Back to Basics

Monday and Tuesday, we got back into camp-mode at a secluded campground called Bottchers Gap. Below are two scenes of the gap.

We got down to the business of collecting and breaking up firewood as soon as we got there. It was all fun and games until I gave myself a black eye by breaking a log by swinging it like a bat against a tree. A piece flew off and whacked me right below my eyebrow. It bled for a minute but nothing serious...

San Francisco was awesome, but it was nice getting back to the campfire scene.

We found some groovy looking shrooms. Don't worry, we didn't taste them...

Trying to blend in to the background.

Campsite.

We hit sixty-six thousand, six hundred sixty-six point six miles!

Here's a few more scenic moments down the Big Sur:

Whoooo look at that turquoise water!

We spent the night at a different campground on Wednesday, but forgot to take any photos of the campsite. We did remember to stop for a few Kodak moments along the way from camp back to the coast.

Eight out of the ten miles back from the camp to the coast Chris cruised along down this road in neutral. I think he only had to put it in gear twice.

A view from the road.

The Dod taking a breather.

Me, taking a breather.

The Pacific would peek out from between the mountains here and there.

"Peek...

...a...

...BOO!"

Hi Dod!

We spotted some blubbery blobs sunning on the sand off of Hwy 1 so we turned off to take a peek. Elephant Seals!! Not as active as the Sea Lions at Pier 39 but almost as entertaining.

They are all resting and conserving their energy before mating season. They don't do much except lay around, sleep and flip sand on each other. In fact, they stop breathing for 20 minutes at a time and rarely even get up to eat; they mainly live off their blubber. When they finally inhale, they snort and puff so the beach is noisy with their quick and constant poofs and snores.

Look at this fat guy. He was the only adult elephant seal among hundreds of younger seals. His face is one only a mother could love.

Nuzzle, nuzzle, nuzzle.

In the foreground lie a few dozen adolescent elephant seals. The fatty in the background is the adult male elephant seal and the two in the water are play-fighting.

Elephant Seals have a fascinating recovery story being thought to be extinct but making a huge comeback from only 30 remaining seals to current numbers of hundreds of thousands.

Stretch!

Five minutes down the road from the elephant seals, we saw zebras! Hard to believe, I know! What's next, giraffe?!

The sun setting over the Pacific with a crescent sliver of a moon hovering above.

Spending some time at the San Luis Obispo Starbucks charging up and researching nearby shower sites. Looks like we'll be spending the day at an RV park with beach access. Here's to warm temperatures and hot showers!