Ocean Days
Saturday - With the Boys
Checking into the hotel room with Dante and Blake.
Chuckling at the young children who wonder if the boys' cage is for a bird and at the hushed "Eww!" from the parents who realize what's really in the cage.
Sleepless at o'dark thirty and hoping that the relentlessly screaming baby in the next room will rupture a voicebox in the very immediate future.
Sunday - Monterey Bay Aquarium
Discovering with much disappointment (and early-morning, pre-coffee grumpiness) that Morning Round tours - the reason for changing my plans and leaving a day early - are not scheduled for that morning AND that all day and evening sails are completely booked.
Consoling myself before the Aquarium opens with a Starbucks latte and watching the seagulls on a small beach. Observing with amusement and fascination one (male?) Western gull who not only brings food to a (female?) gull, but also defends her against all stealth maneuvers from other gulls while she eats.
Enjoying a day at the Aquarium and falling gloriously in love with sea otters. Again.
Monday - Moss Landing
Sleeping sinfully late.
Relishing the soft crunch of the sand and the pull of the waves and caring not one iota that I'm soaking wet from my toes to my hips. Breathlessly observing first one brave sea otter swimming in the whitewash not 15 feet away from me; then more and more sea otters playing in the waves, rolling in the kelp beds, and peeking their heads out from the water surface; and finally wondering if the dark, dorsal-finned shapes cavorting further out are dolphins or orcas. (Cursing at myself for forgetting my camera and binoculars.)
Drying out with a latte at a local coffee house and, for the first time in my life, watching the frenzied beat of a hummingbird's wings fall to a hush in a moment's rest.
Finding the perfect gift for mom: a lovely cloisonné vase at a charming antique shop.
Succumbing gleefully to the temptation of one last, brief beach stroll … that mysteriously stretches out into another three and a half hours.
Knowing with more than a little sadness that this will be my only ocean fix for some time.
Resigning myself to the one inevitable and unwanted part of the entire day … leaving.
Tuesday - Riding the Swells
Discovering that, on the whale-watching trip, my legs and hips know instinctively how to move in sync with the ship's pitching and rocking against the ocean swells … that the feel of the ship and the ocean under my feet is just like riding a surfboard and a rollercoaster at the same time … that I grin with gleeful, reckless abandon as each rise and fall of the ship push my heartbeat into overdrive and send an exquisite adrenaline rush rippling through me … and that I don't get the slightest bit seasick.
Watching with breathless exhilaration for signs of whale or dolphin … and being rewarded with not only the spouting blowholes, curving dorsal fins and massive tails of two humpback whales cruising alongside the ship, but also the precocious antics of two bottlenose dolphins jumping and racing in the wake.
Offering some friendly advice in French to a Parisian couple and gloating to myself that I haven't lost my touch.
Prowling around on Fisherman's Wharf, trying not to look like an obvious tourist, and snatching up some pretty bling bling that caught my eye (because I am, after all, a woman).
Wednesday - Good Friends, Good Food
Savoring a rare chance to visit with some friends and to eat at the best vegan restaurant in all of Sacramento: Andy Nguyen's.
During the long, long drive home, brainlocking on stepping into a hot shower to soothe my weary body and sinking into my own comfy bed for a quiet night's sleep.
Checking into the hotel room with Dante and Blake.
Chuckling at the young children who wonder if the boys' cage is for a bird and at the hushed "Eww!" from the parents who realize what's really in the cage.
Sleepless at o'dark thirty and hoping that the relentlessly screaming baby in the next room will rupture a voicebox in the very immediate future.
Sunday - Monterey Bay Aquarium
Discovering with much disappointment (and early-morning, pre-coffee grumpiness) that Morning Round tours - the reason for changing my plans and leaving a day early - are not scheduled for that morning AND that all day and evening sails are completely booked.
Consoling myself before the Aquarium opens with a Starbucks latte and watching the seagulls on a small beach. Observing with amusement and fascination one (male?) Western gull who not only brings food to a (female?) gull, but also defends her against all stealth maneuvers from other gulls while she eats.
Enjoying a day at the Aquarium and falling gloriously in love with sea otters. Again.
Monday - Moss Landing
Sleeping sinfully late.
Relishing the soft crunch of the sand and the pull of the waves and caring not one iota that I'm soaking wet from my toes to my hips. Breathlessly observing first one brave sea otter swimming in the whitewash not 15 feet away from me; then more and more sea otters playing in the waves, rolling in the kelp beds, and peeking their heads out from the water surface; and finally wondering if the dark, dorsal-finned shapes cavorting further out are dolphins or orcas. (Cursing at myself for forgetting my camera and binoculars.)
Drying out with a latte at a local coffee house and, for the first time in my life, watching the frenzied beat of a hummingbird's wings fall to a hush in a moment's rest.
Finding the perfect gift for mom: a lovely cloisonné vase at a charming antique shop.
Succumbing gleefully to the temptation of one last, brief beach stroll … that mysteriously stretches out into another three and a half hours.
Knowing with more than a little sadness that this will be my only ocean fix for some time.
Resigning myself to the one inevitable and unwanted part of the entire day … leaving.
Tuesday - Riding the Swells
Discovering that, on the whale-watching trip, my legs and hips know instinctively how to move in sync with the ship's pitching and rocking against the ocean swells … that the feel of the ship and the ocean under my feet is just like riding a surfboard and a rollercoaster at the same time … that I grin with gleeful, reckless abandon as each rise and fall of the ship push my heartbeat into overdrive and send an exquisite adrenaline rush rippling through me … and that I don't get the slightest bit seasick.
Watching with breathless exhilaration for signs of whale or dolphin … and being rewarded with not only the spouting blowholes, curving dorsal fins and massive tails of two humpback whales cruising alongside the ship, but also the precocious antics of two bottlenose dolphins jumping and racing in the wake.
Offering some friendly advice in French to a Parisian couple and gloating to myself that I haven't lost my touch.
Prowling around on Fisherman's Wharf, trying not to look like an obvious tourist, and snatching up some pretty bling bling that caught my eye (because I am, after all, a woman).
Wednesday - Good Friends, Good Food
Savoring a rare chance to visit with some friends and to eat at the best vegan restaurant in all of Sacramento: Andy Nguyen's.
During the long, long drive home, brainlocking on stepping into a hot shower to soothe my weary body and sinking into my own comfy bed for a quiet night's sleep.