Not So SAHM

The Lone Cypress and a friendly. . .squirrel?

We toured 17-Mile Drive today. It’s a famous drive around the Pebble Beach area of the Monterey Peninsula. There are about 20 numbered stops along the drive. The girls and I had done a run in the area so we decided afterwards to do the drive. Make that, I decided that we should do the drive. The girls were ready to go back to the house to get school done so they could play Wii. I know I’m not the only one with this problem.

Our first stop was Seal Point. Seals are all over the place in this area, but we haven’t really seen them like this. What looks like a brownish rock out in the water. . .

Seal Point on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach CA Not So SAHM — Seal Point

Is really a rock COVERED in seals!

Seals on Seal Point on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach Not So SAHM — Not understanding the point of “King of the Hill”

True seals cannot use their flippers to walk, the flippers are too short. Upon closer inspection of these guys (in Lightroom), they have long flippers (and ear flaps) so they’re actually sea lions. . . unless they’re fur seals (which aren’t true seals). Anyway, there are literally tons of them all over the rock! Imagine how long it took for them to haul themselves up to the top!

Seal Point could have also been called Friendly Squirrel Point. Unless this is not a squirrel…

Friendly squirrel at Seal Point along 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach Not So SAHM — whatcha got there?!

These are not the grey squirrels of the East Coast that are super pests and should be eliminated. Ahem. They’re not grey, their tails are shorter, and they live on the beach. They were not afraid of us at all. In fact, the one above was kind of protective of that rock. Ash was climbing on it when Curious George came along and scurried up there with her. It freaked her out so she scurried down, and that’s why she’s standing a little farther off in the pic above. I can’t say I blame her. I was taught that if an animal doesn’t act the way it normally should then it’s probably rabid.

Now, Curious couldn’t have all the fun so his neighbor, The Pudge, came out to join us. This guy could barely fit through those rocks that are behind him in the picture below. That’s where they live, in those rocks. I’m guessing. We didn’t really have a conversation. He wasn’t as willing to get so close to us as George, but then again, Curious George is notorious for making stupid decisions. Amiright?

Pudgy squirrel at Seal Point along 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach Not So SAHM — The Pudge

Not willing to risk rabies any more than we already had, we left the beach squirrels to play their own version of King of the Hill and drove along the 17 miles. The most famous stop (other than the golf links themselves) is The Lone Cypress. I haven’t looked up its story to know why it’s alone, or why it has brickwork around its trunk, but it’s a very interesting site to see. Very romantic in a lonely sort of way.

You can’t feel too romantic when you’re staring at it though. We were there on a Tuesday morning in the fall, still there were tourists all over the place. Thankfully no one is allowed out to the tree.

There are beautiful vistas along the 17-mile drive and each one takes your breath away–if you’re older than a tween. My two girls had enough after the second stop. They probably had enough after the squirrels, but I was not listening.

My love for this area continues to grow.

Not So SAHM

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

What’s the best way to end the whale chapter in science?

Humpback whale breaching in Monterey Bay sequence 2 of 6 Not So SAHM

We are using Apologia’s Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day for our science curriculum this year. Since we’re on the Pacific Coast I couldn’t imagine a better curriculum. Lesson two covers Cetaceans: whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The majority of the chapter was spent on learning about toothed whales and baleen whales. And I learned that a “fluke” is more than a fortunate happenstance or the last name of someone seeking their fifteen minutes of fame. Ahem.

What better way to end this chapter than to go on a whale watching trip!?!?

We have friends here that are doing the same curriculum, so we all went out Sunday on a whale watching adventure. We’ve been hearing for weeks now about how active the whales are, and some people even have the chance to see them from the shoreline. I just knew that the moment I got out into a boat all the whales would head out to deeper waters. Murphy’s Law seems to follow me around like that.

Fortunately I was wrong!

On the way out we were greeted by a sea lion or two:

Sea Lion waves hello in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — Hey there!

It wasn’t too long of a boat ride to get the feeding grounds, and we were rewarded with spectacular whale sightings. We saw humpbacks feeding, breaching, trumpeting with their blow holes, and waving at us with their pectoral fins.

Humpback whale waving pectoral fin in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — Hello there! (Oh, to be in that tiny boat!)

Breaching sequence – scientists aren’t sure why whales breach.

Humpback whale slapping pectoral fin in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — YOU CAN SEE HIS EYE! (just to the right of his fin)

Sea lion resting and warming in ocean in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — This sea lion’s not dead – he’s warming himself.

