Fun Sized Escapades: Muir Woods and Pacific Coast Highway

S had a work trip to the Bay Area so we capitalized and I joined him for the weekend. After I landed, S picked me up and we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to Fort Baker where we stayed at Cavallo Point Lodge (former Army post). I really liked this place and want to come back and spend more time here. We stayed in a restored historic home and the property has a nice view of the bay and the bridge.

I woke up early because my body was still on CST, so I took advantage of a cool morning for a photo walk.

door to our room

we stayed in the house on the far left

neat trees

After my walk we had breakfast delivered to the room and then checked out. Next stop was Muir Woods! This has been on my bucket list even after I learned from my dad that I was there with my parents when I was about 4. The only thing I remember from that San Francisco trip was riding on the trolley, so it is good to go as an adult and have a memory of it. We learned prior to the trip that parking at Muir Woods is minimal so we decided to take an Uber from the hotel to the trees (reasonable rate). For those that plan on visiting, please note there is zero phone reception once you are at the park so hailing a ride back is pretty much not an option. Instead we took the shuttle back to Sausalito. Make sure to purchase your ticket while buying your park entrance fee as the bus does not take money.

We connected with part of a trail from Mt Tamalpais before looping back to Muir Woods.

picture of a lizard in honor of my brother

I love trees!

Once we were done hiking, we waited in line for the shuttle and then once in Sausalito, we hung out for a super late lunch/snack at the Barrel House Tavern. They had a great view of the bay and we saw a lone seal swimming (but missed snapping a photo). We then took a quick Uber to our car to hit the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). Traffic was crappy trying to get through San Francisco. I could tell a story here about a really dumb driver, but I will not rant and take up a bunch of space.

and traffic.

Sadly our drive down the PCH was a tad cloudy, but it was still fun. We arrived right after sunset at our hotel (Quail Lodge) in Carmel. Apparently we missed the memo to bring a super fancy car with us. We rolled up to check in and some really sweet rides were taking up all the room in the covered drive.

fancy cars at the hotel

We had several strike outs trying to grab dinner, but finally snagged a reservation at 9:30p [aka I was getting hangry...]. While waiting for the table we had a glass over at the bar where we met people that clued us into why Carmel was so super busy. There was a huge car show at Pebble Beach that weekend, the Concours d'Elegance. No wonder we had a hard time finding a place to stay! Our new friends suggested we check out Laguna Seca to watch the Monterey Motorsport reunion and some local beaches.

So we did what they suggested the next day! We started out at Carmel River State Beach then the racetrack.

coarse grains of sand

gateway to the beach

tiny little friend

After dipping my toes in the freezing Pacific waves, we headed over to the racetrack. It was awesome to see cars from the 1920s and up racing!! This is coming from someone that thought she didn't like racing!