Local Favorites: Indian Rock!

Even though I complain a lot about the lack of hot weather here, one thing that always makes up for the cool days is the view of the bay. Sam and I just love it. Maybe because we grew up in Georgia where most of the views consist of pine trees or fields, but we just love being able to drive up into the hills and see the bay stretching out to the ocean and all of the little cities in between. Our favorite view point is about a mile walk from our apartment at Indian Rock.

                         

Indian rock is a large rock outcropping in the Berkeley hills that provides an awesome view of pretty much the whole bay. To the south, we can see Berkeley's campus and the Oakland, to the north we can see Richmond, and then across the bay to the Golden Gate bridge connecting San Francisco to Marin. On a clear day, we can also see the bay's three largest bridges. 

                        

It is definitely our favorite place to stroll to on a Saturday morning for breakfast or with any out of town visitors. The rock is higher than the surrounding houses, so it gives a wonderful view of the neighborhood as well. It also provides rock climbing enthusiasts a place to practice and children a natural jungle gym. 

Indian Rock is also an awesome place to watch the sunset, but we have had some trouble actually making it there in time to catch it. We also thought it would be an awesome place to watch the fireworks set off from Berkeley's pier on the 4th of July a couple years ago... unfortunately, so did everyone else! We weren't able to see the fire works very well, and honestly, it was a little scary to have that many people crowded together on such a steep surface! 

I think we much prefer this little treasure on a quiet Sunday morning all to ourselves :)

Tidepool Exploring

It seems Sam and I must really like fish and other sea creatures since a large portion of my posts have to do with our aquatic friends! Well, to continue with our trend, we finally made it out to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve located at Moss Beach, just south of the city. This visit has been something we have been trying to arrange for a few months now as it is best to go during low tide, which tends to change / not line up with our weekend plans. Anyway, this time it worked out perfectly and coincided with the Coogan Siblings visit (more to come on that later!).

Unfortunately, the weather was not the prettiest, although we decided that the lack of sun may have actually helped since it wasn't super crowded. I just love the California coast line- it is such a different experience from the beaches in Florida that we are used to visiting. The water is also SO much colder, and the wind wasn't very pleasant either. Still, I am always in awe of the ocean and rocky coastline.

These sweet seals didn't seem to mind the weather though. They were all lying around just off the beach.

As I mentioned before, it's best to visit the tidepools during low tide, so the pools are shallow and you can really see what's hanging out in there. It is also best to wear water proof shoes, or at least ones that have good traction since the rocks are VERY slippery from all of the plants and algae. 

I honestly have no idea what most of the creatures we saw are, but I do know we saw a ton of barnacles, anemones, and little crabs. In true sibling fashion, Sam enjoyed daring his sibs to touch the squishy orange thing in the picture below. No, you are not suppose to be touching any of the wild life, but it's odd and sticky texture was just too enticing!

By far, our most exciting find was this star fish chilling on the underside of one of the pool banks. It was so camouflaged, I'm surprised anyone could even see it! It is difficult to tell from the picture, but it was about the size of my hand. So cool!

The area around the beach was also very pretty. We took a short hike along the coast enjoying the scenery and views from the cliffs. Even though in Berkeley it was wonderfully warm and sunny, we've learned that the coastline, and especially the wind, can be so much chillier. 

And of course, we had to get some group pics, and why not one in a creepy tree that didn't have any leaves?? Overall, I think Sam and I were a little disappointed that we didn't see a walking octopus or more star fish, but I would like to go back again and do a bit more exploring. It was certainly something fun and different to do with our visitings sibs too :)