It seems like a long time ago that I mentioned Sea Otters and the lack of pictures to show you. Well they were developed and here are a few.
First we have a Mom and Pup, just floating near the Pacific ocean without care in the world. [click to see all pictures larger]
Here's another Sea Otter doing a little grooming. They groom a lot since their pelt is near a million hairs per square inch, if I heard Joan correctly.
We managed to see one nearby, on the beach. This pose was brief since the grooming started as soon as I showed up.
Now, how cute was that? These otters are considerably larger than those at home, or at the San Diego Zoo, and the one above seemed quite hampered in its movements on land. In water, they were graceful and efficient swimmers.
One of the things on my bucket list for years has been a visit to Fort Point; a historic park just under the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge. You can read all about it here.
The last time I drove to be here, the park was closed for four days, so I just returned to San Diego. This time, we deliberately drove to San Francisco and made a point of going to Fort Point before Joan left for the airport.
Here's a shot of a Québec heater in front of a fireplace in an officer's bedroom.
Just a look down the hall: isn't it intriguing?
A broader view of an officer's bedroom. The ranks had many bunks in a room of the same size. Rank has its privileges???
Next is a view of the arched cannon stations [minus the canons]. I'm fond of arches, can you tell?
More arches...
It rained most of the time we were in San Francisco, so we drove around a lot and didn't make any pictures. SF has a great green space basically in the middle of the city. We drove part of the 49 mile drive within the park and enjoyed the trees, plantings, and facilities. We had tried to go to see the aquarium and science centre where they also have a well known astronomical show; unfortunately, we arrived too late and they suggested we return some other time.
During the very early morning, Joan received a text from Delta airlines stating that her departure was delayed, just enough to miss her connection. We took the shuttle to the airport, ticket and luggage in hand, hoping against hope that the trip could be made in one day. After many machinations, while Joan and I watched in silence, an earlier departure was arranged with Air Canada, with a stop in Toronto, then on to Ottawa. The Toronto lay-over seemed very short, so the lady got us a reservation with West Jet. All this was good until we walked over to the next terminal and checked in with Air Canada. I'm not sure what the final result was, other than to say Joan did get to Ottawa later than expected, but good trusty friend Kyla was there to pick her up and drive Joan home. I can almost hear the squeals of joy and they hugged. I shuttled back to the hotel and checked out.
And finally, back on the road: these eucalyptus trees smelled wonderful when we had the top down, bit Saturday was rain only when they were actually quite a hazard. The bark fell off, note the centre strip, and was slippery, branches as well as entire trees fell, but the road crews were very quick to clean up and keep the road open. I saw trees three and four feet wide just cut in place and the pieces pushed off the road. Best not to think too much about that when you're driving...
Since it had been raining off and on for a few days, there were mud slides that fortunately ended in the ditches, and some rock falls; the biggest of which was a boulder half the size of my car, resting just into my lane. Every occurrence had a sign: slide, rock slide, mud slide, flooded road, etc. The flooded road sign was the one most often used: even on the top of hills, water would either run across the road, or flood the side of the road. I wish I had a remote camera where the truck ahead plowed through about a foot of water that covered our side of the road. When I saw that, I moved over to the oncoming traffic side since no one was coming. Even doing that meant I still hydroplaned a bit. Good thing the car doesn't have British Lucas wiring...
I travelled on California #1, the beautiful Coastal road. Unfortunately, in rain and fog, the twists and turns become all encompassing, and the trip ends up being quite tiring.
And here are two shots of Point Arena Lighthouse during fairly heavy rains.
Nearby was this rock complete with resting seals [something they seem to do very well].
I holed up for the night at Fort Bragg.
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