98 Caramels: Marin & Sonoma

So I did the math, and it turns out the kids spent 45 out of 73 days of summer break out of town. In case there is any question as to why -

This is what summer on the Northern California coast looks like:

Since Brennan got his 4th grader's National Park Pass, we've been trying to visit parks and fill up the kids' National Park Passport books. And with a few more weeks before he officially turns into a 5th grader, I thought we could squeak one more park in, close to home. So on what I thought was going to be a nice day, we went to the Point Reyes National Seashore.

My problem is that the very first time I went to Point Reyes, it looked like this:

So that is what I expect, even though every subsequent visit has looked like this:

The kids were initially excited about going to the lighthouse, but got chilly hiking in the fog and wind. Luckily, visiting the lighthouse involves a few stairs, so that warmed everyone right up.

From the visitor center to the lighthouse, it's 900 feet down and 308 steps; and once you've checked it out, it's 308 steps up again. The visitor center claims it's the equivalent of walking to the 25th floor of a building.

There's more to Point Reyes than a StairMaster in Wuthering Heights - it was lovely in Inverness, by Tomales Bay, where we stopped for lunch.

And it was positively toasty at the main visitor center in Bear Valley, where we did a little hike to Kule Loklo, the recreated Miwok Village.

I clearly suffer from some sort of delusional optimism when it comes to coastal Marin County, because just a month later, I decided it was time for the kids to show us around Point Bonita, where they have each gone for summer camp.

Luckily, we brought extra layers.

We continued our tour of dour lighthouses on godforsaken spits of rock hanging over the ocean with a stop at Point Bonita's.

The trek to the Point Bonita lighthouse is less grueling than Point Reyes, but just as exciting. When Lucie came home from camp with a wild story about taking a tunnel through a volcano and then crossing a swaying bridge to get to a lighthouse, I wondered, How much of that is true?

Turns out, all of it. Although the volcano is long extinct.

There is one place we can rely on for a warm, sunny day trip - Sonoma. Since running around a vineyard after cats while adults taste wine is no longer remotely appealing to the kids, Daddy & I decided to divide and conquer. He dropped us off at the Sonoma County Fair in Petaluma, and he continued north to pick up our wine club boxes.

All the county fairs are fairly similar - and always raise the question, Who goes to the county fair to buy a hot tub? - but usually have one or two main selling points, like all rides included in admission, or a large petting zoo. Sonoma's is horse racing. Our grandstand seats cost roughly $9 (total), but you can also just hang out on the rail for free, depending on whether you like to see the whole race, or hear the hooves pounding on turf and see the horses up close as they fly by. We tried both.

After a couple of races, it was time to hit the midway!