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.