Breakwater in Morro Bay. Tons of pelicans and you definitely wanted to be upwind.Front landscaping in a Morro Bay yard. It’s a pumpkin and a palm! None of the front gardens had lawn, due to water limitations, but it didn’t seem to stop the creativity.Nina on the path to the ranger station, Cuyler Bay, San Miguel Island.Looking the other way, the trail to the ranger station, San Miguel. The station is about a mile and a half from the boxes in the middle of the picture. These are the info center. The guy in the red shirt coming down told us about the hike the next day.
The trail to the ranger station. We got pictures on the way back to the boat as we were running a bit late on the way in. The trail was steep, unimproved and stunning. If you are camping on the island, you need to carry all your gear up this trail to the campground.The reason to stay on the trail.On the left is Inga, our volunteer ranger, who led the hike. San Miguel is her passion and she has been coming to the island for over twenty years.View from the point. For an arid island, there is a surprising variety of vegetation, some of which is found only here.One of the small canyons on the hike.Field of native grass with Santa Rosa in the background. Pinnipeds on the beach below Cardwell Point. Elephant seals, sea lions and seals all piled on top of each other. Cuyler Bay. Andy and Sue on the left to provide a sense of scale.
San Miguel fauna and a couple of photographers.
The resident juvenile humpback whale at Cuyler. The west side of Santa Rosa. Nina thought the shapes on the mountain looked like leaping animals.One of the three oil platforms on the way to Oxnard. From a distance it looked like an odd galleon. There was a flame shooting out of the arm on the right.A pretty boat and a pretty amazing boat. Gypsy on the right, Maiden on the left. We didn’t get to meet the crew as they came in at night. They are on a tour to raise funds for girls’ education. We heard the documentary about them is good but haven’t seen it yet. The building in the background is the Del Rey Yacht Club, a very nice reciprocal.Dinghy dock, Avalon, on a light day. We rowed by at one point and they were three deep. Our dinghy is the yellow one with oars and you can make out Gypsy behind the mooring ball near the center top of the photo.The boat moored next to us left their gait well uncovered and this enterprising gull treated itself to a herring feast. It could hardly move when it was done. Surprisingly, it had no competition and did not have to share.Wrigley Botanical Garden. Nice walk up from Avalon. Not your lush Pacific Northwest garden, it’s full of cacti and other arid plants from around the world.Wrigley Memorial at the top of the garden. There was a high school class at the top working on an assignment. Catalina tiles on the Memorial stairway. Tile work in the Memorial.
Beauteous!
Looks like you folks are having a righteous good time. Excellent!
[Oh, it warmed the cockles of my birding heart to read about that herring- scarfing gull (not”seagull”) good job!]
PS, this retirement stuff isn’t all that difficult 😁
GypsyKramer 
Thanks for the great pictures!
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Beauteous!
Looks like you folks are having a righteous good time. Excellent!
[Oh, it warmed the cockles of my birding heart to read about that herring- scarfing gull (not”seagull”) good job!]
PS, this retirement stuff isn’t all that difficult 😁
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Hey – good bird mentoring will get you gulls! Glad you’re enjoying retirement.
Nina
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Wonderful pictures and adventure! Love to watch and hear about the progression of your escapades! Keep sailing! Love and hugs to you! Mom
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