We turned left (South) on Highway 1, and found things.

So... we left Davenport in no grand hurry, and slowly made our way south. 

The most memorable (for me, at least) was our Moss Landing stop. Moss Landing, you ask? Yes, it is amazing. Clif literally screeched to a stop when I yelled out at him about Phalaropes and a fluttering of other shorebirds on the side of the highway. Turns out, I was right to scream. 

Right, I mean RIGHT, next to the dirt road was the most adorable Sea Otter, working his way through the shell of a muscle (or oyster, or something), so loud we could hear it from our car. I braved the traffic (there was none) and heroically ran across the road to get the first shot you see below. Because ... I'm a tourist. And, because I thought this was the only Sea Otter I was going to see on this trip. Of course, WRONG AGAIN JESS.

We come around the next corner, and *KAPLOOEY!*, there are more Sea Otters and some lions of the sea persuasion to boot. They were stinkin' cute, and I almost died, but Clif kept me hydrated, and caught my binoculars when I lost track of them grabbing for my camera with a high-powered lens. Whoa. It was so intense.

Clif saw the opportunity to walk toward humans as opposed to more cute fuzzy and feathery things, and we tried to spend 5 minutes watching surfers. That didn't last long, because surfers are like rock climbers, but on water, with less muscles. So I reached again for my faithful 2012 Eagle Optics 8x24 Rangers, and scoped out the shoreline past the surfers, and whoa and behold!!!! WHALES! Yep. I spotted whales. Jess-1, nature-1 million. Okay, nature always wins. But still, I felt like for a moment I was on top of it. Like, really, on top of seeing things. As a good naturalist should be.

Then, Clif dragged me away, for good reason of course. We ended up slurping down oysters and drinking white wine down the street at a working fish market. And heaven creeped up on us, and stayed a whole 30 minutes.

Then, we were off again.

We tried lunch at a false fisherman's warf, where a cruise ship had just dumped (think pooped) a million people on 8 restaurants and about 3 candy shops per cruise ship patron. SO MANY CANDY SHOPS. That is why America is fat. Cruise ships and candy shops. 

Anyway, we decided that cities were not for us, and booked it to Big Sur, where we pulled up as the sun was setting to the Big Sur Campgrounds and Cabins. OMG. WHAT ENSUED IS FOR TOMORROW. We basically just drank wine and ate cheese, but still, there are more photos for tomorrow. For now, enjoy water photos.

Or else.

The little guy. All by himself. I contemplated taking him home to make a hat out of him (AH! PETA I WAS KIDDING!)

Seals have really thin skin on their flippers and have to warm themselves in the sun all day.
News flash: My feet get cold, but nobody lets me lounge by the seashore.

Surfer, surfer, wave, no more surfer.

OH! There are  more of them!

Long-billed Curlew, that sent me into a tizzy. I mean, look at the little cutie!!

You can't see the cruise ship in the background. Because it sank with all the fatties and their candy (kidding!).

Coastline. Life is so hard.

Clif. And our cabin, and my new car. What? We stayed here. All night. Cutest thing ever?
Yes, is the answer.