Back to L.A.

We got up early and went for a walk on the beach in Morro Bay. It's so beautiful there. There's a little park not far from our hotel, and from there, there's a walkway that goes all the way through a protected wildlife area to the beach. We took that walk, and saw lots of ducks and other birds; there are also, according to the signs we saw, raccoons and other animals, but to Lulu's great disappointment, we didn't see those. There were a few people walking dogs, though, and that made her happy.

At the end of the walkway, there's a boardwalk that goes a short distance out onto the sand dunes. We waited there while Lulu played in the sand, looking at the scenery--including the huge rock that's Morro Bay's claim to fame. It sticks straight up out of the harbor, and it's an extinct volcano. The coast is lined with them; also with not-so-extinct volcanoes, although most of them are quiet for right now, thank goodness!

Then we went back to the hotel, ate breakfast and got on the road. We went south and took a side trip off to Avila Beach, where we went down to the pier and watched the harbor seals for a while. They gather on a platform under the pier to rest and squabble. They'll all be sitting nicely for a few seconds, and then one will want a better place in or out of the sun, and he'll climb over the others and they'll all bark at him. Then they're quiet for a minute or two, and then it starts all over again. While were were watching, a seal tried to jump out of the water onto the platform. The platform is a couple of feet above the water, so he tried a few times and couldn't make it, and then when he finally got onto the platform, another seal pushed him back off! What a dysfuntional family! We could have watched them all day, but we tore ourselves away and went down through the town and sat on the beach for a few minutes.

After that, we didn't make any stops except for lunch, in Ventura. We just headed straight for home. Lulu was counting down the miles as we went. When we got to Ventura, she said, "Are we in Los Angeles now?" I said, "Not yet," and a few minutes later she said, "How about now?"

When we got here, the dogs were SOOOO happy to see us. And we were happy to see them. Barry had cleaned the whole house for us (well, he hired a cleaning service to clean the whole house for us, but it's the thought--and the cleanliness--that counts), and Lulu went into all the rooms saying hello to her stuff. And when Barry got home from work, we were all so happy to see each other.

It's good to be home.

Sort of.

When's our next trip?