Sunday, May 14, 2017

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - MONDAY, APRIL 25TH, 2017 - PART 2

MONDAY, APRIL 25TH, 2017 - PART 2


We stopped at a very nice restaurant for lunch a little after 2.00 p.m.   For some reason the name escapes me but it was on the way to the Elephant Rookery my sister-in-law had told us about.


Once again we enjoyed our meal.  Gregg had a sandwich with French Fries...


and I had a Grilled Chicken Salad.


When Gregg asked for directions, as we wanted to drive along Big Sur, the lady said with a frown, "Oh no, I'm sorry, you can't go down there, the bridge is washed out."  Gregg said he felt like he was in an episode of 'Murder She Wrote', and of course I chuckled.  Should we start looking suspiciously at our fellow customers?  No, not really but we had a smile.  The road was closed because of the bridge and landslides.  After a long drought, they have had months of rain here in California.  On the positive side the rain has also brought the superbloom of wild flowers you can actually see from space.  This comes along once every 100 hundred years.  I have shared this photo before but I think it deserves a repeat.


We are on our way to see the elephant seal rookery.  Fortunately the way there is unobstructed.  Go further down the road and there is a police car blocking the road, turning everyone around.


3.03 p.m. and we are heading back to the highway. We ended up seeing dozens of elephant seals. Amazing to see them.  At first we parked our car in the parking lot, and when we looked over the railing, we saw one solitary seal.  We thought this was it.  Then a little further to our right, we saw a few more.


We thought this was it.  We saw a flipper move.  They must have spent a long time out at sea.  I loved seeing them, but from what I had heard I was expecting to see more.  


Further along.


We started reading the information signs as we were making our way to the left of the parking lot. 










I cropped the information for an easier read.




Another closer view of information.


As we walked we saw the path leading to another beach.  There were people leaning over the fence and pointing further down at another part of the beach, and then we saw this!


A volunteer was saying that the larger male elephant seals were out at sea.  She also said the seals were molting.  




There were two young male elephant seals play-fighting in a few inches of water.





It was VERY WINDY!!!


I couldn't make my mind up on any of the videos, so  I am sharing four.








 

It was hard to tear myself away.  If it had not been so windy and so cold, we could have stayed there for another hour but we were both feeling the effects of the weather, and it was time to leave these beauties and move on.

4.30 pm. We have been driving by vineyards for miles and miles. 



We have also been passing interesting shaped trucks and we think they are full of produce from the fields we have passed. 



There are many people working hard in those fields. 



4.54 p.m. miles and miles of fields with healthy looking 'still-don't-know-what-they-are' and then.....


A bit of a blurry pic but I could read their names and what they had planted. Thank you Allen and Pat!

6.00 a.m. in our hotel for the night, in Marina, California.   We thought we were in for the night but we wanted a bite to eat.


The desk clerk recommended three good restaurants. We chose an Italian Seafood place, and it was very pleasant.


Gregg ordered a blackened snapper and I ordered a seafood dish with scallops, crab and shrimp in a lobster cream sauce, with rice.  




They gave us slices of bread beforehand with a dipping sauce of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It was all very good.


At 8.22 p.m. we are back in our room, and ready for another early night.



43 comments:

  1. You could show the wildflower bloom again and again and I would marvel.
    Loved the elephant seals too. And can vouch for how fast they can move.
    I suspect I would have fallen into a coma rather than slept after your very busy days.

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    1. Thanks LC, we are catching up on our sleep :)

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  2. Oh my gosh they all look DEAD! That is crazy. I had to check to see where Big Sur Calif. was in comparison of San Diego Calif. I would love to see something like this when I go to see my son but Big Sur is 7 hours away from where he lives. I assume this takes place at the same spot every yr. Totally AMAZING and thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you Pam. They did looked relaxed to the max, lol. I hope you will see some seals in San Diego. We would have gone there but our traveling took us elsewhere this time. I think the rookery is a permanent location and is well known in the area.

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  3. You always ended up eating in the best restaurants!! Yes, the picture with the hills yellow with blooms deserved posted a hundred times! It is so stunning, I am glad to see it again. Amazing that there are so many Elephant Seals!! and I learned a lot about them! For one thing, I had no idea that they migrate so very far. I would never have guessed.

