watching grass grow

Saturday morning we woke at 5 am for the days adventure. The plan was to photograph the Guadalupe Dunes, one of our favorite places, it's only about an hour and a half north of us.

When we arrived we found fog. The dunes were hardly visible. So we ate the breakfast I prepared the night before (mini crustless quiches, banana bread and a thermos of chai, yum) and hoped it might clear.

It didn't. So, we decided on plan B.

Here is a sign for the Western Snowy Plover. They are protected here at the dunes by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

Plan B.
We'd visit the oceanside town of Shell Beach. Mostly we pass this charming little town traveling up and down the coast. Today we got a closer look.
For a very different view, you can rent a kayak and go for a paddle.


...look at the dramatic rock formations on the beach...
...there goes a group now...
...while my husband was waiting for the perfect shot from up above, I wandered around on the beach to see what I could see...

...limpets...

...tide pools disappearing...

...pieces of beach glass and shimmery shells and seaweed...

...now I'm back up top and looking down to my husband, who is still waiting for that shot. Sometimes it takes time. Most times it takes time. I wave to him, see you honey! he knows I'm going to do some more exploring...

...or daydreaming... (i like this photo, but it seemed kind of empty so I practiced some haiku on it, better? hmmm...)

...He got his photos, and we decided to drive on. Up the coast an hour further we made Montana de Oro State Park our next destination. This place is one of my favorites of California's Parks. It's so rugged and wild, and not the easiest to get to. There is so much to do here. There are trails all over the place, some are for hiking, some for mountain bikes, some for horses. All the trails are well marked. We thought we could be here for a week and never run out of things to do. There are a couple good places to camp so we looked around for the future.

Indian Paintbrush

We arrived around noon so had some time to spend before heading out on the trails for pictures. We went in the visitor centre...

Monkey flower

...I went exploring on this trail,while Chuck was at the truck. See it? Our truck? that tiny white dot? Hi honey! I'm on Rattlesnake Flats trail, don't worry about me!

...back at the truck, I teach Husband to play solitaire on my phone, and we wait...

...and wait...

...and wait. and even took a little nap in the warm truck, ah...bliss.

In case your wondering why my feet look huge, i grabbed Chuck's socks instead of mine. And then i got blisters on our hike. That'll teach me to pack in the dark... :)

As we headed out on the Bluff trail we passed people on their way back. Most of the time we were alone, just us and the birds, vultures, bunnys, lizards and butterflies. Oh and the wind.

...I don't know the temps but it was cold and windy, I was glad I'd brought my warmest jacket and hat...

...we walked along this trail for a couple of hours, stopping here and there to wonder at the spectacular views, take photos and talk about everything we'd seen...

...here is my lovely and talented husband standing next to the edge of a cliff, again, to get his photo... I've learned to be very patient

and look the other way...

Montana De Oro ~ Mountain of Gold

Bye for now.

We found a fantastic little Mexican food restaurant on the way home, so tiny and charming there were only 6 tables. After ordering 2 Negra Modelo beers, so perfect with the homemade tortilla chips and salsa, i checked my mail and messages. It was ok, Chuck was watching the surf movie on the pretty flat screen (which we don't have, and won't get any time soon!). And now it was the perfect ending to the day...all the kids were good, checked in and all, great. And then this: mail from Bali!

My son had made it, he was fine and already found surf, said it was beautiful and the people were all so nice.

He was happy.

So, you know of course, now, so am I.

Cheers!

xxx love, lori