Vacation at Home

Point Reyes National Seashore with Alexandra

Photographs by Alexandra Bruehl

  

Pont Reyes National Seashore is a vacation-at-home destination extraordinaire. It is only about an hour from Oakland­, but it is truly another world, full of wildness and great beauty.  

Although I often go out there on my own, this time I wanted to share it with my friend Alexandra. We headed out to Point Tomales, one of my favorite places on this earth, especially when covered in a blanket of wildflowers. Pink, white, purple, yellow, I love those wildflowers!   

I love that they are there every spring/summer. I can count on it. I love knowing that Notre Dame stands tall in Paris and the meadow pool remains unchanged at Breitenbush Hot Springs high in the Oregon cascades. I am comforted by the solid, eternal rhythm of the seasons and the eternity of place. 

I wanted a nice, easy morning so we didn’t even get started until noon. No worries. It’s never too late to go have fun. We grabbed a couple of apples and bags of macadamia nuts, supplemented by a maple walnut scone we picked up from the Busy Bee bakery on our way out. We threw the top down on the Rockette and motored under the big sky, passing rugged hills (imagine the moors of England), and dairy fields on our way out to the end of the world, also known as the Point Tomales trail.   

Point Tomales is a relatively flat trail, situated high on a rim between the ocean and the bay. It provides safe shelter for hundreds of Tule elk and if you walk far enough you can spot them near the watering holes; herds of beautiful creatures moving gracefully over the brush. I get very excited about seeing wild animals in their habitat. It makes me feel connected and an integral part of the universe. 

Half the fun was sharing it with my friend. She loved it and I loved it with her. We walked for miles, watching the hawks soaring high above the vast blue world of water on either side.  

 Everywhere we looked was beauty. We were immersed in beauty. We listened to the quiet. We talked of many things. She is a true soul sister to me. We share many common values and similar things are important to us that give us meaning. After a while, we stopped for lunch, spreading our jackets in a sheltered, sweet area off the trail where we had a gorgeous view of the craggy hills and the quiet bay.   

We gazed silently, taking alternative heavenly bites of the scone and crisp apple. It was pretty near perfect . . .the essence of vacation at home is about savoring and marking those achingly beautiful moments indelibly in your imagination where you can return again and again. They stay with you forever.

 We drove slowly back through the dairy fields and the sleepy cows. She said that the craggy green hills reminded her of Ireland. We drove in that comfortable silence only possible between dear friends. 

  

We drove back through the tiny town of Inverness and of course had to stop at the Busy Bee to pick up two plump peanut butter cookies that looked irresistible the first time around. We were going to save them for later but the baker encouraged us not to wait.  

That first bite was warm bliss…oh, how glorious it is to live fully in the senses! We each ate our entire cookie and skipped the late lunch we had planned. Why not? We’re on vacation at home! 

Next stop on our outing was my very favorite, girly clothing boutique in the tiny town of Point Reyes Station. The Epicenter is always a part of the Point Reyes expedition day. Over the years I have become friends with the owner, Dana Davidson, a beautiful woman, blessed with the gifts of creative sewing and exquisite taste. 

We lost track of time for an hour plus in that sweet little shop, trying on cool spinner rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces, eventually working our way toward the clothes. Two girls having lots of fun, tried on several form fitting, whimsical outfits.  

Alexandra spotted a colorful, sparkly, tiny pair of earrings that I would have never even seen. I trusted her taste and bought them. (I’m wearing them this very moment). She bought an exquisite Balinese silver necklace that lay perfectly, gleaming on her neck. She talked of her dream of going to Bali one day, traveling completely unencumbered, bringing nothing but a small bag of essentials. I excitedly declared I would join her!  

We drove home back to Oakland, taking a different route, along the Nicasio reservoir with dreamy late afternoon light illuminating the spring green hills.  We passed through the town of Nicasio proper, greeted by the sweet white steeple of an old church and wide-open fields with horses running free. 

We motored through the back way forest of Marin County on our way to San Rafael. She pulled out her I-phone and started playing this beautiful, sweet, rich, soothing Kirtan music, a form of Hindu chant. It was soulful and restful all the way home; through busy I-80 to the very moment I dropped her off in front of her darling little house in the hills of Oakland. My gratitude surged for a day well lived.