"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The GOOD side of the Solvang trip

It wasn't ALL bad, so here is some good stuff:

(Picture: Lucy is loaded in the truck and ready to go! She looks bored silly, but, really, deep inside, she is excited.)

We decided to drive down the coast along Hwy 1. Many say that it is the most beautiful coastline in the world. I don't have a lot to compare to since I have done limited traveling, but it was breathtaking.

We were following along the race route for the Tour of California bike race. It is one of the biggest professional bike races in the country and it covers 650 miles in California those poor boys got some seriously SHITTY California weather. (click "poor boys" link to see videos of the race. The coastline shots are Stage four.)



The rain was pouring down, the wind was howling, and it was COLD. (Pictures: My husband taking pictures of the coastline in the pouring rain, then returning to the car in the pouring rain.) You will note that I am taking all of these pictures from inside the car.

There was only one thing that I was willing to go out into the rain and cold for.....






BABIES!!! Elephant Seal babies to be exact.

In San Simeon there is a colony of 7,500 elephant seals . There were tons of them. In the winter they have their babies. When my hubby gets his pictures up I will put a link or slideshow up because he got some great shots. They were all the way up the beach, next to the fence. I seriously could have touched one. Please Note: I DID NOT do this, as it is both illegal and wrong to do. We carry lots of bacteria and potential diseases that have unknown effects on wild animals. DO NOT touch them! (Picture: OMG! Big, fat, fatties! Baby faces that are so cute they actually made my heart hurt.)

That was it. The rest was Lompoc hell hole. Hubby went to Solvang to take pictures of the race and had a good time. We ate in Solvang on the way home. I had some pancakes that were unremarkable. Solvang seems cute, but I didn't see much of it. It was nice to spend time with the hubby and Lucy so all in all a success, but I won't be racing back to Lompoc anytime soon.

2 comments:

Southbaygirl said...

But you guys must come camping in Jalama Beach-which, sigh....., is near Lompoc just south of Vandenberg Air Force Base out on the point. It's beach camping and it's WONDERFUL!!!! Do you like to camp?

I've driven that coast line alot-and yes it is amazing! It's so diverse!!! When we were on our way up to Big Sur we (oops that's a trip I took with the asshole)stopped at the Sea Lions as well. It was in the summer so I didn't get to see babies! The babies are cute!!!
In Lompoc they have the Jalama Beach Cafe-it's a pretty decent restaurant. Owned by the same people who have the little store and restaurant at the campsite-they have a yummy burger!!

I bet Lucy was happy to be doing a road trip with you guys! Dogs find joy in anything!!

Tracy said...

Okay, first of all, Lucy doesn't look bored. I can clearly see the "I wish just ONCE they'd let ME drive" look on her face.

The pics are great.

I LOVED the baby elephant seal photos and the disclaimer about not touching them.

I know people only mean well but I cringe when I see photos of people feeding and/or touching a wild animal.

The one thing I HATE about spring here are the people who feel the need to not only touch but (illegally) adopt baby wild animals - specifically fawns, absolutely convinced they are abandoned. LEAVE THE ANIMALS ALONE, PEOPLE!! *ahem*

(stepping off of soapbox now)

~ Tracy