Clam Beach County Park, Oct 2011, McKinleyville, California

Breakfast at Golden Harvest in Arcata, Amazing Bisquets and Gravy, I will be coming back.

My Daughters Choice and

My son in laws breakfast. It was all great.

Heading to the beach.

Went up to Arcata and visited Clam beach this weekend, Awesome place to visit and what a beautiful day to visit. What is a Snowy Plover you Ask........
 A small, rare, and threatened shorebird that makes its home on certain beaches on the Pacific coast. Check this site out..........

Snowy Plover

Dogs Love this place..........

And People too.......................

Stopped for coffee on the way to the airport in McKinleyville.

This gal was having a great time with her horse on Clam Beach.

Bike riders stopping to visit Clam beach and to take in all it's beauty.

Hearts Desire Beach, Tomales Bay State Park

Tomales Bay Oyster Company, specializing in fresh farmed oysters and clams, pulled straight from the ocean water before your eyes.

Tomales Bay

The place is packed with people filling up dozens of picnic tables, barbequing their shellfish fresh from the sea, with this sweet beach shack playing music while you enjoy the view. Then head on over to Hearts Desire Beach and enjoy all the beauty you can handle.
Since it's safe to swim here, unlike other beaches in Point Reyes, make sure you bring the swim suits and swim gear if the weather allows. Buckets, shovels, and other sand toys are a must for the little ones. On nice days it can be quite warm and sunny here, so sunscreen and hats are a must. Of course, since the weather out in West Marin can be unpredicatable, it doesn't hurt to bring a jacket and sweatshirts, too (in other words, dress in layers, as we usually suggest). Get to Tomales Bay State Park and Heart's Desire Beach by heading out past Inverness on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard., then bear right onto Pierce Point Road. Continue on Pierce Point Road until you see the sign for Tomales Bay State Park, then make a right turn into the park. Unlike the rest of Point Reyes National Seashore, this is a California State Park, so you’ll have to pay a $8 vehicle entry fee at the ranger station that you’ll pass on the way to the beach. It’s well worth it. Dogs are not allowed on the beaches or trails at Tomales Bay State Park. Heart's Desire Beach is currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Read more..........

Make sure you stop here while in Tomales Bay, visit there website below.

Hog Island Oyster Farm
20215 Highway 1
Marshall, CA 94940


Last stop, Nick’s Cove, another fantastic restaurant where we’ve dined in the past, with a fantastic view and also cottages you can rent to stay overnight.

Most great hotels want to make you feel as though you're rich, but Nick’s also wants to make you feel as though you are tasteful, well traveled and just plain interesting."

--Russ Parsons, Los Angeles Times


Nick’s is a very special place that honors and respects the area, giving visitors a glimmer of an agrarian life that’s so near but really so far from the city consciousness. It seems impossible to believe it’s still in the 415 area code."

--Michael Bauer, San Francisco Chronicle

jenna pietersen

Bolinas, Marin County, California

Ocean Parkway Avenue
Bolinas, CA 94924

''There is no reason to come to Bolinas,'' Vic Amoroso was saying, adhering to the conventional wisdom in this famously reclusive place that no publicity is good publicity unless it is bad. ''The beaches are dirty, the Fire Department is terrible, the natives are hostile and have a tendency towards cannibalism.''
Long known for its live-and-let-live attitude (except toward visitors, whom it would just as soon not let live), this spirited community of surfers, poets, artists, writers and aging mavericks about 30 miles up the coast from San Francisco has reached a tipping point of sorts. Read More.....

Doran Beach, Sonoma County California

Doran Beach is one of those all around nice beaches. Yes, there are definitely beaches with bigger waves, less people, and more amenities.  But if you want a nice beach within a short drive of the Bay Area that has a little something for everyone. Doran Park has a 2-mile stretch of sandy beach and is a popular place for visitors to picnic, build sand castles, fly kites, surf, fish and stroll. A rock jetty at the harbor mouth provides access for fishing, crabbing and exploring sea life. The boat launch can accommodate up to 20-foot boats. A parking lot is located adjacent to the launch and can handle 30 vehicles with trailers Plenty of campgrounds to enjoy.
Location: It is on the south side of bodega bay. There are road signs before the exit. Prepare to pay $6.00 and surf with 100 longboarders.

Shelter Cove, Humboldt County, California

Shelter Cove is a a bit removed compared to most popular surf spots. From the 101 in Garberville it's over 20 miles of twisty, windy road. It also stands alone on the coast so it's not like you just happen to pass through it on your way to other spots
The road from US 101 into the Cove is a difficult negotiation nowadays. Humboldt County has let the 23 mile Cove Road (aka as Briceland Road) from Redway to Shelter Cove deteriorate over the last half dozen years or so to the point that it is now worse than many secondary roads in many third world countries we have visited.
Read More....

The Pacific Coast's rocky reefs feature some of the world's most abundant tidal zone life. The secret to this abundance are the winds and currents that drive surface water away from the shore, causing nutrient-rich cold water to rise from above. These nutrients cause plant life to flourish, providing a bounty of food for the incredible array of organisms that inhabit the tide pools, formed when receding tides trap seawater in basins among the rock. Read more..

Alan Sieroty Beach, Marin County, California

Alan Sieroty Beach doesn’t have lots of facilities, but it's always a great time to be here.  There aren’t any accommodations close at hand but if you're prepared to journey a short length then no problem but do reserve a room ahead of going because it is a very popular destination. Great sparkling water and the California coast is a sight worth seeing. You can go boating, hiking, fishing, golfing and a lot more such as

whitewater paddling, and swimming, so please stick around because you will find this is such an excellent segment of the california coast to visit. Easy to find. Close to Point Reyes.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California

Elk at Prairie Creek

Prairie Creek offers hiking, nature study, wildlife viewing, beach combing, picnicking, a visitor center with exhibits and a nature store.

This park, along with Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and the National Park Service's Redwood National Park, are managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the California Department of Parks and Recreation. These parks make up 45 percent of all the old-growth redwood forest remaining in California. Mostly old growth forest of coast redwood, western hemlock and Douglas fir with Sitka spruce and red alder near the 10 miles of sandy coast line. Because of prevalent coastal fog, the understory of the forest is very dense. Tanoak, cascara, big leaf and vine maple and California bay can be found on edges of prairies. Ground cover is dense with a wide range of species and varieties of shrubs, bushes, flowers, ferns, mosses, and lichens common to the coast redwood environment. Western azalea and rhododendron bloom in May/June and offer bright accents to the dense green of the forest. The Rhododendron Trail is a favorite for seeing this showy display.

Park wildlife is both abundant and varied including such animals as black bear, Roosevelt elk, deer, coyote, mountain lion, bobcat, skunk, fox, squirrel, chipmunk and many others.

The park consists of old growth redwood including prairies and 10 miles of scenic Gold Bluffs Beach

Location/ Directions
50 miles north of Eureka and 25 miles south of Crescent City on Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway off of Highway 101