Uff da

Lets roll. After an hour wait to even get to the checkpoint, I'm already over this travel day. Felt bad for all the TSA workers, had to be a rough morning for them.

On to Dallas!

Last Night

Tucked into bed in a beautiful home, in a beautiful neighborhood, after wonderful conversation with wonderful people. Usually at the end of vacations I have inevitable feelings of sadness, but tonight, on the eve of my departure back to reality, I am filled only with overwhelming gratitude.

Banana Slug!!

At Forest of Nisene Marks again! In love with this place. Have used up daily quota of "Unbelievable" and it's not even 10.

Last Night on the Beach

Tomorrow: San Jose.

Din Din

At Ambrosia India Bistro....yummmmmmmmm

Ano Nuevo

Maybe it's because it's a perfect, cloudless, sunny day. Maybe because in the middle of the hike you can take your shoes off to go over a sand dune. Maybe because the air smells like something so fresh and pure that no laundry detergent will ever satisfy me again. Maybe because around ever corner is a view of the ocean that makes it impossible to do anything but stand, dumbfounded. Maybe because those are freaking elephant seals. But this place stole my heart.

Good morning from the beach-side coffee shop!

Huh.

Elkhorn Slough

Sorry, pics of trying to maneuver around a pack of hundred-pound harbor seals while wind-whipped waves fought against my kayak on open water do not exist.

A raw day on the water+feet away from sea otters and baby seals = feeling alive.

After kayaking through a bit of the slough, we hiked a few miles. Just to balance things out.

The Song

Watch "Bootstraps - OH CA" on YouTube

This song plays in my head a lot out here, minus the slightly depressing overtones. Oh California.

A foggy and cool morning.  We have a skunk. 

Putterings until we head out for Elkhorn Slough.

Redwood Crown

Hiked off the shrimp fajitas from Rio del Mar Mexican Cuisine here in Aptos.

The end of the pavement, and all sense of civilization drops away. The Forest of Nisene Marks.

You guys, the ocean is really cold

Post freezing oceanic frolic...which included some unexpected body surfing.

At Natural Bridges State Beach near Santa Cruz.

Time for tide pools

After Monterey Aquarium...

and after the Pacific Grove Farmer's Market...the fog rolls in.

Carmel

The day started off as usual, breakfast and coffee on the patio, though this morning a scrub jay joined us. Uncle fed it, hope to see it again :)

We then headed down the coast to Carmel to tour the old Spanish mission, San Carlos. Th pic is of one of the bells, named Ave Maria. In other news, bells are named. Its the simple things that bring joy.  We ate lunch at the amazing and delicious Dametra's Cafe, and stuffed ourselves with lamb, beef, chicken, Greek salad, hummus, pizza, and baklava.  Everything tasted like happiness!

With our souls and stomachs restored, on we go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The rest of the day.

After returning from Henry Cowell and my overuse of the words "Geeez!" and "Holy crap!" every ten feet, I went on a long walk around town.  Surprisingly, my stroll actually had a goal: find my way back to the Safeway because I had forgotten to pick up olive oil earlier (a requirement for the dinner I was planning on making).

Here's a tip: when in doubt, follow someone who looks like they know where they're headed. So to the pissed off middle school kid on a bike who was obviously  running an errand, thanks for turning right.

With my mission a success, and a bottle of extra virgin rolling around in my purse, I was all kinds of confident in my navigational and stalking skills. I decided to find my way down the beach. I trotted off in the general direction and sure enough I spotted a guy with a free and easy gait ahead. Gotta be headed to the ocean, too.

Then I realized he was on drugs. After proving he still had his balance, as shown below, he preceded to spin around in circles, then do some kind of electric slide shuffle down the sidewalk. In essence, he was having the TIME of his LIFE walking down to the beach, though at one point he just started jogging. After that, I lost sight of the dancin' fool, too bad.

But then I was on the beach and time stopped for awhile.  As I reached into my purse for some chapstick, I felt the giant bottle of olive oil and remembered I had somewhere to be and something to do.

So then I followed a family up what had to be the 'Secret Garden' of stairs leading back up to the world from the magic of the ocean.  Mostly hidden by trees and tree roots, then walls of flowering vegetation, I thought I had ended up in someone's backyard. Mild panic, but got my bearings back quickly. Made it back just in time to chop things and cook it. Oven baked fajitas, grape tomatoes, and avocado.

Other excitements can be summed up in short bursts of joy: Stellar's Jay! California bay laurel is the best smell in the universe! California poppies! A sand dollar! A harbor seal! Raccoons eating dirt? True story.

Tomorrow: Headin' down the coast.

No seriously.

I keep tripping because I'm looking up all the time. Like this is ridiculous, you guys. RIDICULOUS.

THIS PIC IS OF THE SMALL ONES.

The Big Trees

Man jogging past just told us "The big ones are further down the trail."

At Henry Cowell State Park.

Yup.

After a long day of travel, we have arrived. Sushi and a long, barefoot, stroll on the beach. I think I'm going to like it here.

Hurry up and wait.

Arrived three hours early, because why not?

Mornings.

Just a test post. I ignored technology for too long and now have no idea what I'm doing...just hittin' buttons.