Day 12: Inverness -- Bolinas

18 + 8 miles. The mushroom room was only available for one night, so we had to find another place to stay. I so bad wanted to see the lighthouse where you can spot whales migrating during the fall and spring, the beaches where elephant sea lions give birth, the elk on Tomales point, the cliffs dropping into the Pacific. Point Reyes National Park is wild. This whole piece of land sits on the west side of the San Andreas fault zone and moves up 2 inches/year. There is even a mountain lion whose call sounds like a woman's scream. We will have to come back, maybe hike and camp next time.

The only place we could get a room was Smilys Saloon in Bolinas. Everyone seems to know this place and laughs. It's a quirky town infamous for removing road signs that point the way to avoid tourism, and Smilys is an icon. I've never stayed at a saloon, but why not live like a rockstar.

We didn't leave without fully appreciating Mankas Inverness. They deliver breakfast to your door including homemade yogurt, local honey, homemade granola, hot cinnamon buns, and homemade local apple juice and hot coffee, so beautifully served. What luxury! Our room is totally private and in the woods too -- we hope to return.

From this side of the bay we see restored wetlands and elephant mountain. See the elephant?

Lunch at Cowgirl

Dessert at Bovine Bakery -- thank goodness we are working out!

We run into these guys up the road. The dude in front is moving from Washington to SF via bicycle (no moving truck). The dude in bike biked from New Jersey to the west coast and is now heading south. They are eating pot brownies. I explain to Jay the different bike cultures of touring, road, and mountain bike.

The route is ON the San Andreas fault line. To our right is Point Reyes and left the Golden Gate Recreation Area. We are in a beautiful valley.

It's hilly here too and a tractor trailer did flip over in a switchback. We biked by the scene though cars were turned back.

We used GPS to get to Bolinas because sure enough there was no sign. We pass several gardens with big leafy greens on the way in. We check in at the bar, which is open 7:30am -- 2am. The bar tender is very nice and explained the room is clean and music not too loud. Clearly it's what Jay refers to as a "wham bam thank you mam" type of place but we don't really have other options. And I guess that is the life of a rockstar.

We bike to the Point Reyes Bird Observatory to try to get glimpse of the cliffs but we can only see Point Reyes in the distance.

Instead, we come to an overlook and see San Francisco. We are almost there. Our legs are tired, but we are sad it's almost over.

We eat across the street, walk to the beach, and listen to live music from our room. Smileys is hopping. I try not to touch the floor with my bare feet.