Salmon weather (cont'd)

So like I said, it was pretty chilly out at Samuel P. Taylor State Park on Sunday, which was fine with me because I had my fancy long underwear from REI.

Tony and Jeffrey, however, were not as adequately equipped to cope with the elements, and, when I suggested we take advantage of the large and underutilized picnic area adjacent to the parking lot, they said "You go ahead, Big Daddy. We'll be in the honda. Just leave us a couple sandwiches. Oh, and the key to the ignition, so we can run the heater."

I said, "No, this is not right. Sure it's January, and we're at the bottom of a dark salmon-spawning canyon, and there's icicles hanging off the barbeque grills, but surely we can find a warm, sunny picnic table around here somewhere.

Then it hit me. Heart's Desire Beach! See Heart's Desire Beach is on the west side of Tomales Bay, a long slender waterway that sits directly on top of the San Andreas Fault.

In fact, that whole section of California, the Point Reyes Peninsula, was formed from rock that migrated over the course of millions of years from the Tehachapi Range, 300 miles to the south of us.

And that's why I knew it was going to be warm at Heart's Desire Beach. Sure. Everybody knows it's warmer in Southern California than in Northern California, right?

So I drove us out to Heart's Desire Beach, and sure enough, it was beatiful. Just sunny and pleasant. The guys got out of the car, and we had a picnic at a picnic table like normal people.

Naturally Jeffrey took pictures of everthing in sight. If anybody knows what the slimey red thing is, please let me know. I don't mean to be an alarmist, but it looks like if you turned this thing loose at a drive in movie, it could easily start eating teenagers.

Kurt "big daddy" True
16 january 2007