California Pictures

This was one of my favorite views, at the beginning of a weekend trip, just a short drive from San Francisco. Right after driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, you take the first exit, drive uphill for a bit, park somewhere, walk further uphill, and suddenly you're standing practically over the bridge, buffeted by the wind and taking in a really lovely, expansive view of the water.



After only about an hour's drive, winding north along the coast, we were at Point Reyes. But to get to see this, Point Reyes Beach stretched out endlessly before us, we had to drive almost a full extra hour through the park.



A white buck, who finally stopped stuffing his pretty face with grass long enough for this shot to be taken. We came across these deer right at the start of our hike, which eventually led to...



...Sculptured Beach, I think. The wet white sand was so fine and smooth beneath my feet, it'd be a beautiful spot to come back to in the summer for a long, lazy picnic.



Beautiful oysters, waiting to be shucked.



Shucked oysters, waiting to be devoured. Apologies if the dots of hot sauce make this shot a little gruesome at first glance.

Except for the oysters, all of the above photos were taken by my husband, who as you can see, is a far better photographer than I.