Day 5 + 5: Looking Forward

It was a good trip and I think we knew that from the first steps.  I also realized that there was a genetic trend unfolding when somewhere near midday on Day 2, about 20 miles into our adventure, our chatter rolled into a discussion of planning our next trip(s).  This one barely underway, it became clear that I was in like company; someone else who was as turned on by the process of planning and preparing for the trip, as taking the trip itself.  That said, by halfway through Day 2, this adventure was more than halfway over and it was high time to determine what was going to hold each of our interests for the months ahead, until we could go again.

Over the rest of the miles, we discussed my dad's upcoming travels to Honduras and Guatemala, ideas for how my dad could craft a adventure that would enable him to take his older brother on a trip despite health restrictions, our family summer local travel plans, my desire to travel to Central America and to return to South East Asia, and more.  Despite all the fantasy travel we came up with, the trip that kept recurring in our conversations was the one we were on (Napa to San Francisco by foot), round two. As the days of walking unfolded, this notion kept surfacing.  By the end of our adventure, it was clear that we both intended do it again. So, the dream of, 555+1 was born.

In the couple of days after I returned home, amidst the wild flurry of laundry, pantry restocking and unpacking, there weren't many moments for fantasy travel.  But alas, the dust has settled a bit, I am rested, 'norm' has set back in and today, I found myself looking at a 2009 calendar to see when May 1-5 fell.  And then opening the map drawer to see what other options there were from getting from Napa to Sonoma, and Sonoma to Petaluma, and Petaluma to..... Funny thing.....not more than a half and hour later I looked at my computer and saw an email from my dad with a link to a map of the 'California Coastal Trail' and where it crosses Marin County.  And this is what I learned:

Thanks to intense grassroots efforts some 40-years ago to protect Marin County’s remarkable coast, today’s visitors can walk almost 60 of the 72-mile coastline on a trail or beach, and visit State and National Parks, historic military structures, and diverse visitor centers along the way. Sandy coves, steep headlands, oak and evergreen forests and coastal sagelands abound. Congress and local governments preserved the coastline for the public by creating Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Their combined areas constitute one of our country’s great urban parklands: totaling 140,000 acres of natural coastal open space. [Richard Nichols]

Gotta love genetics---sounds like planning for 555+1 is already underway.
  Wanna come?  Find your 2009 calendar and take a look, May 1 is a Friday!