We learned to predict when the whales would surface. The sea lions work along side the whales to round up and eat anchovies. So, when we would see a group of sea lions surface and begin to porpoise we knew the whales would be right behind them. The whales can only eat very small fish, krill, etc because their throats are only INCHES wide!! So, the sea lions aren’t worried about being eaten. . . at least by a whale.

Humpback whale spouts in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — Double whale spouts

Sea lions and whales feeding in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — The sea lions are jumping! Up next…

Sea lions and humpback whales feeding in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — . . . the whales!

Two humpbacks diving together in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — Wait for iiittttt . . .

Flukes of two humpback whales in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — The flukes! So cool!

Humpback whale fluke in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — Bye bye, fluke!

Sea lions resting on the dock at Moss Landing in Monterey Bay Not So SAHM — There’s a baby sea lion!

The humpback whales were amazing to see. I’d love to go back again in the winter to see the gray whales during their migration south.

Not So SAHM

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Carmel River State Beach

ice plant grows on the hills facing the ocean

In lesson 1 of our science program (Apologia’s Zoology 2: Exploring Creation with Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day) we learned what estuaries are and the brackish water that fills them. Basically, estuaries are where rivers meet oceans or seas. The water is brackish – a mix of fresh and salt water.

We read about Carmel River State Beach recently and I was excited to learn that it’s got an estuary where birds love to hang out. People do too. Not too many people though–apparently not many people use this beach. When people visit Carmel they go to the Carmel city beach. Who wants the crowds when you can have a beach practically all to yourself?

Carmel River State Beach sign — Go here to have the beach to yourself!

We did a very quick and brief review about estuaries and headed down after lunch. We didn’t have any troubles finding parking. We wore hiking clothes instead of swimsuits, and this was on purpose. This beach isn’t safe for swimmers due to the rough current. I have Keens that were great for trekking around Hawaii, getting in and out of watery and soft-sandy places. Here though, the sand is more like miniature rocks. The little rocks got in my Keens and wouldn’t escape. Ouch! Flip flops probably would have been better.

The first thing you come across is the marshy estuary, which right now is not reaching the ocean. Perhaps it’s the drought. Perhaps it has something to do with the dam removal that is ongoing. The birds love it though!

the birds love the estuary at Carmel River State Beach — River ahead of me and ocean behind me – beach is in-between. See the birds!?

Birds fly around Carmel River State Beach — CRSB is a bird sanctuary

Birds fly around at Carmel River State Beach — the birds took flight to avoid us, but didn’t go very far!

birds fly over us at Carmel River State Beach — they flew over us to head back to the marsh. Fortunately no air mail was dropped. . .

Something blue on the beach — no idea what this is, but I love the little collection of things

As we walked along the beach it became rockier and rockier. We walked and explored for about an hour–then my feet just couldn’t take it any longer. We rested by some big rocks and then took the walking path on top of the cliff back to the car.

waves spray up against the rocks at Carmel River State Beach — splash and spray

Water flows over low-lying rocks at Carmel River State Beach — Tide was starting to come back in

waves crash against the rocks at Carmel River State Beach — I was kind of obsessed with the spray

water washes up between two rocks at Carmel River State Beach — entry

I’m an East Coast girl, but I’m starting to love the Pacific Ocean! What is your favorite body of water? (The Gulf Coast in Florida has the best sand, imho)

Not So SAHM

Exploring the “Great Tide Pools”

Since we’re living right by the Pacific Ocean, it’s only natural that our science program cover aquatic animals. The curriculum we’re using is Apologia’s Zoology 2: Exploring Creation with Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. My goal is to take two weeks for each lesson: work in the book for a week and go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium during the second week.

We just finished lesson 1: Aquatic Animals. It’s a general information lesson about the different animals found in fresh and salt water. We went to the aquarium and saw all forms of nekton and benthos animals, and plankton. The book mentions that the best place to see sea life is in tide pools (other than the aquarium, of course). TIDE POOLS. We are surrounded by tide pools!

FIELD TRIP!

Steinbeck talked about this specific area of tide pools in Cannery Row (which I read before moving out here). How awesome would it be to visit the pools that Doc went to to collect specimens. No collecting allowed now!

