Point Lobos: Pelican city

After a pleasant overnight stay in Santa Cruz, I drove to my main destination of the day, the picturesque Point Lobos State Reserve. I parked my car at the picnic area lot, then made my way to the trail overlooking Sand Hill Cove. This is the view that greeted me.

I found myself taking picture after picture...the ocean scenery was just so beautiful! When the sun finally peeked out through the clouds, the views were even better!

The dark distant rocky island offshore in the third photo above was the hangout for the resident California sea lions. Even from shore, you could hear their barking calls.

While I was snapping pics of the sea lions, I noticed several brown pelicans in the water. I thought that was cool and took photos of them, too. Little did I know that there were more pelicans on the rocks below the park's cypress grove...a LOT more pelicans! It was a pelican community!

After a leisurely lunch in the picnic area, I continued my drive down Hwy 1. Back in 2017, the road was closed due to a massive mudslide near Big Sur. It was only about two months ago that the highway was finally reopened to traffic. The best FREE attraction is in San Simeon...the elephant seals! Northern elephant seals to be exact. When I got to the viewing area, there were quite a few people there. And, there were also quite a few elephant seals...only females and juveniles, though.

For the next few days, I'll be taking a break from nature and rejoining the urban world. What I'm really looking forward to, though, is some good eats when I get to Los Angeles!