For about an hour I collected stuff and checked on the boys. Our hostess’ spouse made us pancakes and I started laundry. The boys didn’t eat the pancakes which was sad. We sat around chatting for a while and then our hostess took the boys to see the trees in the yard. Later we looked at their studios - they are both accomplished artists. We also visited the old willow out front. I sent pictures to family. We made coffee and chatted for a while.
I packed the bike up then and made to go. I took the boys on a short walk around the neighborhood and our hostess gave us sandwiches as we were saying goodbye.
We went to the market in Point Reyes Station then. The place was really crowded. I got enough food for dinner and breakfast. I sadly couldn’t find beer and the line was really long so I settled for a rosé.
The town itself was also really crowded. We battled traffic as we left the market and then headed up to the Platform Bridge. While riding on the Point Reyes Petaluma Road it was as busy as I predicted but better than Sir Francis Drake Blvd. The motorists were very accommodating. On Platform Bridge Road some people passed us who had seen us at the market and they waved at us. I also thought the views were stunning. At Platform Bridge itself, I stopped at the fruit stand and got candy, chips and water.
Miles later at Tocaloma we took a stop and ate snacks and drank a coke. I remember thinking about how much better the trip was than going over the ridge on Drake Blvd. From there we went up The Cross Marin Trail where we had a lot of fun. One of the boys took pictures with my phone from the back of the bike.
When we arrived at the front entrance to Samuel P Taylor Park, the ranger told us that she had ejected some cyclists the day before from the hiker/biker Site Number 1 because they had overstayed their welcome. However, she was very helpful to us – partially because she liked that I had brought two kids on a bike. I noted too that her hard exterior is misleading as she is clearly a softy. She gave us the overflow site number 62.
When we got to the site, I yelled at the boys to build the tent. I was really frustrated at that point because of all the extra steps in getting settled. We eventually did it though and we put our stuff in the tent and I took the three of us to the swimming hole at the Inkwells (again). The whole excursion was great. I jumped in twice.
The boys drank their apple juice before I jumped in a third time. Ironically, the boys hate jumping into overly cold water and they walked back to the bike. I had to catch up with them where I had parked next to the pools on the creek side near the confluence.
At that point I opted to take the boys up to Kent Lake where we got photos of the dam. The boys really liked the forest and mountain quality. When we were finished, we rode down into the west side of the canyon to the trail head for the Shafter Grade. Then we returned to the Shafter bridge and got on the Cross Marin Trail where I was surprised to see friends from Bike Party.
We headed to the campground where I made a quick stop at Camp Site Number 1 where I saw more Bike Party People.
When we got back to Site Number 62, we unpacked a lot and I made ramen for dinner and eventually we went to bed.
This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.
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