Road Trip!

This past weekend, I decided to go camping. I got all my stuff packed up and headed out early to The Pinnacles National Park. I got there around 9:30 only to find that all the camp sites were full. I had looked online, but it said first come first serve, so I thought I would get one if I got there early enough - WRONG! Time for plan B.

I decided to hang around the Monterey area, so I drove to Moss Landing on a whim and then checked out the Elkhorn Slough Wildlife Reserve. I only intended to stay an hour. 3 hours and a 2.5 mile hike later, I finally got back to my car, and booked a hotel room in Salinas online (smart phones are the most awesome things ever). I stopped a few places on the way to the hotel and took lots of photos, of course.

The next day I drove to the west side of The Pinnacles National Park to take a short hike to look for wildflowers. It was pretty dry, but I did find a few: Johnny Jump Ups, Chinese Houses, a few Cream Cups, Poppies, Purple Owl's Clover, Miner's Lettuce, Monkeyflower, Woodland Star, and Larkspur. It was pretty warm, so I didn't go more than a half mile before turning around. Besides, I had more places to see and was short on time.

After my short stay at The Pinnacles, I drove down Jolon Road to Lake San Antonio and took a short tour before heading to Morro Bay to see the sea otters. They were in their usual spot at Morro Rock. I just love to see them :)  My final stop was at Shell Beach before heading to the 166 to drive home. All in all, a nice road trip!

I posted pics below.

Until next time, happy trails!



Links to check out:

Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Morro Bay -  Wildlife Hotspots
Salinas River State Beach - Moss Landing, CA
Lake San Antonio

Moss Landing - Marbled Godwit - . 4/20/13

cr_Moss Landing_Marbled Godwit (2), originally uploaded by kimberzy.

My first photo of these guys - pretty cool. Wish the lighting would have been better, but oh well. Still, not a terrible shot :)

Elkhorn Slough Wildlife Reserve - Wild Turkey - 4/20/13

cr_Elkhorn Slough_Wild Turkey, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

I saw this wild turkey out of the corner of my eye. It jumped up onto the fence, jumped down and took off running across the field.

Elkhorn Slough Wildlife Reserve - 4/20/13

cr_Elkhorn Slough_Snowy Egret1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

A Snowy Egret takes flight.

Moss Landing - Golden Crowned Sparrow - 4/20/13

cr_moss landing_golden crowned sparrow2, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

A quick look at this bird and you can tell where it gets its name from.

Moss Landing - Bewick's Wren - 4/20/13

cr_Moss Landing_Bewick's Wren1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

All wrens are quite cute, but I think the Bewick's Wren is my favorite.

Moss Landing - Great Blue Heron - 4/20/13

cr_Moss Landing_Great Blue Heron (1), originally uploaded by kimberzy.

Usually shy and quick to fly away, I was able to get pretty close to this particular Great Blue Heron.

Moss Landing - Caspian Tern - 4/20/13

cr_Moss Landing_ Caspian Tern1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

Along with the gulls flying around, Caspian Terns were also busy fishing for some dinner.

Moss Landing - Sea Otter - 4/20/13

cr_moss landing_sea otter1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

This Sea Otter was busy grooming and cleaning himself, doing somersaults in the water and rubbing his fur.

Moss Landing - Sea Otter - 4/20/13

cr_moss landing_sea otter3, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

While watching the Sea Lions, this Sea Otter swam by.

Moss Landing - Sea Lions - 4/20/13

IMG_1479, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

In the parking lot at Moss Landing, I heard the distinctive bark of sea lions....lots of them. So I went over to the dock, and saw that the sea lions had completely taken over this particular dock. They were piled on top of another, each jockeying for a comfy position on the dock. Although it looked anything but comfy.

Shell Beach - Pelagic Cormorant - 4/21/13

cr_shell beach_pelagic cormorant3, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

The Pelagic Cormorant is smaller in size than its cousin the Double Crested Cormorant.

Shell Beach - Western Gull - 4/21/13

cr_shell beach_western gull1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

This Western Gull found a good nesting spot.

Morro Bay - Sea Otters - 4/21/13

cr_Morro Bay_Sea Otters2, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

mama sea otter + baby sea otter = CUTE!

Morro Bay - Sea Otters - 4/21/13

cr_morro bay_sea otters3, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

Morro Bay - Sea Otters - 4/21/13

cr_Morro Bay_Sea Otters1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

Sea Otters are a common sight at Morro Rock. They like to wrap themselves up in kelp to keep them from drifting away while they sleep.

Morro Bay - Heermann's Gull - 4/21/13

cr_morro bay_heermann's gull (5), originally uploaded by kimberzy.

This is a juvenile Heermann's Gull.

Morro Bay - Double Crested Cormorant - 4/21/13

cr_morro bay_double crested cormorant1, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

This Double Crested Cormorant was swimming amongst the otters. They didn't seem to mind though.

Morro Bay - Crab - 4/21/13

cr_morro bay_crab2, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

I looked down on the rocks after hearing a bit of a scuffling sound, to find this crab ducking into a crack in the rocks.

Morro Bay - Squirrel - 4/21/13

IMG_1712, originally uploaded by kimberzy.

This California Ground Squirrel was quite the chatty guy. I don't know what he was saying or who he was saying it to, but he was "talking" non-stop to someone.