Santa Cruz and Marin County
Brian needed to visit Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley when deciding on a college, so we took the opportunity to spend some time along two chunks of the California Coast with Joan and Ruby. We stayed for a night or two in Davenport, a bit north of Santa Cruz, and explored a couple of beaches in that area, including Año Nuevo State Park, which is a large breeding ground for the northern elephant seal. They're numerous and big!! We also headed up to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, and visited several beaches in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. As usual, it was relaxing and full of visual delights! One of the more interesting things we saw was a beach full of Valella's. They're related to the jellyfish, but float on the surface of the open ocean and get blown around by the wind in their "sails". When the prevailing wind blows ashore, the beaches can fill up with millions of these things! Seals at Ano Nuevo State Park Pounding...