Pouring My Art Out

The adventure… part 15; Moro Bay and some otters… part 3…

Posted on July 6, 2021 by pouringmyartout

This is that video I promised you of that group of otters doing the synchronized cleaning routine after the synchronized napping part of the day.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, california, humor, Moro Bay, nature, otters, photography, travel, video | 2 Comments

The adventure… part 14; Moro Bay and some otters… part 2…

Posted on July 6, 2021 by pouringmyartout

This little otter is having lunch. I sort of fell in love with him… her…

He appears to be eating a scallop. Frankly, scallop, I don’t give a clam!

But what was really endearing about this otter…

Was the way that the gentle current was spinning him slowly around as he ate.

It was so cute.

Now, I know otters will put a flat rock on their tummies, and use it to crack open shellfish by banging them on the rock. What I didn’t know about otters is that they seem to be strangely synchronized. I saw this small raft of otters sleeping in the boat harbor. They were still there, sleeping, anchored by the seaweed, a few hours later after I had wandered around town taking more pictures.

Then, they woke up at the same time, and started cleaning. They started off scrubbing their faces.

Then they did their back feet.

Then they did their faces some more.

They have to keep that fur clean to insulate them from the cold water. They also did synchronized rolling around to get wet, before more cleaning. I think I have a video of that which I will share next.

Scrub-a-dub-dub.

Then they all went back to sleep.

Moro Bay is sort of magical. If you want to rent various types of boats and kayaks, they have you covered.

There is a lot of nature to see.

But in the morning, it was time to move along. Which we will do… right after I post that ottter video.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, california, digital photography, humor, Moro Bay, nature, otters, photography | 2 Comments

The adventure… part 13; Moro Bay and some otters… part 1…

Posted on July 6, 2021 by pouringmyartout

I love otters. My only regret is that this time I didn’t get to Moro Bay when all the pups were little. They sleep on their moms’ tummies, and when the waves gently rock them, it is the most adorable thing ever.

I used to think that they wrapped themselves in the kelp to keep warm. But I have a new theory, which I will share soon.

Moro Bay has this huge rock out on the end of a point. It looms over the whole area, and is covered with nesting sea birds of all types. For scale, you can see cars parked along the bottom front of the rock.

I mean that rock really looms.

Okay, my new idea is that the otters wrap themselves in the kelp to keep from drifting away from their friends while they sleep. It also probably hides them from sharks. Somebody should Google that.

Moro Bay is also where that crazy seagull kept swooping at my head, which is how I got three awesome pictures of it.

There are so many birds in Moro Bay that it has become a birding hotspot.

It is chock full of nature.

Let us pray!

I also took some of those flower pictures here.

Fancy lizard.

Boat dog.

But mostly, it is the otters.

Face washing time.

That guy is having a snack. More on that later. Oh, I also saw a cormorant bird dive down, and then come up beside an otter and peck it before darting away to dive again. Oh, nature.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, birds, california, digital photography, humor, nature, Northern California, otters, photography, travel | 2 Comments

The adventure… part 12; Breaking it down…

Posted on July 5, 2021 by pouringmyartout

For those of you unfamiliar with the coast of California, and because I am, as usual, not doing these specifically in chronological order, I will give a brief overview.

Day 1. Still in San Diego. Did that zoo experience and got to pet a zebra, feed flamingos, and feed a rhino…

Day 2. Spent all day near Los Angeles with my cousin and her husband and the three delightful little cousins. I ran out of pictures, so here is a random flower picture from the adventure…

Day 3. Up early, Met a miniature horse and had breakfast in the Danish town of Solvang, then on to Moro Bay, which is where all the otter photos were taken…

Day 4. Up early, traveling the coast going North. Stopped and got pictures of the elephant seals. I also pulled over at every scenic outlook and took photos, so this is where most of the wild cliff pictures are from. Had lunch in Big Sur in the redwoods. Reached Monterey…

Got up early, had some adventures, slipped on a slimly rock taking tidepool pictures and twisted both ankles and my right knee. Hey, nobody said adventurers were easy…

Moved on to the Bay Area, met some old friends, both expected and unexpected…

The rest. I spent a couple days in the Bay Area, and that covers the overview. Now we just need to finish up with all the photos and stories, but at least you will have an idea where it all took place.

