Just north of Fort Bragg, we stayed at a beachside campground and got in a beautiful sunset stroll before supper.
The following day, after stopping at the visitor centre at Humboldt Redwoods State Park (which I mention because it was one of the more interesting visitor centres we've been to), our "stop and hike" to break up the driving was at Ma-Le'l Dunes North near Aracata.
It was surprising to see so many colourful plants amongst the sand.
We spent a considerable amount of time watching the birds as they ran across the beach and flew back and forth in stunning patterns.
It was all I could do not to laugh (and shake the camera) as I took video of this first little sanderling. And then we watched in amazement as they all put on an air show for us.
On the hike out, we came across a huge ant hill! Andrew's feet and legs in the video for size reference.
After leaving Santa Barbara, we headed inland a bit and drove north via the Owens Valley. There were lots of Joshua trees and interesting scenery en route.
Just outside of Bishop, Andrew was hoping to fly at a site called Flynn's. The launch is accessible by road but only with 4-wheel drive and very high clearance. The hike to the top took him about an hour. It doesn't look all that far or steep in the first photo below but the next two show the scale a bit better. Can you spot where he is in each photo?
Looking across to the other side of the Owens Valley
The wind didn't seem too bad at the base, or even on the hike up, but as Andrew crested the summit it was gusting up to 40 km/hr which is way too strong for paragliding!
The next day we headed back towards the coast through Yosemite Park via Tioga Pass. Each day we tried to stop and get out of the vehicle for a short hike. This one near Tenaya Lake did not disappoint! Thankfully we got back to the van just as the rain hit hard.
A couple days later, we were just about finished driving for the day and couldn't find a good coffee shop so . . . wine tasting it was! Barra of Mendocino Winery was very nice. It's a family-owned business focused on organic farming practices. The event hall was originally designed to resemble an inverted champagne glass, hence the beautiful and unique ceiling.
While we were in Loreto or on the road home, I posted a few short videos on Facebook and Instagram. I've now done one more and am posting them all here in one spot for my future reference. All of these are very short, from just a few seconds to a minute. I recommend watching full screen and in HD for best viewing.
On our very first day of scuba diving, not more than five minutes from the marina, we came upon a pod of dolphins. We weren't around them for long and, between that and a bumpy ride, this was the best 6 seconds of video I got!
We also saw several mobile rays jumping out of the water but they are so fleeting (and usually so far away) that I didn't get any video.
We went to the sea lion dive site on Coronado Island on the first day but since we hadn't dived in so long (more than two years!) neither of us took underwater cameras so we could concentrate on just diving and getting used to things again.
Thankfully, we went back a couple days later and the sea lions were quite cooperative!
I had this idea for a "selfie" as I was entering the water. I call this video "Splash!" It wasn't until after our last dive of the trip that I thought I should have got some of Andrew going over the side so people not familiar with diving could actually see what is happening and how we get into the water. Ah well. Next time!
The fish seemed to be plentiful this trip. We wondered if it was because there was no fishing for about six months during the height of Covid. Or maybe I'm just not remembering what it was like before. Either way, we were pleasantly surprised!
One day on our way to Danzante Island, which is one of the furthest ones away, we encountered two Bryde's whales (a momma and baby). They were very playful and hung around our boat for about half an hour before we moved on. We were quite happy to give up some dive time for this as it's a very rare experience. Even our guides and boat captain were excited! (Video by me, photos by Andrew.)
We always enjoy watching the pelicans and other birds around the marina diving for fish. However, they're almost impossible to catch on video or photo. Here are just a few of my many failed attempts and the one successful one.
And the last one . . . a compilation of a few other underwater creatures I managed to get somewhat decently on video.
