"By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea . . ."

My hubby had some vacation time this past week, and I'd been wanting to go to the ocean; I wanted to visit Monterey and Carmel, but he said he'd like to go to Morro Bay, as he'd been there 30 years ago and wanted to see it again. Since I'd never been there, and he's the one who's working so hard these days, I said, of course, let's go to Morro Bay. It's about a 5-hour car trip from Sacramento, but the drive down I5 was okay, and especially when we reached Hwy 46, going over the coastal mountains, I felt like I was in Tuscany--there were so many wineries, and the scenery was just stunning. I couldn't take photos because I was driving, but trust me, it was GORGEOUS countryside, green rolling hills dotted with vineyards, with blue sky and puffy white clouds overhead. Morro Bay was very interesting--there's a HUGE volcanic rock sitting right there near the shore, and most of Morro Bay is a state bird sanctuary, containing a state and national estuary. If you're interested, you can google Morro Bay and find out fascinating facts about this waterfront town. It was so nice seeing the ocean again, and we had fun beachcombing and exploring shops and eating out, etc. Both of us grew up close to the beach in California--he in San Diego, and me not too far from Santa Monica, and so the ocean is dear to us. I remember my mom and her friends getting together each Tuesday and driving all of us kids to the beach all summer long during my growing-up years. There were many, many days of bodysurfing, eating sandy sandwiches, and laying out in the sun with the sound of the waves and the salt-water air all around us. As an adult, I took my children to the Oregon Coast, about an hour away from where we lived, every chance I got--it's a lot colder there most of the year than it is at the beach in Southern California, but the Oregon Coast (up and down the whole state), is unbelievable--so, so beautiful, I almost cried the first time I saw it. Now, whenever I am lucky enough to go to the ocean, I always feel so refreshed and peaceful when I leave to go home. Here are a few photos I picked out of the ones I took while we were in Morro Bay this week:

Morro Rock


One small view of the Harbor -- Morro Bay is home to one of the few remaining fishing fleets in the state of California.


Shorebird - Marbled Godwit


Otters Playing in the Bay - Click on photo to see them up close!


An Overfed Squirrel - He was so cute, sitting there, looking at us, and it was hard not to laugh because I'd never seen such a fat squirrel! There are tons of ground squirrels and chipmunks right there on the jetty rocks, and, unfortunately, too many people feed them; some of them are really overweight.


Views of the Estuary



Sunset at Morro Beach