pulling boats everywhere, long lines at the pump, had we not needed fuel we would've gladly skipped that 30 minute stop. We got back on the road and drove, drove, drove. When you get to the Mojave desert part of your westward drive I would advise making sure you have a full tank and check out a map before you get out there and make sure you know where the rest stops are. We learned that by stopping at a gas station that was a good 40 or 50 miles from the last station we saw as someone needed to use the bathroom, so we pulled in. They had signs everywhere saying restrooms for customers only, which is fine, I have no problem with that, but their prices were insane...I got a 20 oz. bottle of A & W and was out close to $3.00. Luckily we were fine on gas. Within 3 miles of that stop there was a rest stop, but you couldn't see it for the hill that it sat on the back side of...ugh. 

We drove and drove through the Mojave desert or we were at least near it if nothing else; lots of yucca (which I prefer grilled or fried in case you were wondering), joshua trees here and there, and the area was just absolutely barren. It had its own beauty, but after about 20 minutes of it, it got old in a hurry. We wanted to get to civilization so bad we just snacked and didn't even bother stopping for lunch. We passed hundreds of wind turbines near the city of Mojave, CA. I spotted the most random thing of the trip so far...a lamb was standing next to a guard rail right there next to the interstate, weird. Not far from there we saw the first of what we dubbed "skinny pointy trees".

We drove until we got to Delano, CA and had dinner at a western chain called Perko's, it was alright, nothing too memorable though. We drove on to Visalia, passing numerous almond, grape, walnut, pistachio, and orange groves along the way. We stayed at the Days Inn in Visalia that night and thus ended our day.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, California - May 28, 2008

 May 28
We rose fairly early and had a light breakfast at Bruce's. While we sat there eating breakfast I managed to do a little backyard bird watching and added 2 more birds to my lifelist: Oak Titmouse and Anna's Hummingbird. After breakfast we were out the door for a big day of sightseeing. 

Our first stop was Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We had great views and really good visibility, Bruce even stated it was better than usual as we could see the Farallon Islands off in the distance. Bruce brought his spotting scope along and we got decent looks at some harbor seals and as usual I had my binoculars along and added a few more birds to my life list: Wrentit, Brant's Cormorant, and Western Gull. We could also see Alcatraz and Angel Island from our vantage point...we tried to get tickets to Alcatraz, but that just didn't work out.

If you look real close you can see the harbor seals and the cormorants.

Emily was cold. If we'd had a better camera I would've tried to get this shot with Alcatraz in the background.

After our stop there we headed over to another national park, Muir Woods National Monument. Once I got the car parked and joined the group at the entrance we were greeted to a fawn crossing the walkway trying to get back to its mother that was waiting on the other side.

I have to say this place is truly amazing. If you are even remotely close (500 miles or less), you should definitely check this place out, absolutely beautiful. I was amazed at how quiet it was there given the number of people there and its proximity to the Bay Area.

Before we got out on the trail, Bruce made a request to keep a lookout for a barred owl. He'd stopped at the visitor center and inquired and was told where to go wait. We got there and he decided to sit for a while, as it was my first time there I decided I wanted to carry on, but I would still keep my eyes peeled. As Bonnie, the girls and I were walking and had lost sight of Bruce we heard a loud noise up in the canopy and looked up to see the barred owl being chased and harrassed by 3 robins. Bruce was nowhere to be seen. We all stood there and watched it for about 10 minutes, then it was decided that I go back and fetch Bruce, but luckily he'd heard the racket too and was already heading that way. So I added barred owl to my life list along with winter wren.

This deer was quite content to just lay there and let everyone that passed get a picture.

Once we'd made it around the main trail we headed back to the visitor center/gift shop for everyone to take the necessary breaks and to pop in to the gift shop for a souvenior and the mandatory magnet. There were numerous sightings of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore while we took our respective turns at the rest rooms. What a great start to the day.

Once we'd finished up and got loaded back in the car we were off for Point Reyes National Seashore. Along the way Bruce and I saw a few birds and pulled off to look over a few of the marshes that dotted the roadside. In the process I added Clark's Grebe to my life list (yet another emerging theme). We drove a little while until we were at the town of Olema, CA. There we had lunch at The Farmhouse Restaurant. Bruce and Bonnie enjoyed fried oyster sandwiches and as I don't do seafod I decided to devour some roasted pork chile verde with black beans and rice and the fresh torilla chips that came with it. Pretty good lunch to fuel us up for the hours ahead. We got to the main entrance around 3 pm and drove around the area for about 3 hours. Along the winding roads we stopped to view wildlife at various points.

From this lookout I added common murre and pigeon guillemot to my life list.

Elephant Seal Overlook. Oddly enough we saw elephant seals here. They were on the shore to the left and for a really good view you needed a scope.

We saw tule elk grazing, male elephant seals sizing each other up and a variety of birds...I got a much better look at a surf scoter than I had the last time one turned up in Oklahoma and also added Common Murre and Pigeon Guillemot to the ever growing life list. We got back to Bruce's place and by that time we were pretty well wore out, so we had some pot roast that Juliet had made, quite yummy. After dinner we sat around and talked and then it was off to bed.