Muir Woods and Beach

The day began innocently enough...

We invited all of the Moroneso wedding guests back to our rental house for brunch.  The perfect weather continued and everyone enjoyed visiting and eating on the porch.  Thank you to the Mathis women for being my cooking partners, and to the Millers for bringing most excellent bagels!

After brunch, the men's tuxedos were returned and we headed off for Muir Woods.  Let me tell you, that drive is not for the faint of heart - and that's just the drive there! 

And then the Day of Many Misfortunes began...

When we arrived, there were no close spots, so the guys dropped us off and went to park the cars.  Half an hour later, they return to meet us.  Poor Steve has a sheepish look on his face.  Turns out he had torn part of the running board off our rental Suburban while navigating the parking lots.  Ick.  But nobody was hurt, and surely a running board isn't too expensive.  Onward we went.

It was a perfect day for a hike, and the kids had a great time burning off energy.  The paths are lovely and the trees were magnificent.  We made it all the way to bridge 4 without really realizing it.  After we crossed bridge 4, a sign informed us that the path back was not stroller friendly.  Half the group turned around and the other half continued on.  A couple minutes later, the Millers returned to join us after Brian took a spill while holding Alex.  Thankfully nobody was hurt seriously!

We made it back to the park entrance without too much incident.  The little boys (Hunter and Zachary) quite enjoyed an encounter with a worm.  We got some nice photos of everyone.  Lunch was fairly uneventful, and we managed to get everyone through a potty stop!

Next stop - Muir Beach.  After being assured it was just a few minutes away, we set out to find it, following the Millers.  But then, a darned BIKE got between us, and we lost the Millers.  And because we were so busy looking for their car, we missed the (slightly obscured) sign for Muir Beach.  So we got to go back up and back down the mountain.  That little exercise did nothing to improve the state of my marriage.  Let me just say I was exceptionally glad to finally see the sign!

So we get to the beach parking lot and run into the rest of the group as they are getting in their cars.  Turns out our little detour spared us from the horrors of being attacked by a rogue wave.  This rogue wave caused yet another Miller Family Fall, and claimed an iPhone, in addition to soaking just about every other member of the group.  Bummer for them!

Janice and Megan decided to stay with us (my kids, Kaitlyn, Steve and me) to enjoy the beach a bit more.  We bundled up in towels to protect from the wind, and made our way there.  Zachary loved it, and Sophie eventually did too!

We had a big family dinner at our house, and then Steve took Anne and Phil back to their hotel.  While getting gas in our car, the gas pump spewed gas all over him!  YUCK!

And so ended the Day of Many Misfortunes!