MARIN COUNTY
It was a pleasure to settle down for 9 days at Acqua, a charming boutique hotel in Mill Valley. Our room faced Richardson Bay which we enjoyed walking and biking along. The highlight of this stop, however, was visits with several friends including a sorority sister I had not seen in over 40 years. I had a "catch up" visit with Carol before we met Ron for lunch. It turned out to be Carol's birthday - even more reason to celebrate
Another treat was seeing several friends from last year's world cruise including Tove and Gene who live in nearby Tiburon. We had a wonderful dinner at their beautiful home overlooking San Francisco Bay.
We were fortunate to have great weather the day we went to Muir Woods, home of some of California's magnificent coastal redwoods. 150 million years ago, redwood and sequoia trees were growing throughout the United States but most have been destroyed by development. In California, almost 2 million acres of old growth forest was lost to logging. Thanks to William Kent, the stretch known as Muir Woods was saved because he donated it to the Federal Government and Theodore Roosevelt declared it a National Monument. Rather than having it named after him, Mr. Kenwood requested that the land be named after his friend, naturalist John Muir. We have Muir to thank for our national parks as he petitioned Congress for the National Parks Bill that passed in 1890.
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." John Muir
Now it is on to Napa Valley.
