Long Drive, Great Weather

[howeird]

Somehow I was on the road by 8:30 this morning. Drove for two hours to the only rest stop between my place and the Coast, stopped to stretch my legs, take off my jacket and test the plumbing.

Took the San Simeon road instead of Atascadero, much easier and safer and about the same amount of time though maybe 15 miles further.

Got to the whale watching place with an hour to spare, paid for my reservation, gave them one of my 2014 calendars (they were thrilled) and went back to the car to take Dramamine, put my Sharks jacket into a fold-up knapsack, hydrate and taunt the parking vultures. I had on my UW sweatshirt, and that was all I needed for the whole 3-hour ride. It was about 70F out in the ocean, in the sun. Better weather than the two times I was here in the summer.

Unfortunately, the 2nd team was running the boat, and got played. We wasted an hour going to a site a competitor suggested, then it was another hour to see a spout in the far distance. Bottom line is I got nothing on film. We followed a single juvenile instead of the two adults it was first spotted with, and it never got close enough for even a good 200mm shot. One tail sighting, but that was about all.

So now I am debating whether to go out tomorrow afternoon. If they even have a trip in the afternoon, which they don't always.

Not going on the 9 am run, it will be too cold & foggy. So the plan is to see what the weather is, if it is still warm and clear at 11, book the 1 pm run if they have one. Check if the hotel room is available for another night. Go whale watching, stay another night, then drive home Tuesday morning.

And if the weather turns too cold or overcast, just check out of the hotel and drive home.

Comments

[vasilatos]

i've spent a fair amount of time there (family in Los Osos), probably stay at the same hotel... say hello to the rock

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a beautiful day to be out, even if the results were disappointing.