So here we go… starting with yesterday… when I arrived back home… after a very long ten-hour drive… even though I started off closer to home than I was when I was still at my mom’s house… see how much less confusing this is?
Uh… anyway… yesterday morning, I woke up… at 5 in the morning… just so I could do something absolutely crazy just to share some interesting stories and pictures with all of you. Because I took the slow way home.
I guess it would be easier if I went back to the day before the last day of my trip, just to let you know how I ended up spending the night in Santa Cruz, California. I was going to drive home through the Central Valley… like we almost always do… on Monday morning. But then I remembered that my cousin, Mallorie and her husband and their new baby… you might remember little Clark from the Christmas pictures, and oh, he is walking now, by the way… live in Santa Cruz.
I love Santa Cruz. I have a history with it, but not the kind of history I share on this blog. HA!. It is a delightful little town right on the coast, and I will tell you about it… when we get back to the second-to-the-last-day-of the trip… but right now I am just touching on that day, to tell you how I decided to call them and see if I could stop by and play with the baby on the way home… and see them too… and they said yes, and that I could stay the night.
So that is how I woke up in Santa Cruz after setting my alarm for such an early hour… so that I could drive the scenic Highway 1 and take some pictures of it.
One hour after I left their house, I arrived in Monterey just in time to catch the sunrise…
Actually, I got to watch a few sunrises because of the clouds and fog and mountains… but we will get to that… I drove out onto the wharf to get these pictures…
And I could hear some large sea mammals barking underneath the pier… and this is the first time I risked my life for you… to climb way out onto the wooden bumpers on the side of the wharf and hang over the cold water to get these pictures of sleeping seals…
They crawl up onto the cement support beams to sleep.
There, I risked life and limb to entertain you… and would continue to do so throughout the day… because Highway 1 is sort of scary… especially in thick fog… which I saw a lot of…
But despite that… and the fact that I routinely hung precariously over the edges of steep cliffs that tower thousands of feet into the sky, buffeted by cold winds between driving on insanely twisting roads that are also hanging on the sides of these selfsame cliffs and often crumble into the sea, or are only one lane wide where they are repairing a part that fell off… and there are huge rocks slides even when there isn’t an earthquake…
It was all worth it to share these pictures with you…
And this is why the drive took me ten hours… even though I was closer to home when I started out… when the drive to my mom’s house at the start of the trip took me only 7 and a half hours…
Because I was determined to stop at every single turnout and view spot to take a picture for you…
Did I mention that this is going to take a while?
Pouring My Art Out 
Love these photos!
YAY!
This is so much fun to see! Brings back good memories!
I am glad
I loved the sleeping sea lions, those guys are my favorite part of the coast. And the harbor at night, beautiful photos.
There will be more large sea mammals soon.
Beautiful, Art!
thanks
I can’t believe you would do this for us! You are da bom! My mom lives in Monterey for half of the year and I love visiting her! Those barking mammals are so loud! Good thing you were there close to evening. 🙂
there will be more mammals… oh yeah
Wonderful shots, thanks for sharing them with us
Well, this is my whole life, this here blog, so…
Your nose feeling a bit long there?
no
You know, you have seals right there in La Jolla, and you don’t even have to risk your life to see them. Unless you consider tourists a risk to lifen
There is also a beach with elephant seals somewhere off Hwy 1 between Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo, I think.
just wait… I have pictures of that… and these were just exciting because I saw seals, sea lions and elephant seals all within 24 hours… and often from very close up… and while I was on an adventure. Those shots were just tricky to get.
Very confusing post but great shots!
I like confusing people
I know
ha
Beautiful pictures, Art. I’ve been to that pier in Santa Cruz. I remember dozens of sea lions and seals lounging beneath it. I don’t think you’d want to get close to those sea lions.
Would love to hear those stories of Santa Cruz back in the day. They couldn’t be that bad. After all, the cops did allow you to return.
well…
Keep the pictures coming – was there a couple of years ago and drove on Highway 1. Can’t get enough of it – I think I took a picture every 5 minutes or so. On my twitter page there’s a photo of me and my daughter having lunch at a café and art gallery in Big Sur – I’ll bet you’ve been there. One of my most favorite places in the world.
All of the coast of California should be seen by everyone at least once…
I agree!
you might as well.
Ha – yes I wouldn’t want to disagree with you
well, maybe now and then, to keep me on my toes.