Travelogue: Marin Headlands - Rodeo Beach & Lagoon

There are no shortages of brilliant things to see and do if you visit the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco.  We covered just one of the places that would interest the history buffs out there, and now we head on down the road (literally) back to sea level to explore beautiful Rodeo Beach and Lagoon. 

Rodeo Beach  is a beautiful dark-sand beach with a LOT to see and do.  I'm not going to lie...I only did like 1% of what is available at this awesome location.  For more complete coverage, please check out the National Park Service website for Fort Cronkhite.

The 1% I did involved walking along the beach and part way along the trail around the gorgeous Rodeo Lagoon.  And taking photos of course!  

You can surf.  Or watch surfers (like I did)!

Between the beach and the lagoon is a cool bridge which leads onto the natural "land bridge" created by the beach between the Pacific Ocean and the Rodeo Lagoon.  I was so happy that some of the fog was lingering as it gave my photos a little extra mystery. 

What a beautiful spot!

This next photo is not black and white, but it may as well be.  

The lagoon was mostly smooth as a mirror, but when I was trying to get a shot of this Cormorant perched on an underwater fence post, a slight breeze picked up and then ripples it created formed a stunning background!

There is a lovely fence that separates the beach from the lagoon.  With the residual fog, it made for a really cool photo as it meanders down the beach. 

Any place with water is my happy place, but even better when it's the ocean!

The surf was pretty good for the surfers that were out!  Waves were about 4-5 feet.

Did you know there are many different types of Sea Gulls?  This lovely is called a Herring Gull. 

In the next few photos, you can see that the beach has patches of beautifully colored pebbles, some looking like agates.  Gorgeous!

Next time, I will be doing more things to report on, such as visiting the Raptor Center and Marine Mammal Center.  Plus there was a very intriguing hike that a LOT of folks were embarking on.  I will be back and spending at least the whole day in the headlands!  

Definitely a wonderful place to spend some time if you're visiting the San Francisco Bay Area. 

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Trojan FW 2013 - Day 2 Part III California Girls

This will be a brief post.  A tribute of sorts to musical legends 

The Beach Boys.

From L - R:  Al Jardine, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson

Sir Paul McCartney called this song one of the best ever.

I grew up loving the Beach Boys.  My best memories as a child were when my dad, who at that point (early - mid 70's) was a traveling salesman after retiring Career Air Force, took us on the road for at least a month of each summer.  

We traveled the western United States in our huge company motor home listening to my dad's 8-tracks.  Most often requested by us girls was the Beach Boys and Bobby Valentine.  

I still love and listen to the Beach Boys to this day.

My favorite was always Dennis Wilson, the blonder and (IMO) most handsome brother. He was also supposedly the black sheep of the family and the one who most personified the Beach Boys trademark California surfer lifestyle.

I mean,  how can you not?

Even as he got older and scruffier, he was the same soulful dreamy artist, stealing girls hearts. 

Anyway, the Beach Boys are a fascinating story, much too complicated for me to indulge myself any further here.  But the Wilson brothers were musical geniuses from a very young age.  And I loved/love them.

So imagine my surprise and delight upon learning that USC had arranged a special on-campus concert by the current iteration of the Beach Boys.  Now to be honest, I was excited but with misgivings; I (sometimes unfairly) blame Mike Love for a lot of things.  haha But I try to remind myself that I don't know the whole story and Mike was a founding member and great contributor to the Beach Boys.

Originally Adrienne was supposed to go with me and Rose but she had too much homework.  We ended up giving her ticket to another parent.   

We were about midway up in the balcony, but it's a small theater so there really wasn't a bad seat in the house.

Me and Rose (Not a good picture of me!)

The USC Spirit Girls made a fun appearance.

And they had a tribute to the Wilson brothers.

All in all, a wonderful finish to a very fun day.  

xoxo