100630 Pinnacles National Monument

Jun 30, 2010 - I moved Pinnacles National Monument from the list of national entities I've yet to see, to the ones I've seen, today. Other than that, there isn't much to say about it. I'm glad it wasn't too far away, as it wasn't much to see. (I went to the west entrance, maybe the east entrance is more exciting.) I did see a thistle with red flowers instead of purple - I'd never seen that before[found out later it's called a Venus Thistle]. And I saw some trees with golden blossoms on them that were new to me. That was about it. Other than the drive over to Soledad to Pinnacles, I didn't do much. I appreciated having a "down" day, as my days were really activity-packed while Birdie was here.

100628 Elkhorn Slough, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, & Winchester Mystery House

Jun 28, 2010 - On Birdie's last day with me, we had a mixture of "country" and "city" activities. First we went on the Elkhorn Slough Safari in Moss Landing, with which we were both impressed. We did the early morning pontoon ride through the slough, though it was a little chilly. We had dressed warmly, but, once again, I wished for my winter coat. The wildlife we saw, however, couldn't be beat. We saw lots of otters, sea lions, and harbor seals, and saw them up close enough that we could really enjoy them. I learned to tell the difference between harbor seals (no external ears, flat noses) and sea lions (external ears, longer snouts, big front flippers). We saw lots of gulls, of course, and several types of cormorants. But we also saw an avocet [below], some long-billed curlews, godwits, white pelicans, and lots of brown pelicans [above]. We both learned a lot about the creatures we were viewing. We ate lunch at Pete’s Fish Market nearby. They make the best bleu cheese salad I've ever had, and I love their cioppino (fish stew), for which they are famous. (Thanks, once again, to TripAdvisor for some great advice!)

After lunch we drove in to San Jose, and on our way saw lots of field workers picking produce. If North Dakota is America's Breadbasket, then California is America's Produce Department. :-) I've stopped a couple times at farmer's markets by the roadside and purchased cherries and other just-picked fresh produce.

In San Jose we saw a couple things: the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and the Winchester Mystery House. The most amazing thing about the eqyptian museum was the visit to a replica Egyptian tomb, right in the basement of the museum!! We were both amazed at the Egyptian artifacts that were on display, right in the middle of San Jose (though the biggest pieces were mostly copies). The building and grounds were beautiful and impressive. [wisteria, rose, jacaranda below]

Lastly, we toured the Winchester Mystery House. We had both seen TV shows about this place and enjoyed the tour. [No picture-taking was allowed! :-( ] What an interesting story, and what a fun house! Sarah Winchester, heiress to some of the Winchester (rifle) fortune, moved to San Jose from New Haven, Connecticut, after the death of her infant daughter and her husband. a psychic told her that the spirits of the many dead as a result of the Winchester rifle were angry with her, and to appease them she must "build them a house". For 38 years, she had carpenters working around the clock, building on, and remodeling, her 160-room mansion. She seanced with spirits every evening and got instructions for the work to be done the next day. The house is full of strange things, meant to confuse the spirits, such as a door that opens to a wall, a door that opens to a drop to the next floor, windows set in the floor, and lots of unusual staircases. It was a fun place to visit.

I brought Birdie to a hotel near the San Jose airport, and that ended our vacation together. But it was a fun vacation and I'm glad we got to do it.

100627 Garrapata Beach, Asilomar, & Fisherman's Wharf

Jun 27, 2010 - We parked my RV at Marina Dunes RV Park in Marina, CA, and decided to take advantage of the Marina Dunes park just across the street before we headed out for the day. The wind was blowing hard (as usual!), while we walked in the sand, on the beach. I like this photo of a couple on the beach, dwarfed by the incoming waves, who were determined to spend their day lounging at the beach, despite the conditions. As Birdie and I wander around, bundled up in our long johns and coats, trying to stay warm, we are continually amazed at all the people in t-shirts and shorts (though some are definitely shivering). I figure, if I stayed here long enough, maybe I would get acclimated to the humidity and it would seem like summer to me, too! But not so far.