Posted in My travels | Tagged america, animals, art, california, digital photography, nature, Northern California, photography, san diego, san francisco, san francisco bay area, travel | 8 Comments

The adventure… part 11; Miles and miles of crazy cool California coastline…

Posted on July 5, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Posted in My travels | Tagged art, beaches, california, coastline, digital photography, nature, Northern California, photography, travel | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 10; Miles and miles of fabulous flowers…

Posted on July 5, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Posted in flowers, My travels | Tagged art, california, digital photography, flowers, humor, nature, Northern California, photography, travel | 2 Comments

The adventure… part 10; Miles and miles of billions of birds…

Posted on July 4, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Man, there are a lot of birds on the California coast. Like that crazy seagull that was swooping at my face.

There are pelicans.

And cormorants.

And more pelicans.

And nesting gulls that aren’t trying to headbutt you.

And little black birds that, judging by their eyes, are related to flamingos.

Bird condos.

Moro Bay had pelicans, gulls and cormorants all mixed together, right near those otters.

It is something to see when they all go fishing.

There are turkey vultures.

Seriously, billions of gulls.

Cormorants are interesting birds. You should Google them.

There are chickens.

There are geese.

And, of course, ducks.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, birds, california, california coast, digital photography, humor, nature, Northern California, photography, travel | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 9; Miles and miles of me!!!

Posted on July 4, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Because the only thing better than a photo of a beautiful place is a photo of a beautiful place with me stuck in front of it!

To the person who invented selfies: I salute you!

HA!

No, there is no funny story behind any of these.

I was on an adventure, and I am self-absorbed.

And shameless.

And it’s my blog.

So… me!

Lots of me.

With, you know, stuff in the background, I suppose.

Wait… that isn’t me. I can see why I got confused, but, uh, sorry about that.

Much better. Maybe.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Pictures of me | Tagged america, art, california, digital photography, humor, me, Northern California, photography, selfies | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 8; Miles and miles of mammals…

Posted on July 4, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Oh yeah, we are going to see elephant seals.

And not just the fighting bulls, but females and pups too.

Coyotes on the Pebble Beach golf course. It pays to get up early.

I still have boatloads of pictures of rafts of otters.

And ground squirrels.

They are pretty cute.

And horses! Both regular size, like this one, and miniature, like the one I already showed you.

And dogs! I got to sleep with those two… no… not like that, you freek! I will tell that story later.

Baby deer!

And regular seals.

And let’s not forget this guy, that I got to feed. I touched a rhino, and I liked it!

And that adorable zebra that me and Mollie got to pet.

And, of course, me. Lots of me. I am a mammal too.

Posted in dogs and other animals, Pictures of me | Tagged america, animals, art, california, digital photography, humor, mammals, nature, Northern California, photography, sea mammals, travel | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 7; Well, I am sort of doing this in chronological order… almost…

Posted on July 2, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Wait… that one is out of order… but cute. So, I am on day 5 of the adventure, and now we are going back to day 2, the day after the zoo part, but also some from day 3. Got it?

I am just not an ‘in order’ kind of a guy.

Anyway, day one, zoo adventure. Day two, visiting my cousins on my way north from San Diego, and spending some quality time with small children.

I haven’t seen this little one since she was a baby.

Stupid pandemic.

But we had an awesome day together.

A random flower picture from as we wandered around.

I left their house near Los Angeles very early, heading to the coast, and on the way, I met this little lady. So this is day 3 now.

I know, she looks like a normal-sized horse.

But she is a tiny miniature horse. And she came right over when she saw me, because, you know, dogs babies and horses love me.

I ended up in Solvang, an adorable little Danish town.

I had an awesome breakfast.

I saw the mission. We know Solvang well. My wife has an aunt who lives there, and we have visited a few times.

But my favorite part was making a new friend.

Oh yeah. And I was on my way to Morro Bay, which is where I saw the otters and a bunch of other stuff… which we will get to soon. But right now, on day 5, I need to get going and head towards the Bay Area. I have been up since 5 AM, and I have already got some great pictures. HA!