While we were in CA we also took a short two day trip to check out some local spots that we thought Dylan would find interesting. The first of which was Ano Nuevo, just a little north of Santa Cruz. Ano Nuevo is a preservation for Elephant Seals. You park and have to hike out to where the Seals spend most of their time lounging on the beach. As we pulled into the park we war told that the Seals were out at the furthest outlook, about a 2 mile walk out with a fair bit of sand towards the end. After the epic of getting Dylan to put on sunscreen and out of the car he was distracted by a surfer and Linda and Dylan followed him down to a beach that is within the park but not the preserve. Here they are walking as I try to catch up.
Linda and DYlan hanging out on the beach having lunch and watching the surfers.
The surf did not seem very good, you could not ride a wave for very long before it broke and died. After awhile we headed on out towards the Elephant Seals. Once we crossed into the preserve the trail quickly turned to sand and since it seemed as though I was going to be getting it in my shoes I took them off, Dylan had them on and off through the sandy part.
Most of the Seals were just lounging.
You would see sand thrown up in the air over then seals constantly. Apparently even when it is cold out, which it was, it is still too warm if you have several inches of blubber keeping you warm. Flipping up the sand with their flippers helps to keep them cool. The seals are so inactive because they don't go out to sea to eat, so they are fasting and trying to conserve energy. There were a handful of seals out playing or wrestling in the shallow water though.
Here are Linda and Dylan trudging up the last big sand dune on our way back towards the car. Dylan hiked the whole way on his own, 4.3 miles. Though it did take some coaxing, in the form of playing games, like going on safari, to get him back.
We then checked into our lodging at the Davenport Roadhouse. They have several rooms above the restaurant, which was quite good, we ate there for dinner and breakfast the next morning, and this little cottage out back where we stayed.
The service was excellent. Because we had a child they let us use a little attached room with an extra bed and after dinner, there was no refrigerator int he room so the waitress let us keep our leftovers in the restaurant to pick up in the morning after breakfast.
Here is a shot of the family overlooking the beach that is across the street from the Davenport Roadhouse.
No comments:
Post a Comment