DOWN BY THE BAY...

Cavallo Point

TRAVEL BLOG & CHILDREN'S BOOKS PART III:  Vacations don't have to end when you come home - thank goodness our memories let us travel back anytime we want to recall the fun sights, sounds, smells, and tastes we experienced!  I know my husband and I will re-visit in our minds quite often our recent get-away to Northern California - and we have lots of photos to help us...

After a few days in Mendocino (see my last two entries), we drove down to visit my sister and her family in Marin County (for those who aren't familiar with California, Marin is the area across the bay from San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge.)

The weather was perfect - sunny, a slight breeze, and temperatures in the high 70's...great for hiking the coastal forest trails in China Camp State Park.  Even my young niece and nephew were able to handle the hike we made, switching back and forth up the hills, until we reached a wooden bridge (our destination and signal to turn around).

We enjoyed beautiful vistas of San Pablo Bay, seen through the Live Oak and Manzanita trees...

After a fun afternoon of hiking, my creative Travel-Planner-Hostess-with-the-Mostess Sister had gotten tickets for an Angel Island Tiburon Ferry Sunset Cruise.   We packed a bottle of Sonoma wine to go with our picnic dinner from the awesome deli at Mollie Stone's in Saulsalito and headed off to the pier in Tiburon. 

Lots of families, and fun for all ages on this ferry boat that cruised past Angel Island and Belvedere Island and back to Tiburon for a delightful one and one-half hour tour!  It was cloudy, so we had to chase the sun, but we got a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge before the fog closed in!

GREAT PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT ISLANDS, BOATS, THE BAY, AND THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE!

The Little Island (Dell Picture Yearling), by Golden MacDonald (Margaret Wise Brown's pen name), illustrations by Leonard Weisgard. (ages 4-8)

Scuffy the Tugboat and His Adventures Down the River, by Gertrude Crampton, illustrations by Tibor Gergely (ages 4-8).

Pop's Bridge, by Eve Bunting, C.F. Payne, illustrator. (ages 4-8)

City by the Bay: A Magical Journey Around San Francisco, by Tricia Brown with illustrations by Elisa Kleven. (ages 4-8)
 

Sam, Bangs & Moonshine, by Evaline Ness. (ages 4-8)

MORE BOOKS ABOUT THE SEA (from a past blog post)

Keeping warm with the Captain!