We drove down to Garrapata Beach, and lucked out again, as the sun was shining. It was incredibly beautiful. There was a line of clouds not far away that kept threatening to turn our beautiful day cool and foggy, but it stayed away while we were there. We walked far enough on one of the trails to be surprised by a waterfall that I didn't know was there. Birdie loved all the different kinds of flowers as I thought she would.

We spent some time on Asilomar Beach. I had intended to do some tidepooling there, and there were some tidepools, but they had no creatures in them. I don't know whether I picked the wrong spot, or the wrong time of day (at least I knew enough to go at low tide), or the wrong time of year, or what. We ended up just sitting on the beach, in the sun, in the white sand, watching the surf, enjoying the warmth and beauty of the day.

Once again we went to Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner. Birdie chose a restaurant with a great view of the beautiful harbor, and we watched the sea lions and otters swimming in the harbor while we ate.

100626 Monterey Bay Aquarium, 17-Mile Drive, & Fisherman's Wharf

Birdie had never seen the Monterey Bay Aquarium before, and it was one of my favorite things from my last trip to California ten years ago, in 2000. We spent several hours there. The jellyfish exhibit was just as incredible as I remember it from last time, and is still one of my favorite things there. So are the sea anemones.
And the exhibit of water birds. They have two new exhibits that I especially liked - Hot Pink Flamingos and Seahorses. I liked both of them, especially the brilliantly-colored roseate spoonbills [see flamingo peeking at us in photo] and the sea dragons. I could have watched the otters all day long, they are so adorable, just like big swimming puppies. This is definitely a world-class aquarium. Birdie loved it all, as I thought she would.

We did the famous 17-Mile Drive that includes the also-famous Lone Cypress [photo below].







Lastly, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner. We found the four-star restaurant I ate at last time I was here, and the food was delicious. We enjoyed watching (and listening to!) the sea lions nearby.

100625 Portola Redwoods State Park

Jun 25, 2010 - I picked up my friend Birdie at the end of her conference, up in the Santa Cruz mountains. She got a ride to the road from someone at the retreat, so I didn't have to drive down their steep, primitive driveway again. (Whew!) We stopped at a vista point, where the whole of the Santa Clara Valley was spread out before us, and we could clearly see San Jose and the southern end of San Francisco bay. Impressive. Then we drove a short distance to the Portola Redwoods State Park. We hiked a trail to Tiptoe Falls, which was surprisingly strenuous, with climbs to the top of the cliff, then back down into the valley again. I think rangers need to be held to some kind of "truth-in-telling" policy that would require them to accurately describe trails before they send unsuspecting hikers out on them! But the walk was worth it. The beautiful redwoods are incredibly tall (some at 300 feet), and there isn't anything quite like a redwood forest. You just can't get any perspective from my little pictures, but I try. There was one memorable meadow where the sun illuminated chest-high horsetail, and we saw exquisite lavender and purple foxgloves as tall as I was. The falls itself wasn't much, but getting there was worth the hike.

100624 Garrapata Beach, Big Sur, & Point Lobos

Jun 24, 2010 - I drove back down the coast toward Big Sur, and I lucked out: the sun came out!! Yay!! Garrapata Beach was so beautiful – with lots of iceplant and other wildflowers – lots of colors. Gorgeous. The whole drive was really beautiful. The different blues of the ocean and the white spray of the waves remind me of Hawaii. There is a section where the iceplant is bright red, which is striking against the white sand dunes.
Then I stopped at Point Lobos. Although I had heard that you can watch the sea otters here, the cliff is too high up, and the water too far down below, to see the sea creatures very well. But I enjoyed my walk through the forest to get to the point (Spanish moss on trees, for example), and the point itself was beautiful. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.

In the evening I enjoyed watching a covey of California quail wandering through the campground.

100622 Madonna Inn, Pismo Beach, & Elfin Forest

Today I drove down to San Luis Obispo and visited the Madonna Inn. I would never had know this place was anything special, except I had seen it on the Travel Channel. The woman whose vision this was, fashioned this place as kind of a story book cottage, in pink and white and flowers - and decorated each of the 110 rooms in a different theme. You can stay in the Rose Room, or the Old-Fashioned Honeymoon room, or the California Poppy room, etc. Cute. There was pink and white everywhere. I ate lunch in the cafe and even the sugar on the table was pink!