We figured out when low tide would be for the morning we wanted to go. 6:30-ish…a little too early for us. We decided 9am would be a good enough time to go. It was perfect and we saw so many creatures, especially hermit crabs!

tide pools in Monterey — we searched through many

sea slug, hermit crabs and a barnacle — sea slug, (so many) hermit crabs and a few barnacles

yellowish star fish — We were so excited to find so many star fish!

sea anemone – I was afraid to touch it, but I’ve read it won’t hurt

star fish scooting away — bye bye! He’s scooting away

tide coming in - Monterey — the tide’s coming in – time to go home

It was such an amazing morning. How cool for the girls (and me) to be able to see these creatures up close and in their natural habitat. I can’t wait to go back! Lesson 2: whales — I see a whale watching trip in our future!

Not So SAHM

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Roadschooling East to West – Up the Pacific Coast Highway

We’re reaching the end! After leaving Hollywood we drove over to Malibu to start our drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It’s the first time I’d seen the Pacific Ocean from the continent!

We took two days to drive up the highway and reach our destination. Ocean, mountains, valleys, farms, wildlife, we saw it all! I’ll just post pictures and explain a bit along the way.

The drive to Malibu

We’re in Malibu!

Driving north on the Pacific Coast Highway. People pull off almost anywhere and head to the water.

View along the Pacific Coast Highway — Right off the Highway

Watching the Pacific Ocean — Admiring the power

beautiful view of the Pacific along the PCH — beautiful views

One of the places we stopped at was an elephant seal resting ground. They would flip sand on themselves to stay cool.

The male elephant seals were practicing their territorial fighting

male elephant seals fighting — They’re adolescent males practice fighting

Elephant seals fighting 3 — They make grunting noises

Elephant seals fighting 2 — They do this to learn how to defend their territory during mating season

As we drove farther north (and probably higher in elevation) we experienced the fog I so often hear about. This next picture was taken as we were reaching our stopping point for the evening. The picture after that was in the morning.

Fog rolling in on the PCH — Fog rolling in

Low clouds in the morning on the PCH — Low clouds in the morning

Coastal Range on the Pacific — Coastal Range and fog

As we drove along my husband saw a whale in the ocean. We pulled off where several people were already watching them. There were birds around the same area, so there was obviously a school of something yummy they all wanted.

As the day wore on the fog burned off, and maybe we were lower in elevation?

Destination sign on the PCH — Destination ahead!

There is a lot of farmland along the PCH. Animals and plants. There is a drought in California right now, but the farmland was still so beautiful.

The coast is dotted not only by farmland, but harbor towns. Similar to New England, with milder weather and different architecture. So picturesque!

Well, that’s it for our Roadschooling/moving trip!

Around 5,800 miles
18 states
four time zones
four of the five biomes
seven of the eight ecoregions in the US
not as much schooling as I would have hoped, but the girls still learned so much

And it won’t stop now that we’re in our new town. We will continue to explore and experience and learn!

Hope you enjoyed the trip with us! Keep checking back to see what we get ourselves into in the next several months.

Not So SAHM

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Roadschooling – East to West: Hooray for Hollywood

I know I’m not talking much about schooling anymore. The girls have been doing a daily page each day that includes some math, copy work, daily calculations, etc. They’ve also been filling out a state page for each state we go through.

This day they filled out their last state page: California!

Welcome to California sign — Finally here!

The drive from Las Vegas to Hollywood was kind of a long one. The scenery in Nevada and eastern California was a little bland (the Mojave Desert), but as you crossed over the mountains of the coastal range things started to get greener. We arrived to our hotel in Calabasas (west of Hollywood, almost north of Malibu) when it was still light outside. I wanted to see the Hollywood sign so we could check that off the list and be ready to head up the coast the next morning. My main reason for having us stay near LA was to see the sign and some of the stars on the walk of fame.

Just in case you didn’t know (was it just me?): the Hollywood sign is not lit up at night. We got stuck in famous LA traffic (something was going on at the Hollywood Bowl) and it took us pretty much forever to get to Hollywood and Highland.

I thought this was going to be it for us:

Welcome to Hollywood — Not quite as impressive

The Hollywood and Highland Center is a great place to see the sign. In the daytime. Here was my view of the iconic symbol:

I was so disappointed. I could barely see it, but it didn’t show up at all in the nighttime pics. I didn’t want to ask everyone to make that trip again in the morning so I could get a shot of it. Sigh. We settled for a dinner of crepes and people watching. As we walked back to the car I got several shots of sidewalk stars. There are so many!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

To my loving surprise, my husband recommended that we go back to see the sign in the morning. Yay! So here it is. 🙂

Hollywood sign and a cross — Oh look! Jesus in Hollywood!

After doing a little bit of shopping we headed as far west as we could: the California Coast. Our next stop — Malibu and northwards on the Pacific Coast Highway!

Not So SAHM

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~