Wednesday

A few photos for your Wednesday.  Halfway through the week!

Photos from Marina Green

Congratulations to Kat on finishing her finals!  She of all people must be happy it's finally Wednesday!

Bald Head Island Sunset

...and the beautiful Bald Head Island sunsets

See:
Bald Head Island sunrises

Bald Head Island Sunrise

We spent Thanksgiving on Bald Head Island, off the coast of North Carolina.  Due to the shape of the island and the time of year, we could see the sunrise and the sunset from our rental beach cottage!  

These are some shots of sunrise.  

Up next, some sunsets!

Muir Woods and the Tourist Club

The fall weather has made for perfect hiking conditions in Northern California.  We've still had numerous sunny days, and the more crisp air means cooler hikes in the Marin Headlands and Muir Woods.  

During the government shutdown last month, we found that we were the only people on the trails in Muir Woods, since our preferred route takes us in the opposite trail direction than the normally tourist-packed route into Cathedral Grove.  

It was almost eerie being alone on these paths!  But absolutely gorgeous.

Eight or so miles in, our route passed the Tourist Club, and we were no longer the only people around (!)

Thanks to those wonderful people in lederhosen who served up the beer while we picnicked at a sunny table and played trivial pursuits with strangers-turned-friends.

I think this has become my favorite hike in Northern California.  Bradways & Ricks: we'd love to come here with you!

Lagunitas Brewery

There are a surprisingly large number of breweries in Northern California, and we've enjoyed visiting a number of them whenever possible.  Lagunitas, at less than an hour away, was calling our name.  A few weeks ago we made up an excuse for a visit. 

A hike in nearby Novato gave us an excuse, and 5 miles later, we walked into the Lagunitas outdoor patio.

We ordered a few samplers and got to try a variety of their beers.  It was a fun and relaxing afternoon!

Next time we'll plan ahead and attend a tour.

Mount Burdell Hike

A few weekends back we were looking for a good hiking trail North towards Petaluma so that we could make a visit to the Lagunitas Brewery in the afternoon.

A quick search brought up Mount Burdell in Novato, and we hit the road.  It is pretty terrain up there.  The paths weren't marked perfectly, and so our hike was a bit more uphill than we had anticipated, but it was a great workout. 

The blue skies were beautiful.

Aside from plenty of hawks and buzzards, the only other wildlife we came across was this guy!

Not dangerous.  Gave me goosebumps nevertheless.

Beautiful day!

City at Low Light

I recently received a new camera lens for my birthday (!), and I have been studying up to learn the tricks to take awesome photos at low light.

In the mean time, these photos below are all with my phone--pardon the grain.  They were taken on morning runs and evening walks, when the city is sparkling at low light.  These are my favorite times of day.

On the way TO the grocery store:

And on the way FROM the grocery store:

SF Halloween

For the past two years, I have shared San Francisco's elaborate Halloween decorations (here and here)--people go all out!  There even seems to be a contest in my office building where offices decorate their suite doors.

Enjoy!

And I'm attempting to imbed a video of the suite next to ours at work:

Happy Halloween!