The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 180: Morro Bay State Park/Post D

The view at sunrise from our bedroom. One of us was up.

We ventured north today on a mission to see the elephant seals, who are in the midst of birthing. Seals stretch from the Piedras Blancas (White Rocks) lighthouse, which is very close to the Hearst Castle down to San Simeon, a distance of about five miles. The beach is literally littered with bulbous nosed sand covered elephant seals basking on the beach. They live most of the year at sea, but they begin arriving at the rookery in December to give birth and to mate. Naturally, the males begin fighting for dominance immediately. Most births occur in January, and nearly every female we saw had a young pup nearby. We talked to a gentleman who said the seals come ashore for about a month, lose a third of their body weight during that time, and turn the pups loose after about a four week weaning period. He said he witnessed a live birth last year, but we weren't so lucky. We did hear some yelping and what could have been carnal moaning, but mostly the seals just lay unmoving in the sand. When they did move, the just flipped sand over themselves to cool down. A few were quite frisky. Two pair of young males were jousting and one huge fellow was very active in his pursuit of passing down his family name. The whole scene spoke to the majesty and miracle of creation. We were awed, and once again, the paradox of life rattled its enigma around my cranium. On the way back we took a side trip through the coastal village of Cambria. We enjoy wandering the back roads and neighborhoods of the places we visit. We found a great spot for lunch that was marked public access. There we sat on a giant bench made from a log. It was shaped like the old Pac Man creatures (For those of you old enough to remember back to the days of Pong et. al.). We enjoyed our lunch as we gazed out at the Pacific. I skunked the Cager, which made up for the nearly double skunking she gave me this morning. Cambria appears to be full of very retired residents. One local lady, drawn like a curious cat, came down to pretend to look at the ocean. She smiled, but didn't speak except to say, "How sweet" when she observed our cribbage game. After lunch, we stopped at the local Super Market in Morro Bay. There just so happened to be a weekly farmer's market taking place. We bought a dozen giant sweet carrots for two dollars, some beautifully plush romaine for a dollar, two fresh made bread loaves, a double chocolate mousse cake, a sack of navel oranges picked yesterday, a shock of kale, a tuft of broccoli, and if we'd have had a bigger refrigerator, I think we'd still be buying stuff. One sales lady we talked to was stunned to hear the prices they charge in Spokane. She said she couldn't give away her lettuce some days. It was quite fun to see the locals meandering about carrying their hand woven wicker baskets, dallying here and there, talking with friends, and generally living their normal day. No one took much notice of us. All said, we have quite good fare for our stir fry dinner tonight. And as you must know by now, life is good, especially today.