Day 36-Tues, 3 Feb 09-Morro, California

Photos: (1) This lab was having a great time..I swear he was smiling at me! (2) When we walk through the gate beside our van, this is the beach behind us..goes for miles. (3) The little grey balls of fur are the Otter babies sitting on their Mummy's tummies. Dad's in the background (I think).

We didn’t get far today….about 500 yds down the road. We’d stayed at a lovely RV site and after packing up, decided we’d drive down the road to look at the beach. When we got to the beach, there was another RV site—right on the beach! We went in and had a look around and decided a 2-night stay would be a good thing! We literally walk out of the LuvMasheen, go through the gate beside us and we are on the beach.
Because we were mobile, we decided to hit the grocery store and stock up on fresh stuff and then come back to hook up. Wayne signed up for yet another VIP card to get a discount so I guess we’ll soon have to have a card wallet for U.S. grocery stores. The discounts are often dramatic so it certainly makes sense to take the few minutes and fill out the application. I’m not worried about junk mail—California is broke and can’t afford the mailing costs!
After setting up at our site, we headed our separate ways for the afternoon. Wayne loves to sleep on the beach so that was his priority. I got my camera and wandered the beach, watching the surfers. The water is still cold but they all wear wet suits. I’ve noticed a lot of the surfers now have paddles—the people stand on the board and paddle through the initial wave surge or will paddle up and down the beach, standing on the board.
Morro’s claim to fame is that it has a huge rock on the coast that used to be part of the mainland. A road has been built out to the rock and it’s now a nature reserve where various birds come to roost and different times of the year. The road construction created a small bay where giant kelp now grows. That in turn, has created a natural haven for sea otters. I sat on a rock and watched them for quite a while this afternoon. They have just had babies so the Moms float on their backs and the babies sit on Mother’s tummy, eating, sleeping and just enjoying life. There were four otters there this afternoon and although I took some photos, it’s hard to distinguish Moms from babies. I’ll go back tomorrow with the ‘mother of all lenses’ and see if I can’t get something better. There were a number of school classes doing an on-site science class so I joined one group of Grade 5’s and learned some new plant names as well as otter life-sciences. It was great! The kids wanted to adopt me as their mascot. Ha ha.
It is supposed to start raining on Thursday so we have decided that’s a good time to get back on the road. We are going to head across California, through the Mojave Desert and go to Las Vegas. We’d spent 3 days in Vegas last year and loved it but didn’t really see everything we wanted or, were rushed to see what we did. Three or four days is probably enough time to spend there at any one time, but most people want to go back and do it at least one more time. Once we discovered the penny slots, the whole Vegas thing was cemented for us! Neither of us are gamblers and the casino noise makes me grind my teeth after an hour or so, but $1 will get you a nice chair in an air conditioned building..and a soft drink at least so it’s not a bad deal!
Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx