A quiet weekend

I thought this weekend would be quiet and stay at home.  Not so much.  

Saturday morning was an almost legal off-leash walk with 15-20 dogs and their people on the American River in East Sacramento.  I didn't get any pictures.  I figured I needed both hands to keep Meg and Thomas in line.  I met some really cool people and Thomas finally found some dogs that would chase him.  I was happy to have some pooped pups.  

Saturday evening - I met some more of my neighbors in the campground.  Brit woman and NC boy met in Hawaii and moved to Sacramento.  They are living in a truck camper!  I am in awe - they have been living in about 30 square feet for the last year.

Sunday morning - I REALLY intended to sleep in, but the dogs decided that we needed to be up at 6am.  Sooooo...  I decided to drive the Pacific Coast Highway.  Loaded up the dogs and headed through San Francisco (yikes!) to Pacifica, then down the coast to Santa Cruz.  The views were spectacular, but few pictures.  Self preservation instincts demanded that I keep eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.  

The dogs didn't read the sign that says "stay away - the cliffs are unstable"

We did find a deserted beach and the dogs got in a little off-leash time

Monterey Day 2

Whale watching!  Day 1 was really windy and our whale watching excursion was pushed to Day 2.      We arrived at Fishermans Wharf early enough to snap some pics of an Otter mom and baby  

After boarding the ship,  we headed out to find some whales.  An hour of rolling through 8 foot seas resulting in a lot of heaving, but those of us that were left standing saw a pod of approximately 5 whales.  It was really hard to take pictures as the ship was pitching and rolling. The camera had trouble focusing and motion sickness hit every time that I looked through the view finder!  I did manage to get one decent picture

The trip was fun, but most of the folks were REALLY happy to get off the boat.  

Trish and I headed out to the Lighthouse and saw deer on a golf course

After that, we headed back to town for yet a great meal at an authentic Oaxacan restaurant.  Two white chicks were definitely in the minority at this restaurant. 

All in all, it was a great weekend.

Monterey Day 1.5

For you golfers out there.... I have driven past Pebble Beach.  I don't golf, so... not so impressed.  I was impressed by Seal Rock

and the coastline

some sort of vegetation

and a "shipwreck" which used to be an arcade

day 2 pics follow

Monterey Day 1

Trish and I headed down to Monterey for a weekend of sightseeing.  Getting there was a challenge.  I felt like there was a target pasted on the truck or trailer.  At one point,  another truck and trailer changed lanes in front of us.  I had to lock up the brakes.  By some miracle, the trailer didn't jack knife.

We got into Monterey and found the campsite at the Fairgrounds.  This definitely isn't a destination-type RV Park, but it was a fabulous staging area as it's less than 2 miles from Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf.

First on the list was a visit to Cannery Row - very touristy.  Then we headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which had some very cool exhibits.  After buzzing through the Aquarium, we headed out to the observation deck and saw Sea Otters in the wild!  

After that we headed up the coast to Point Pinos:

There is a rock buried beneath the surf:

A tidepool:

Starfish:

More pics follow....

Toys

After work, I take the dogs to the dog park in my campground.  Thomas has discovered the joy of discs.  I've discovered the joy of a remote control for my camera.  

This face makes me giggle

Thomas manages to catch disc even though Meg tries to herd him. 

 Sam is the princess and all play is beneath her

Thomas just wants to fly while balancing a disc on his nose

Point Reyes National Seashore

This is another lovely place that should be on your must-do or have-done list.  Trish, John and Bruce met me at Olema Ranch for a weekend on the seashore.  We packed 3 adults and 3.5 dogs into the trailer - yes, we spent a LOT of time outdoors!  


Trish, the Aussies and I stopped at North Beach and saw ENORMOUS waves.  No surfers due to hazardous currents...

After a little bit of confusion, we met up with John and Bruce, the Frenchie, at Kehoe Beach.  
Technically, dogs are supposed to be on-leash, but the beach was nearly deserted so we headed to the far end and unleashed the hounds.  (Rules are only obeyed when somebody's watching, right?)  Wee Bruce did an awesome job of keeping up with Thomas.  

From there, we headed out to Point Reyes in hopes of seeing a grey whale. 

 After walking 309 steps and 3 inclines down to the light house then back up to the shuttle stop

we saw a whale!  It was too cool.  He's kinda hard to see in this picture, but I promise he's there.

The three Amigos

We also saw tons of elephant seals, vultures, black tail deer, Tule Elk.  


Trish and John introduced me to the best hamburger that I've ever slapped lips around.  And it was a good thing that the burgers filled us up.  The Evil One (Sam) reverted to her thieving ways and liberated 3 ribeyes from a zipped cooler without leaving a single tooth mark on the cooler.  I guess it was some sort of payback for leaving her in the trailer while everybody else went to the beach.


I got tons of good pictures that are posted over at: https://picasaweb.google.com/waterlover63/PointReyes

Next trip:  Carmel and Monterey.  


In the meantime,  I found a herding and agility training facility.   Thomas is actually learning to trust humans.  I'm hoping for a new and improved Thomas.  Meg was simply overjoyed to work sheep again.  Sam is content to be The Evil One