a room in the Muir home

Another day to sleep in. I wanted to get up early, but something told me to just lay there. Eventually showers were taken and room keys turned in. Our lateness worked out in our favor. We still get to the John Muir NHS before they open. This gives us time to walk to Safeway, a few blocks away, for breakfast. Besides being a bad ass in the protection of so many parks this guy also had a manly beard, some well written friends, a happy family, and an enormous home full of food and books.

Nice to imagine his heaven on the hill instead of the small sanctuary in a busy metropolis that it is today. Also on the property is a building dedicated to part of the Juan Bautista de Anza trail and the influence the settlers had on the locals as they travelled from Culiacan Rosales, about 600 miles south in Mexico from the border in Arizona, to San Francisco which is the direction we were headed.

The building that once contained the Ford assembly plant is now the address to many businesses – clothing store, restaurant, gym, and Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front NHP visitor center. The park was proposed in 2001 and this VC was established this spring with no permanent displays yet in the museum. I’m happy to learn how so many people were able to work together without prejudice and be so conservative in the products they used.

view from Rosie the Riveter visitor center

The sad part is that it took a world war – a common fear of win or lose for people to act right. There were some similar emotions around the Sept. 11 event spurring people to feel more American, but it also filled them with unneeded hate – something that seems to cause growth for this nation. Outside is the Marina Bay shore trail that we can follow to other historical markers of the park. We also see a soccer game in action, sailboats at sea, an old man feeding the birds, a lady eating lunch with her dog, and the bridge and skyline of San Francisco across the bay.

Leftover pizza and we are back on the road. We debated going to the Fisherman’s Wharf for loaves of bread, but decide against the big city this time. We were going to visit Eugene O’Neill’s final refuge, but reservations are needed and we were unable to make an appointment from the unanswered phone – which is just incentive to return.

Continuing south, we find our way out to Pinnacles NM – a volcano that changed course because of the shifting of the San Andreas Fault. With some help from the elements too it became the pile of spires and caves that it is today. We hiked through the Bear Gulch cave – almost disappointed by a tunnel on the way. It’s so much fun to explore the large rocks and tight spaces of this part of the park. Next time we will hike to the peak. There are plenty of camping spots but we will continue to Carrizo Plains NM where we can see many rabbits and varied species of bird along its dirt roads.