How I Spent My 4 Day Vacation Part 2 - Elephant Seals in San Simeon

As briefly talked about in this post, here's the pictures/info from visiting the Elephant Seals in San Simeon, CA last weekend.

First, I had no idea there were Elephant Seals anywhere close to California. For some reason I have always thought of them as mammals that would only live in the Antartic, Alaska or somewhere super cold like that. So when I found out from a work friend that we could see these giant beasts up close I was really excited to make it part of our Pismo Beach trip.

For those of you not familiar with the area, Pismo Beach is about 15 minutes south of San Luis Obispo, and San Simeon is near Hearst Castle and about a 45 minute drive north along the coast of California. Due to all the rain we've been having, the hills are lush and green which truly made for a gorgeous site! Unfortunately I was driving so I wasn't able to take pictures of the beauty.

 

 

The different sizes of Elephant Seals. The largest is a full grown male, middle is a full grown female, and smallest is a juvenile/sub-adult.

 

We happened to be there are one of the best times!We were able to see them in all stages, feeding and even some mating!

There were SO many, almost every inch of sand was taken!

 

A lot of them had what seemed like a cold. They kept sneezing which would make their entire body jiggle.

  

The full grown males are HUGE! About 7-8 feet! The smaller one's surrounding this one were sub-adults.

 

  

This guy was really talkative! Did you know their noises sound like a human burping/farting? Izabella found this hilariou...OK, OK so did I haha.

  

They get itches on their flippers

And flip sand on their backs. We aren't sure why, maybe to help keep them warm?

 

 Nursing

 

A little tiff

 

This guy was chasing after one of the females and started mating with her. It sure was a site! With all the "yelling" and biting it was interesting trying to explain to a 3 year old what was happening. Oh the questions she asked!

 

Kisses for the mama :)

And a BIGGGGG stretch

We had a great time checking out the Elephant Seals. If you ever find yourself in the area I definitely recommend making the trip to check them out!

The Last Weekend of Summer

The last weekend of summer, AKA Labor Day, arrived just over a week ago. I celebrated it in a way that my family has for a little over 20 years; a trip to my Grandma's house in Pismo Beach. If you remember my last blog I talked about how my Grandma passed away this year on July 20th. This was the first Holiday weekend we have been up there that she hasn't and to say it was difficult would be an understatement. Luckily, we brought my best friend Sue and her daughter Izabella with us and they really helped "lighten the load".

It was the first time either of them had been to the area so we decided to start off the Saturday of our trip with one of our favorite places to have lunch, The Apple Farm in San Louis Obispo. If you have never been to The Apple Farm it's an adorable shabby sheik hotel and restaurant nestled a little of Highway 101. The Apple Farm also features an old millhouse that is a replica of one from the turn of the century. When my brother and I were younger you could watch them make apple juice and ice cream here. Unfortunately when we visited this weekend the mill was broken and so was the ice cream maker. None the less we still had a great time sampling (and buying) the apple juice they make. It's 100% apple with no added sugar or preservatives and probably the best apple juice ever. Here's a couple shots from our visit:

Where would you like to go?

Stopping to smell the flowers

Sue and Izabella waiting for lunch

Izabella and Nanny Sue

The Old Millhouse


Behind the millhouse there is a quiet little waterfall and the perfect place for a photo opportunity

Sue and Izabella

Izabella and Me

Watching the waterfall

Sunday we took Izabella to the beach for the first time. What a trip that was!! The water in Pismo is MUCH colder than it is down here in Orange County and felt like ice water. However, she LOVED it and we had a good time running in and out of the waves and playing in the sand. Those pictures are on Sue's camera but hopefully I will have them soon to post in another blog :).

After the beach we headed back to the house to give Izabella a nice warm bath. There is a rather large bath tub at my Grandma's that I have many fond memories of soaking in for hours at a time as a child. Naturally when Izabella saw it she was impressed with it's size and turned to me and in her almost 3 sweet and innocent voice said, "Auntie, you take a baff wiff me?" What was I supposed to do? Say no? What kind of Best Auntie Ever would I be? So, I (kind or reluctantly) said yes and bathing suit and all climbed into the bath tub with her and we had a great time playing, washing and laughing.

Armpits! Armpits! Armpits!

I hope all of you out there had a fun "last weekend of summer" and an all around GREAT summer!