INVERNESS, Calif. — Sometimes it’s a gift when the hotel’s Wi-Fi doesn’t work inside the room. I could hardly ask for a better work station than this, perched at a wooden table on a deck overlooking Tamales Bay, where two egrets are tiptoeing through the salt marsh.

My husband and I are taking a three-day road trip with friends up the rocky Pacific Coast north of San Francisco. After a morning exploring the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument just north of the city, we’ve driven about another hour north up California 1 to Inverness, a little town that rubs shoulders with Point Reyes National Seashore.

Our small but very comfortable — and cheap ($108) — room at Motel Inverness has a bay view from its bathroom window, free coffee and biscotti in its large common room (which also has a pool table) and a very friendly staff that gives us the lowdown on the national seashore.

We’ll attack the park’s 72,000 acres of wilderness and beach in the morning, but first, we must have some of the famous local oysters we’ve heard so much about. We drive around to the other side of the bay to Marshall, where we inhale Hog Island Sweetwaters on the half shell, along with a few topped with spinach and Pernod, as the sun sets at Nick’s Cove.

After a good night’s sleep with the window open, we’re off to the national seashore. Our first goal is to see some tule elk, currently enjoying rutting season. It’s no challenge. They’re all over the place, staring balefully at us, as though to say “Yes, yes, we’re elk. Now move along.”

We hike half a mile down a hill to photogenic McClure Beach, one of the park’s many rocky beaches, interrupting a hawk’s lunch of fresh seagull. As we trudge back up, an elk peers down to watch us sweat.

We climb into the car and head for Drake’s Bay Oyster Farm, where oysters are harvested from the south shore of the park.

“We’re out of oyster knives, but if you brought your own you can open your own oysters,” we’re told. Gosh. We didn’t bring our oyster knives. No worries: For $1.50 an oyster, the speedy woman at the counter opens the bivalves and we eat them at a picnic table.

Sated, we drive on to check out the Point Reyes Lighthouse, built in 1870 and now retired. The lighthouse is 300 concrete steps down from the cliff I’m standing on and an agonizing (for some of us, anyway) 300 steps back up. I’ve done it in the past. Today, I’m happy to gaze at the lighthouse from the bluff 275 feet above, which, by the way, the National Park Service says is the windiest point on the Pacific Coast, with gusts up to 130 mph. Today, the wind is a relatively calm 20 mph but still threatens to steal my hat.

After a little more roaming around the seashore, we drive into Point Reyes Station for dinner at Station House Cafe. Drake’s Bay Oysters are fried up crunchily, and popovers are sensational.

The next morning brings a three-hour, coast-hugging drive up California 1, during which I use up my year’s quotient of wows as I take pictures of waves crashing against the rocks.

Our destination: the quaint Mendocino County town of Elk, where one of my favorite bed-and-breakfasts in the U.S., Elk Cove Inn, perches atop the rocks overlooking the ocean. There are seven beautifully furnished rooms in the Victorian mansion, along with four cottages out on the cliff. Since my last visit, a new building with a spa and three large suites has been added.

We walk down to the dark-sand beach (there’s a picnic table down here) and watch the sun sparkle on the waves before the fog rolls in just before sunset, engulfing all of Elk within about five minutes.

For dinner, we decide to drive seven miles north to the Albion Inn in Albion, where the nightly special is a cioppino. Every single piece of seafood is cooked perfectly — no small feat. Back at the Elk Cove Inn, we collapse into our fluffy bed and — again with the windows open — sleep deeply.

The next morning, we eagerly run down to a world-class breakfast with mushroom-laden frittatas, ham, deviled eggs (they’re great for breakfast), morning pie (sort of cheesecakey), corn pudding, scones, tomatoes, bread pudding, fresh fruit, pancakes, numerous juices, coffees and mimosas. No lunch will be necessary, thank you.

Elk Cove Inn’s rates run $135-$395 in summer and include free breakfast, wine, snacks, cookies, cognac and chocolates. Winter’s a true bargain with rates starting at $100 and far less fog. The occasional fierce rainstorm showcases the Pacific’s strength.

Time to head back to the city, and as much as I love San Francisco, I have to admit I’m a little blue. It’s hard to tear myself off the rocks.

If you go

Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley. 415-388-2595, nps.gov/muwo. $5.

Motel Inverness, 12718 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Inverness. 415-669-1081, motelinverness .com.

Nick’s Cove, 23240 California 1, Marshall. 415-663-1033, nickscove.com.

Point Reyes National Seashore, 1 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station. 415-464-5100, nps.gov/pore. Free.

Station House Cafe, 11180 California 1, Point Reyes Station. 415-663-1515, stationhousecafe.com.

Elk Cove Inn, 6300 S. California 1, Elk. 800-275-2967, elkcoveinn.com.

Albion River Inn, 3790 N. California 1, Albion. 800-479-7944, albionriverinn.com.

— Helen Anders, Austin American-Statesman