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Back from Monterey (late afternoon Saturday). The drive on Friday, despite leaving early, was... long. Some of the length was due to avoiding the heavy traffic: we took the route over Hecker Pass for the first time. I did enjoy that drive, and found the western vistas after we crossed over the pass to be quite fine.
Watsonville was having their strawberry festival, and that introduced more traffic.
We stopped at Elkhorn Slough's Kirby Park, and I ambled down the trail (roughly 3000') and then walked back at a decent clip. That was a good walk: i am still in discomfort with my ankles, but can't stay still any longer. 144 photos: plants (including the poison oak), crabs (Pachygrapsus crassipes, known as the striped shore crab or lined shore crab), distant shore birds (the wider-angle lens will not do the sightings any favors), and two bunnies. I've already deleted 40+ photos: i kept trying to get a sequence of terns diving. Never quite succeeded, and all were too far away. (OK, now down to 20 photos left in lightroom. Even then, the photos aren’t that aesthetically pleasing.
Watsonville was having their strawberry festival, and that introduced more traffic.
We stopped at Elkhorn Slough's Kirby Park, and I ambled down the trail (roughly 3000') and then walked back at a decent clip. That was a good walk: i am still in discomfort with my ankles, but can't stay still any longer. 144 photos: plants (including the poison oak), crabs (Pachygrapsus crassipes, known as the striped shore crab or lined shore crab), distant shore birds (the wider-angle lens will not do the sightings any favors), and two bunnies. I've already deleted 40+ photos: i kept trying to get a sequence of terns diving. Never quite succeeded, and all were too far away. (OK, now down to 20 photos left in lightroom. Even then, the photos aren’t that aesthetically pleasing.
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Back from Monterey (late afternoon Saturday). The drive on Friday, despite leaving early, was... long. Some of the length was due to avoiding the heavy traffic: we took the route over <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecker_Pass">Hecker Pass</a> for the first time. I did enjoy that drive, and found the western vistas after we crossed over the pass to be quite fine.
Watsonville was having their strawberry festival, and that introduced more traffic.
We stopped at Elkhorn Slough's Kirby Park, and I ambled down the trail (roughly 3000') and then walked back at a decent clip. That was a good walk: i am still in discomfort with my ankles, but can't stay still any longer. 144 photos: plants (including the poison oak), crabs (Pachygrapsus crassipes, known as the striped shore crab or lined shore crab), distant shore birds (the wider-angle lens will not do the sightings any favors), and two bunnies. I've already deleted 40+ photos: i kept trying to get a sequence of terns diving. Never quite succeeded, and all were too far away. (OK, now down to 20 photos left in lightroom. Even then, the photos aren’t that aesthetically pleasing. <a href="http://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/judielaine/2014/8/1”>iNaturalist now has 33 observations.</a>)
The hotel room was quite adequate, except for the wifi. I had promised the wifi, and Christine had plans for using it, so that caused some distress. I washed my dress in the sink and found that the plug would not come unplugged: the lever to open & close the sink drain was disconnected. I pried it up with a corkscrew. The hotel breakfast did offer boiled eggs, so i could have a bit of protein in the morning. In the morning I ended up reading the catalog from the <a href="http://okeeffe.famsf.org/">recent Georgia O'Keeffe show about her Lake George works</a>. (Christine went as i couldn't get away.) I benefitted from no internet!
Monterey Bay Aquarium had too much in common with theme parks for me to really enjoy. What was i thinking, going to a major attraction in the summer? Oy, the lines. Also, the special shows tentacles and jellies were too produced for my taste. I remember visiting the Vancouver Aquarium years ago and their exhibits delighted me without the psychedelia (in the jellies exhibit) or the steampunk ( in the tentacles).
The kelp tank was what i remembered, though, and it was incredibly entrancing. I found tears in my eyes more than once as i watched the fish swim. Not enough to lead me to scuba diving, but... oh... the gliding of the fish, their silver flashes, the light at the top of the tank....
I've also fallen for pigeon guillemot. They are adorable birds, and the bright red interior of the black beaks is remarkable.
... time passed, i slept in on Sunday much longer than i expected.
Watsonville was having their strawberry festival, and that introduced more traffic.
We stopped at Elkhorn Slough's Kirby Park, and I ambled down the trail (roughly 3000') and then walked back at a decent clip. That was a good walk: i am still in discomfort with my ankles, but can't stay still any longer. 144 photos: plants (including the poison oak), crabs (Pachygrapsus crassipes, known as the striped shore crab or lined shore crab), distant shore birds (the wider-angle lens will not do the sightings any favors), and two bunnies. I've already deleted 40+ photos: i kept trying to get a sequence of terns diving. Never quite succeeded, and all were too far away. (OK, now down to 20 photos left in lightroom. Even then, the photos aren’t that aesthetically pleasing. <a href="http://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/judielaine/2014/8/1”>iNaturalist now has 33 observations.</a>)
The hotel room was quite adequate, except for the wifi. I had promised the wifi, and Christine had plans for using it, so that caused some distress. I washed my dress in the sink and found that the plug would not come unplugged: the lever to open & close the sink drain was disconnected. I pried it up with a corkscrew. The hotel breakfast did offer boiled eggs, so i could have a bit of protein in the morning. In the morning I ended up reading the catalog from the <a href="http://okeeffe.famsf.org/">recent Georgia O'Keeffe show about her Lake George works</a>. (Christine went as i couldn't get away.) I benefitted from no internet!
Monterey Bay Aquarium had too much in common with theme parks for me to really enjoy. What was i thinking, going to a major attraction in the summer? Oy, the lines. Also, the special shows tentacles and jellies were too produced for my taste. I remember visiting the Vancouver Aquarium years ago and their exhibits delighted me without the psychedelia (in the jellies exhibit) or the steampunk ( in the tentacles).
The kelp tank was what i remembered, though, and it was incredibly entrancing. I found tears in my eyes more than once as i watched the fish swim. Not enough to lead me to scuba diving, but... oh... the gliding of the fish, their silver flashes, the light at the top of the tank....
I've also fallen for pigeon guillemot. They are adorable birds, and the bright red interior of the black beaks is remarkable.
... time passed, i slept in on Sunday much longer than i expected.
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