Monterey, Point Lobos, Big Sur

Earlier in the year, I mentioned to Mark that I would like to go down to Big Sur.  I couldn't remember if I'd ever been as a child and I knew we hadn't gone as a family.  My friend had told me that while riding her bike along the coast in January and February, she had seen some whales during their migration south.  She had even seen one breach.  I was not interested in us riding our bikes on Highway 1, but I did want to go down and try to photograph some whales.

At the end of my Denver trip, Mark called me and asked how I would feel about us going down to Monterey the day after my return.  The weather was going to be clear and sunny, so after flying home on Tuesday evening, I packed again and we left Wednesday afternoon to spend two nights in Monterey.  Mark suggested that we try a whale watching expedition instead of just trying our luck at seeing a whale from the road.  Mark always has such good ideas!  Thursday morning, he called a whale watching company to see if they had room for us.  They did.  Mark said to the man on the phone, "I know you can't guarantee anything, but what are our chances of seeing a whale?"  The reply: "I haven't missed seeing one in a year and a half!"

Our boat was fairly small, with a capacity of 45 people, but only 30 on board for our trip.  We saw a much larger, two decker boat (I'm sure that is the technical term!) leaving about the same time and I wondered if we should have done more research as to size of boat.  Would the smaller boat make me feel sea-sick?  As it turned out, we were glad to have the smaller, more nimble boat.  Our captain could turn easily and follow a pod of dolphins and when someone spotted a spout from a whale, he'd turn the boat in that direction and go after the it.  It was such an amazing outing!  The whole time we'd just look at each other and say, "This is so COOL!"  I did feel sorry for one woman who was violently sea-sick.  The ocean wasn't really that choppy, just a bit rolling, but for her it was miserable.

I was using my new Nikon D750 and my Nikon 70-200 mm lens and they performed like champs.  I set my shutter speed at 1250 and fired away.  The boat was rolling and at times I was very unsteady, but I was pleased with what I was able to get.

 Sailboats in their berths at the harbor

 Fisherman's Wharf as we leave the harbor

 Sea lions or seals (?) chilling under the pier

 Pod of 50+ dolphins

 Dorsal fin of an Orca

 Three Orcas

We were quite far away when this Orca breached and I've cropped this photo as much as I could.  Probably too much.

This is a Humpback whale.  They have more of a ridged back.  We did not see a Humpback breach, but we did learn that after they spout, the come up for air three times.  We became familiar with the pattern:  spout, get air, and on the third time we would see the tail flip out of the water.  Then they'd go deep.  They can hold their breath for five minutes.  You can see the scratches on this whale.

 These next three photos are a series of one whale pulling its tail out of the water, and diving back down:

The photo below is NOT cropped!  A whale swam under our boat and came up right next to us!  We were so startled and I hurried and pulled my camera up and began shooting.  It was so rocky from his surfacing, I wasn't sure if I'd get anything decent.  Mark was trying to hold me steady!

I thought this photo was interesting.... you can see barnacles on this guy's tail!

Later in the afternoon, we drove to Point Lobos and walked around on some trails.  It is such a beautiful area.

Mark's parents loved to bring the kids (and later the grandkids) to Point Lobos for a picnic.  As a youngster, Mark couldn't see why they couldn't just go to a beach instead.  It's funny how your view of beauty changes as you get older.

The trail to this beach was closed because of all the seals down on the beach.  If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see the seals better.

This bird seemed to be posing for me, showing me first one side of him and then the other.  Suddenly, he must have decided I was getting too close and took off.

The next morning, we drove down Highway 1 to Big Sur.  It was another beautiful day and we had to keep reminding ourselves that it is not always this clear!

We parked at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (within Big Sur) and took a short (1/2 mile round trip) walk down to an overlook of this beach and McWay Falls.

Then we headed out on the Ewoldsen Trail, which was a 4.5 mile loop.  We went up to a lookout area that probably added about another 1/2  mile.  It felt like we just keep going up and up, but when it was time to come down, I decided that hiking down was much harder on my knees!

Mark was always ahead of me with his long stride.  I think he is better conditioned for hiking because of his running.  My cycling muscles didn't help much and I was super sore a few days later!

We saw beautiful ferns, lupin, poppies, and other wildflowers, including many irises.  At least that is what I thought they looked like.

We reached the lookout point, and although we didn't start at sea level, we weren't all that far up to begin with.

This was such a fun outing and something we did on the spur of the moment.  We decided that there are several areas in California we'd like to explore more that aren't too far from home.

A trip to squeeze grandchildren

It's always fun to make a trip to see the grandkids.  In January, we flew to North Carolina and saw the grandchildren there.  Last week I traveled to Denver to see the rest of my grandchildren.  It is always fun to be made a fuss over, and this trip was no different.

I was able to attend a patriotic program that Gemma's first grade class (and all the first grade classes) participated in.  They sang songs and did choral recitations about the different buildings and monuments in Washington, DC.  The girls wore Statue of Liberty crowns and the boys wore Abraham Lincoln hats and beards made out of construction paper.  The kids were adorable!

Gemma is the redhead in the middle with long hair

Saturday was an opportunity to watch Gemma's and Donovan's soccer games.  Gemma, according to Sarah, is in satellite mode.  She runs circles around the girls who are actually kicking the ball.  But this day she had a few good chances to connect her foot with the ball.  And she did!

She even saved a score by kicking the ball away from the goal.  These two photos kind of show the progression of the play:

Donovan is playing in a more competitive league this year and it is fun to see how much more aggressive and play-conscious his team is now.  His team won with a score of something like 15-0.  Donovan scored on a cross that curved and went into the goal, surprising everyone.

On Sunday, we took some family photos.

 Gemma with Albus

 Sarah

 Donovan

 Ainsleigh

 The Hill family

Me with my Denver grandchildren

In the afternoon, we drove to Colorado Springs to visit and photograph The Garden of the Gods.

 Kissing Camels (above and below)

 This rock looked like an old man.

 We saw some rock climbers

 Balancing Rock

Twice during my stay, Sarah, Joel, and I went out for a bike ride, logging a total of 70+ miles of high altitude training.  All too soon, my time was up and I had to fly home!