Saturday- While I was writing the last blog entry, Missy
took Cassie for a walk on the beach.
She put on her rubber boots so she could walk in the water. After I finished the post, I leashed the
Budster and went to the beach to see if I could find them. But, they were nowhere to be seen. So we sat and watched the surfers and other
people for a bit. After 30 minutes or
so, Missy came back and said that the harbor was lovely right now. It was in the lee of the wind, so it was
just a gorgeous sunny spot. We decided
to bring the dogs home, have lunch, and then head back to the harbor.
Wow! What an idyllic
day! We put on our kayak shoes so we
could walk on the water’s edge all the way over to the rock. Then we just soaked it all in. Tons of ducks, a few playful otters, neat
diving pelicans. On the far side of
the rock there are some peregrine falcons nesting. There were several people set up with telescopes
for viewing, so we knew where to look.
You could hear their distinctive shrieks, and then suddenly there they
were! Those suckers fly like bullet
trains. One time I was lucky enough to
have the binocs trained on their nest, so I was able to follow one for almost a
minute as it was darting about, seemingly just enjoying the wind
currents. So neat.
Sunday- This was supposed to be our moving day. But…since CA is still in the throes of
unprecedented cold/windy weather…we decided to stay another couple of
days. After our usual morning beach
walk with the dogs, we headed out to do some shopping. As an aside…it sucks not having a dog who
likes to play fetch. I’ve been jealous
every day of people enjoying their dogs on the beach. These dogs are adorable…running and playing
and being silly.
Monday- Today’s windchill seemed especially cruel. It’s tough to have blue skies, full sun, and
sandy beaches and not be able to go outside without winter coats and hats. Brrrr.
After lunch, I went on a solo bike ride back to the
harbor. I bundled up, needing my face
mask and gloves to help with the cold from the wind. It was another stunning scenery day at the
harbor. I frickin forgot to bring the
binocs, so I could only imagine from afar how adorable a mother and baby otter
were being in the middle of the bay. I
got 10 feet from a HUGE great blue heron.
And I saw a snowy-white egret catch a fish right in front of me. We had some old bread, so I had a blast
feeding the seagulls. Missy won’t let
me feed them around her because she’s scared of a swarm of indiscriminate
pooping. She doesn’t know what she’s
missing.
After an hour or so of harbor watching, I got back on my
bike to see if I could get closer to the sea lions I could hear in the
distance. I rode over to the same spot
where Missy and I kayaked with the ones begging at the boat. There was no boat there this time, but there
were still a lot of hopeful sea lions milling about. I took my bike down to a dock on the water
level and just sat in the sparkling sun and enjoyed watching them. Every now and then, I’d get surprised by a
sea lion popping up right in front of me.
Since they can swim so far underwater, it’s hard to track their
movements. So it’s neato to be
delighted by a surprise pop-up. I’m
going to miss my harbor visits and all my harbor friends.
We leave tomorrow for Lompoc, 2 hours south. We’re headed to Jamala Beach, a county run
campground on the ocean. From what I
can tell, there will be no reception there.
We’ll have to drive 20 minutes inland to get reception. So, we’ll be out of touch for several days
at a time. I’m very excited about
this new spot. People do kayak surfing
here, so we’re probably going to give that a try. We’ve been watching some youtube videos on
how to catch a wave on the ocean, so I’m sure we’re going to be pros. J Actually, I’m not sure if the surf will be
high enough, but I think even just bobbing around in the waves will be fun. And finally there’s good weather coming
up! Yay! Should
be sunny and 70s!
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