Martha Snider’s Blog

By a quirk of fate, I traveled through the Marin Headlands on Saturday, June 27th.  You might remember me as the local who quoted Mark Twain’s impression of San Francisco in the summertime.  June 27th was an exception to the rule as much as Twain’s quote is falsely attributed to the author according to Snopes http://www.snopes.com/quotes/twain.asp.  The San Francisco Bay Area weather was crystal clear without a cloud in the sky, 78 degrees with little wind until late afternoon.  Of course, this meant that in the Central Valley where I live, the temperature range was 108 in Stockton to 110 in Sacramento.  We won’t talk about Redding, Red Bluff, Fresno, or Bakersfield.

What will the weather be July 13-17?  Chances are it will be cold and foggy as usual.  Yet, you may want a pair of shorts, swimsuit, and beach towel on the outside chance that we get another heatwave.  Overall, our weather has been unseasonably cool so we’re probably due some heat.  You can check out July’s average and not so average temperatures at Weather.com, either Sausalito or San Francisco,
http://www.weather.com.

Since we were taking the cool scenic route back home from Santa Rosa, the afternoon in the Marin Headlands provided some additional information for our upcoming DEN Institute.  Other than the swimsuit, I was reminded about the abundance of hiking trails, including a great 1 mile round tripper to Point Bonita Lighthouse.  

There’s also an array of bunkers and other defensive positions dating back to the 1800’s to explore.  Closed-toed comfortable walking shoes should be on the packing list.  Even if we don’t walk too much in San Francisco on Tuesday, take it from this five years in the City girl; you want your comfortable footwear.

While we’re on the subject of hiking, there is poison oak in the area.  If you venture in the brush and woods at all, it will find you.  At the Welcome Center, I got this photo to let you know what poison oak looks like at this time of year.

After checking with Lance, I understand the beach is not far at all from where we will be staying.  There are regular beach showers and bathrooms so that you don’t have to walk the extra bit back to the barracks.  If you are one of the West Coast locals like me and driving in, bringing some beach gear to share is probably a cool addition.  Such things as lawn beach chairs and a cooler might be handy at the bonfire, too.  You can get driving directions and other valuable information at the Headlands Institute site.

Is there a marine biologist or science teacher in the crowd?  You’ll love the Marine Mammal Center just up the hill from the barracks.  On the Saturday Saturday we were there, they had 118 harbor seals and sea lion yearlings they were trying to save.  If there’s time, you might learn how to feed one.

My last noteworthy “discovery” is that there are areas around our barracks where my AT&T cell phone worked just fine.  Stick with what we were told and don’t plan on your cell phone.  There is a pay phone in the barracks area.  Does anyone remember how to use a calling card?  Oh, never mind!  Somehow we’re getting access to the Internet for Skype, right?

Depending on your travel plans, there are a couple of us that will be hanging in San Francisco Friday afternoon waiting on late flights.  You are welcome to join us.

Got any questions about the San Francisco Bay Area?  I’d be happy to help.  For other information about DEN NI 2009, please check out that blog @ http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/national-institute-2009/.