Heits on the Road: Back to California

When last we met, we had been in Southern California. Next we headed north to San Francisco to see our son, Mark and his wife, Dani. While there we visited a number of national parks and monuments. One of stops was Point Reyes National Seashore. The bay is named for Sir Francis Drake who was said to have stopped there and made the first contact with Coast Miwok people who had lived there for thousands of years. Tule elk that were almost hunted to extinction have returned to the protected land. A third of the park is wilderness, another third is a pastoral zone where dairy and beef ranches have operated since the the 1850's. The remainder is all part of the park.

One of our favorite stops was the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond. Having grown up in Philadelphia, I was familiar with the role of the port and the Naval shipyard in World War II, but I knew absolutely nothing about what was going on in California. Richmond's became a ship building center due to its rail and deep water connections. Henry Kaiser's shipyards and 50 other wartime industries. During the war, the shipyards produced 747 ships (simply an amazing number). The shortage of experienced men opened the opportunity for women to enter the workforce. Many female workers were riverters and the "Rosie the Riverter" icon and song were a major part of the program to recruit women workers. Over six million women entered the workforce and created the first major entry of women into the national workforce. The museum is simply fantastic with displays showing so much of the history including what was happening on the home front during the war. Absolutely, a place to stop.

A great piece of history!

Next, it was on to Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Just across the Golden Gate bridge on the Marin County side resides the massive Golden Gate Recreation Area. On one day, we visited the Marin Headlands, Fort Baker, Muir Beach, Point Bonita Lighthouse, and Battery Townsley. Believe it or not, there is even more to see including the Presidio which we never got to see.