Los Cabos

At the end of June we slipped away from SF for a very quick, work-related visit to Los Cabos, Mexico.  The only other time I had been to Mexico was a day-trip across the border to Tijuana years and years ago.  

The resort provided a nice backdrop to a lot of relaxation in the suite, by the pools, and on the beach.  

When we arrived the first day, the beach was actually closed to the public because of the high surf.  But the waves were too tempting, and W got in for some excellent bodysurfing while I used my best Spanish to calm the lifeguard that W knew what he was doing.

As with most social events hosted by W's work, the food and entertainment were great, and the event was run extremely smoothly. 

There were a few organized events--a soccer game and an adventurous activity (we chose to swim with dolphins!), and the rest of the time was pretty open to relax.

It was a nice reward for the insane travel and work hours the company employees put in.

Wacky Wednesday

This made me smile today:

via
(ignore the apostrophe) #petpeeve
while you're at it, ignore the cigarette, too.

Happy Wednesday!

Carmel and Big Sur

Another weekend, another out-of-town adventure!
My lil sister returned to the states after 3.5 months abroad, where she was volunteering.  She arrived home late last week, so we welcomed her home...and sort of repeated our Easter weekend festivities so she wouldn't have to miss out any longer on those fun days!

We hiked at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park again, wanting to show her McWay Falls.  We picked an equally great day to visit:

On the drive down to Big Sur, we stopped a few times to see various wildlife.  Below is as zoomed in as I could get to several seal pups.  Not entirely sure if they are harbor seals or elephant seals, but they were really loud!  They were jumping in and out of the water.

We also saw numerous turkey vultures.

A few locals had their scopes on a California condor, but my photos didn't turn out, it was really far away.

But then on the hike back from the falls, we saw what we think was a second condor!  These guys have a 9-foot wing span.  And they are rare, so we were pretty impressed by the sightings.

Finally, to round out the nature scenes for the weekend, Sunday morning we went bodysurfing at Carmel Beach and caught some great waves.  And half-way through the session, W saw out of the corner of his eye something grey jump out of the water.  He said he thought it was either a surfer jumping off his board into the air, or a dolphin jumping in the waves.  Sure enough, a few seconds later we saw a pod of dolphins swimming closer to us, riding in the waves.  There were two really small dolphins and three adults; later a few more joined for a total of 8 or so.  The pod swam north and south along the coast and both times they passed by, they were incredibly close to us!  We don't think we have ever seen the dolphins in so close to shore; it was an absolutely incredible experience!

Anyway, fun weekend and great nature sights in Carmel and Big Sur.  This Spring weather has been such a treat.

Ocean Beach Bodysurfing

Sunday, we went bodysurfing at Ocean Beach.  Yep, that beach five miles from home...the waves we hadn't yet been in, despite both of us growing up practically in the Pacific Ocean...  What took us so long?

(all photos taken on phone, above with filter added)

It was a very chilly weekend here in the city, and it drizzled and rained most of Sunday.  Luckily, you don't notice that when you're in the water!  We even saw a pod of dolphins swim by twice, which was awesome.  (Too bad I didn't have my sister's underwater camera with me...)

The Cliff House at the North end of Ocean Beach

There were a few moments of brighter skies, but most of the time, it was dark and grey.  It was often hard to see the contrast between the waves and the dark sky, which made gauging wave size a bit tricky.  But it was some of the most fun bodysurfing we've ever done.  (Will gave a double fist pump after several rides...and he said he saw me with a huge, goofy grin on my face during one of mine...)

Unfortunately, we missed last year's bodysurfing competition at Ocean Beach.

It's hard to tell in this photo, but the swell was 4-7 ft (though felt bigger when we were in), and there were at least 25 other surfers out there with us.

With the addition of a few new or extra layers, we were warm enough for most of the time in the water.  Numbness did eventually set in, so we headed home to warm up with the ultimate winter post-beach lunch: grilled cheese and tomato soup!

I can't believe it took us a year to get out there; I am already eagerly anticipating our next session!