Muir Woods

    After five hours on a plane and more than four hours in airports, my parents and I have arrived in San Francisco (PDub is yet again in France).  We blessed our bellies with potstickers and Mu Shu from Hunan Home's Restaurant in Chinatown before succumbing to sleep well before 8pm pacific time.  On our first whole day, we woke up early to get on a bus headed for Muir Woods and Wine Country.

    Muir Woods is the home of the great redwoods.  These particular sequoyahs grow to about 400ft tall and are over 1,000 years old.  These giants should not be confused with the other species of redwoods, which you can drive through, that grow in northern California.  That adventure is for a different day.  Sadly, the trees we spent a little time with are a portion of the 5% that are left in the world.

    Luckily, the park was empty when we arrived, and we were able to experience these ever-so-wise trees in peace.  With the sound of the creek trickling through and the coolness of the morning air, we journeyed along the pathways taking in not only the trees but also the ferns and clover fitting into their niche perfectly and the deer drinking and eating near the creek.  Oftentimes in this hectic world where nature is being destroyed, we need to stop and observe the beauty that was given to us.  And that we did....before heading to Sonoma and Napa to indulge on alcohol a.k.a. wine tasting.

Giants...Not the humans, my friends

Do I see a tree gnome?

Down by the creek...also pronounced "crick"

Momma Deer and Bambi

Creeper

Treehugger

UPDATE:  I've seen 4 fanny packs in the past two days...Jealous?