Where The Wild Things Are

Well today this blog should be mercifully short, since I'm bagged after another amazingly spectacular day of fresh air, sunshine and travel from Monterey to Santa Barbara. I sooo have a big ol' School Girl Crush on California..although I've been here before, I just can't get over its unending ways of throwing together different types of scenery to keep you in awe. It started early this morning with the epidemic of tiny purple flowers on the seaside beds in Monterey, carried on with the postcard ocean views you've all seen, the deep blue seas and huge monolithic rocks standing watch in the ocean, different types of hills yadayadayada, a thrilling Audubon-esque drive around tight curves and then-like the final event in a fireworks display where they light up every type of firework- as I pulled into the last laps before Santa Barbara, every type of mountain, hill, dune , bush and flower that I've seen so far was showcased on those last couple of miles in..

The neat thing about driving alone is that you only have to follow your own timeline, how long or if you want to stop..and you can change your mind without annoying anyone . This morning I was slowly tootling around the scenic seaside road in Pacific Grove, just next to Monterey, using one of those cute hand-drawn tourist maps ,when I saw a beautiful deer in the morning sun gingerly stepping onto a rock near Pebble Beach Golf Course. But get this, I saw her in the exact location where a deer was drawn on the little map-no joke! (I immediately started drawing a cute little likeness of Brad Pitt next to the deer on the map, hoping for a sighting.) I named the deer 'Doe-ris'. Minutes later , in Carmel,a red squirrel meandered (yes, a squirrel can meander) out in front of my car, causing a lineup till he was ready to proceed. I didn't want to run over a red squirrel-you just don't see too many of the red ones much anymore. I named him 'Rocky' (although he sure as heck was no flying squirrel). But the best animal sighting came as a result of me whizzing past a viewpoint, seeing a bunch of seniors there and assuming it was the usual, a nice rock formation with crashing surf, but as I looked more closely, I saw an unbelievable sight. I had to drive 5 minutes before I could turn around and come back to see over one hundred Elephant Seals, all basking in the sun and funny as heck to watch. You could get really close to them and hear their belching and barking and watch them goof around with each other. Now I have seen them in scarier conditions, ie very close to my kayak when out in open seas and they're sliding into the water off a rock, all territorial and up in your face, but these guys were Californian Laid Back..fascinating to watch, so they took the cake for PHOTO OF THE DAY (just one little portion of the huge number of them on the beach). They even got 'video of the day' too, but I can't post that ;-). I named each one of them 'Seal', after Heidi Klum's husband.

Today was about soaking up the sun and the wind, sitting in a man-made carved-out chair overlooking the ocean for awhile. Well, until the two snowy-haired men in identical brand new beige town cars pulled up,dressed similarly, they each got out and briefly talked about the view, then returned to their respective cars, in tandem, to carry on . After they left, I thought I felt some ocean spray up on my face, but it was more likely tears from the Environmentalist Gods . So I'm not quite sure why the next Karmic thing that happened at that stop was me stepping full-on into a thistle/nettle? bush and it stung like a sonofabissshh, when, like, I didn't drive up in two cars!

I loved hanging out for a little while in Big Sur, where the 60's feeling hasn't died, cool jewellry and clothes for sale, and flowers decorating rustic buldings. It made me pine for those days, wishing it was 1967 again-but this time I would actually get out there and experience Flower Power instead of staying home at night to do homework (even if I didn't have any) and watch The Monkees- whose sum total contribution to the Peace Movement was wearing brightly coloured floral oxford shirts. But I loved Micky anyway, and stayed loyal to him until he grew out his White Guy 'Fro.

But I was adventurous by turning into this little beachside town called Cayucos, had no idea what it as about, but nestled in a little curve in the road, and sporting a huge-but unadulterated with commercialism- State beach,it was like a Siren beckoning me onto its rocks..so I did just that, enjoying seeing the children at play, the warm wind in my hair, watching a big Goldie puppy climb out of a "Make a Splash" van (she takes your dogs for swims in the ocean) and galumph around the sand..I am so impressed with the beautifully kept State beaches that have been set aside by California for the public..

So as I reminisce about my day and look at my photos, here at the Ramada Inn in Santa Barbara ( A Monumental Improvement Over Last Night's Abode, and I have the fleabites to prove it), there's a gale force wind outside blowing the trees around like crazy, the rustling is deafening- but I love it..it makes it so cozy to be inside. Well, until I go to load the car out back in the morning and it is on it's side with a tree trunk impaling its undercarriage.

Oh and the MOMENT OF THE DAY: As I came around the curve on the coast drive, I saw a quiet, beautiful spot where you could look out and see green grass, blue water , feel the sea breezes and smell the salt air..and it just held a serenity like no other spot..there was a man standing there looking out to the sea, with the door open on his Porsche behind him, the exquisite sounds of a quiet Jazz playing from the top- of- the- line sound system within. He had his hands in his well-dressed pockets, his foot up on a rock, and I had a feeling this was one of his favourite places, like he really loved this spot, and maybe needed it for a special reason today. He turned and smiled at me, I smiled at him..and without saying a word, we both knew it doesn't get much better than a moment like this. ..