Mount Tamalpais…almost
Today was forecast to be a beautiful sunny day so we set off at 6 to go to Mount Tamalpais (or Mount Tam as it is affectionately called). As we had eaten late last night (we met up with friends Dirk and Maria with their sons Jason 5 and Jacob 11 months for a meal at Dish Dash in Sunnyvale). we were not particularly hungry so we stopped at Peet’s on Geary Street. Tom had a coffee and muffin and I had a cocoa. No paper to read because there were none available in the stands outside.
As we came out of the door just after 7 am, it was to see a meter attendant in a small electric car place a ticket on the car. We were parked at an expired meter but we thought the charges didn’t apply until later. It said on the citation that the violation was under Section TC37C Street Cleaning, though we saw no signs up giving that information and we were not the only cars there. This was not a good start to the day but it gets worse.
We head north over the Golden Gate bridge and turn onto Highway 1 towards Stinson Beach. Marin is waking up as we drive the uphill, twisty road and turn right into the Mount Tamalpais State Park. The road continues uphill with spectacular views down to the city. The sun is in our eyes looking south and the skyline is in silhouette. Looking the other way there were marvelous views of the ocean and the Farallon Islands were the clearest I have ever seen them. Unfortunately there are no suitable places to stop and take photos.
This is an amazingly twisty road. As we round one bend we come across a flock of wild turkeys in the road. There were about eight females and three males. The males were doing their courting display. We stopped, fortunately there were no other cars around, and took photos. Tom’s camera was in the trunk so he used mine because it was quicker and he didn’t want to disturb them by getting out of the car. Just a bit further on we surprised four deer who were about to cross the road. They turned and raced back the way they had come down the hill.
We came to an ideal spot with a view southward where we could pull over so Tom could take some photos. I decided to stay in the car and start writing but when I reached down for my bag it wasn’t there. It suddenly dawned on me that I left my bag, complete with my wallet containing credit cards, driving license, green card, car keys, journals – in fact my whole life was in there. ‘Thomas’ I screamed, ‘I’ve left my bag in Peet’s’. He immediately jumped back into the car, did a Uturn and we hurtled back down the hill at break neck speed to get back to the city. Even though we made good time, after all it was only about 20 miles, the journey seemed endless. Of course I was thinking the worst scenario would greet me when we arrived, that someone had walked off with it and I would have to go through the painful process of canceling all my cards and arrange replacements. At best I was hoping that an honest person had handed it to one of the baristas behind the counter.
Imagine my shock and surprise when I rushed into Peet’s exactly one hour after we had left to find my bag in exactly the same place I had left it. Oh, what a relief.
We had to abandon our plans to climb to the top of Mount Tam and then drive the back roads to Bolinas. The light was past its best for taking photographs and besides the place would be crowded. We decided to have breakfast and visit the De Young Museum. Mount Tam and Bolinas will have to wait for another day.
February 11 2008 05:04 pm | Special Places
