Looking down along the coast

No matter how spectacular the scenic vistas might be along a road such as California's highway 1, it always pays to, at least occasionally, bring your focus in a bit and take a look at the micro-scenery, too.

Anyone who's looked even a bit beyond the San Francisco skyline, either north or south, has seen the rolling hills covered with golden grass...

...this is a typical scene that I happened to snap on our "Earthquake" hike at Point Reyes, showing what that grass looks like close up.

Since Henry wasn't with us and he loves taking pictures of dead trees, I couldn't pass up this photogenic specimen, spotted along the Point Reyes shoreline...

We weren't through with live trees, either, after our magical time in the redwoods, although the trees right on the coast aren't nearly as big or as numerous. But on one short hike out to the cliff-edge, there were some lovely conifers...

Not all of the micro-scenery was flora, though; there was plenty of fauna as well...

an astonishing number of sea lions on a convenient beach

an alarmingly large banana slug! spotted at the side of a road in Point Reyes

But I admit to being partial to flowers and most of the photos I took when looking down are of these lovely California residents:

They're not just pretty by themselves, but they also make great framing elements for shots of some of the larger pieces of scenery, too...

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I'm just about finished with my California posts. All that's left is our brief return visit to San Francisco to catch our flights home. That's next up.