Muir Beach and Woods

 Thursday May 24th-We had visited Muir Beach 5 years ago but Janae and Stefan didn't remember it very well. The tide pools here at low tide are really special. There are tons of starfish, barnacles, crabs and anemones. When the children were younger, they were taken with the starfish. Today, the anemones were the hit and the phrase most spoken was, "he took it." A teacher of a group of students had shrimp she shared with us. If you break it into little pieces, the anemones will often take in this treat with their tenacles. Janae and Stefan loved feeding them and the crabs. Stefan was very animated and excited when sharing how the crab plundered the shrimp when he gave it to him.

A special moment of sibling conversation

After enjoying the beach, we went to Muir Woods a few miles down the road.  This is the home to a beautiful grove of coastal redwoods. Janae and Stefan were very motivated to do this junior ranger program as they give out badges carved out of redwood.  The booklet was laid out nicely and we answered the questions as we strolled through the grove.  The trees are beautiful and we learned a lot. Did you know that a single standing tree grew from a seed whereas a cluster of trees sprouted from a burl?  Also, 20 % of their water, they need a lot comes from the fog.  Mark and I were taken with the fact that delegates forming the United Nations met here and honored Franklin D Roosevelt.   This place was chosen

This was interesting. The center shows the tree at 990 AD and then 1100 the size of the tree during Indian reign in Mesa Verde, the size of the tree in 1607 when Jamestown was established, etc.

We ended our fabulous day with a trip to Trader Joe's to get Tri-tip and other goodies to make dinner for Nancy and her family.