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    1. Thank you Ginny, I am so happy you enjoyed my post. This was a learning experience for me too. Eating out was great but we sure were glad to get home and go grocery shopping. Cooking at home was part of the joy of being back :)

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  4. I love the seals, you really found the mother lode of them. It is amazing to me that California for all its glamor and glitz is still a huge agricultural state.

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    1. Me too and we certainly did. It was amazing to me to see how many miles and miles of agricultural land there is in California, it is a very eye-opening experience.

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  5. Oh My God, i thought at first that the seals are dead, hahaha! That's a lot. I guess they are weak when molting. What a wonderful trip that is, and the food yummy too.

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    1. Thank you Kalantikan, they do look a bit don't they :) They spend a lot of time hunting fish also.

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  6. I'm loving all the photos of your delicious meals along the way. Aren't all those seals amazing. If only they did not smell quite so pungent. Or perhaps you were lucky and were upwind of the seals rather than downwind! ;-)

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    1. So glad you are enjoying them. I remember the smell of multiple seals from years past. Fortunately that high wind we were experiencing must have been blowing in the other direction. They smelled like roses, well not really but they weren't bad :)

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  7. Fabulous photos of the seals and an interesting write-up. What a sight it must have been. I have seen seals but never an elephant seal. Magnificent creature.

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    1. Thank you Valerie, they are truly magnificent.

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  8. wow and wow again on all those seals in one spot. your trip was a success just from this set of photos. the view of the pacific is just stunning

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    1. That's what I said, "Wow!" :) and I agree with the rest of your comment also. Thanks Sandra :)

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  9. No wonder you couldn't remember the name of that restaurant. You must have eaten in a 'zillion' restaurants!!!!!

    Ohhh I'd not want to disregard those warnings, around those big seals! :-) But I suppose, they have to post them, 'cause some people, would... want to get near them.

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    1. I love wildlife but the first part of the word 'wild' does not escape me :) I prefer to view at a safe distance. Yep, if I don't write things down I forget but I like to give credit where credit is due. And we did eat in what seemed like a zillion restaurants on this trip. Thanks LC :)

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  10. How I wish I could watch the videos but once again our pathetic connection will not allow me to. Love all the photos though and great to see so many on the beach. Thanks once again for sharing with us. Take care Diane

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    1. So sorry Diane. I wish I could wave a magic wand :) You take good care also :)

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  11. Well, this took me back a few years. This is exactly what happened to us when we were in that area. The seals were a big surprise. We made it to the south of Big Sur and had lunch there but the road was closed for the same reasons. I will have to look at see what year that was but I think it may have been 2010 or 2011. Thanks for this trip down memory lane! Jackie

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    1. Deja Vu :) We were in other locations up north and saw another road closed due to a landslide.

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  12. How exciting to see them, and what a full day of good things! Thanks

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  13. It's interesting to watch those seals, particularly with the flipping of sand that they're doing.

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    1. The sand flipping was very interesting to watch. I had never seen this behaviour before, but then I had never seen this numher of seals before either.

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  14. Those seals ... Wow, just wonderful.
    What a trip you've experienced.

    All the best Jan

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  15. After a day with so many diverse experiences anyone would be ready for an early night, I think. Thank you so much for the videos. I particularly enjoyed the one where I could hear the seals Vocalizing. (I don't know what the proper name for their sound is!) And the sand flipping that William mentioned was fascinating, too. Clever creatures, they knew about sunscreen long before we did, huh? I feel like I've had a good day out. Thank you.

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  16. i about wet my pants if i see one seal, i can't imagine seeing all of these. both meals look very yummy!!!

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    1. I couldn't believe how many there were when I first saw them all.

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  17. The sight of all those seals on the sand was truly amazing, Denise, and I also would have remained quite awhile just watching and taking photos.

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  18. Wow - exciting to see the elephant seals! Delicious food, too! Looks like you are having a great time! - Karen

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    1. Thank you Karen. We are home now but had a great time.

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  19. Hi Denise! Your road trip posts are wonderful.Very special to see the Elephant seals - and I like how you include food along the way...
    Thank you for sharing.
    Happy Tuesday!
    Ruby

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    1. Thank you so much Ruby :) So happy you enjoyed them. Happy Tuesday to you too.

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  20. Felicia, I owe you an apology. I accidentally deleted your comment but my answer would have been that I was very surprised to see so many seals.

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