After lunch I drove up the coast and spent a long time at a little coastal park in Pismo Beach. So beautiful. There were many squirrels there, but they are a kind of squirrel I'd never seen before, the California Ground Squirrel - with white shoulders.
Several cormorants had hatched chicks on an outcropping on the side of a cliff, and they had to keep them constantly close, as there weren't many inches for them on the slim ledge.
I saw some pretty little black water birds that I'd never seen before. They have a white area on their wings - found out later they were Pigeons Guillemot.
The Western gulls use the top of a big flat rock as a nursery and I saw a bunch of chicks there. I also saw two upsetting things there: a dead gull hanging from a cliff – looked like it had been thumb-tacked to the side of the cliff by the tip of its wing – and two adult gulls killing two baby chicks. I have no idea what happened to the dead gull, as there is no way that anyone could have gotten to where the gull was hanging. Watching the chicks get killed was the most upsetting. The chicks were trying to get away. The adults kept away any other adults who tried to come near. They kept at it till they killed them. Horrible to watch. But the beauty of the place – the gorgeous flowers and coastline – kept me there for hours.


After I got back to Morro Bay, I walked through the Elfin Forest there. I'd never heard of an elfin forest, so named because of the dwarf trees that grow on the sand dunes there. I got a good look at a male California quail, sitting on top of a bush, as fine as you please, then several more running on the boardwalk. Lovely quiet place. For those of us whose souls are recharged by nature, places like these are like breathing air. I thoroughly enjoyed my walk.

In the evening I followed the local custom and drove over to the Rock – where the sun was shining! – and watched some surfers, a wedding photography session, a couple otters playing in the bay, lots of gulls, and pelicans dancing in the air.

I've seen several photography sessions, of several different kinds, on the seashore while I've been here. Taking pictures on the coastline seems to be a favorite thing to do.

Several times in the past few years I've seen various birds in different places doing a kind of choreographed "dance" in the air. It's amazing to watch. They seem to be flying in unison, twirling, circling, just for the sheer fun of it. This time it was pelicans, and I was mesmerized. Again.

100623 Montana de Oro & Big Sur

Jun 23, 2010 - I spent some time in beautiful Montana de Oro ("gold mountain") State Park today, which was the highlight of my visit to Morro Bay. (Unfortunately my time there was all spent under clouds.) I stopped at the beautiful Spooners Cove Beach, drove through the eucalyptus grove, watched some gulls bathing enthusiastically in a stream, saw the sandspit that goes out to Morro Rock, and hiked the Bluff Trail. Wonderful trail! Loved it. Part of the two-mile trail took me down to the beach, but most of it was close to the edge of the bluff so you could see the ocean below. The wildflowers on the bluff were impressive, but especially the gold ones were thick and beautiful. Birds I saw today for the first time: black phoebes arguing, California towhee, and a mountain bluebird juvenile. I also saw a California Quail with a bunch of chicks, but they scattered too quickly for me to get a picture.
Then I headed up Hwy 1 toward Monterey and stopped and saw a colony of elephant seals. Interesting! Mostly they were just clumped together, sleeping. Well, kind of sleeping. They were pretty restless sleepers, most of them. Heard some vocalizing – a very deep and throbbing sound. Watched one male chase a female into another male’s territory. She'd look back over her shoulder every few feet, to check and see how close he was to her. You could almost see the relief on her face when she got into the other male's territory, and could relax. The whole thing was very comical. I enjoyed watching them. I don't think I've ever seen elephant seals before.

Finally, I took Hwy 1 up through the Big Sur area, to get back to Monterey. This is one of America's most incredible drives, with the road running right along the coastline, between the high cliffs and the ocean, and sometimes up on the cliffs. It was getting dark as I got to Carmel; I want to go back and do the last part of the drive again in the daytime.

Spending time along the coastline, I've gotten to watch the interplay between the line of clouds/fog and the coastline. Often the line is very distinct. Often I can see that further inland the sun is shining, as well as further out to sea the sun is shining [photo below], while we sit shrouded in clouds.