Crazy Horse Memorial

It snowed in the beautiful South Dakota Black Hills on Saturday and Sunday. I woke up to a foot of snow, and a lot of it melted on Monday. You can tell how dry the land is since it absorbed all that snow so quickly, and no flooding. S-l-u-r-p-p-p-p-p.

On Tuesday I set out to tour. I went to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial. I have been to both of these before, but saw some real changes. Mt Rushmore has developed the area quite a bit. I walked in with a woman who works there. She said there used to be a few benches. Well now there is a bookstore, 6 parking garages, gift shop, flags of all the states and of course the noble men carved into the rock. And an additional bonus of some mountain goats on the way out.

I remember seeing the Crazy Horse Memorial in 70-71. I love it - the concept, the history, the actual carving, the passion of the sculptor and his family. The sculptor was sitting at the bottom when we were there in 70-71. I don’t think he had brought any heavy equipment up to the top at that point. The sculpture was begun in 1948. What a colossal undertaking this is. I can see the changes through the years, but I can also see the amount of work to be done. The major work already done is the removal of millions of tons of rock. The complex also houses the Indian Museum of North America, the Indian University of North America and a medical training center. Crazy Horse Monument is not funded with any government support.  Most of the funding comes from the admission fees. Sales at the complex and donations from individuals and groups make up the difference. They have thought of so many ways to make money, selling this, selling that, now bus trips up to the bottom of the sculpture. But the best way is to sell rocks taken from the mountain. You can buy a rock and you get a card describing the type - an authentication so to speak. I hope they get to sell at least a million ton of these.

In Mitchell, South Dakota I went to the George McGovern Memorial Library. I always liked George McGovern. He stayed true to his ideals and worked for the American people. Even now the family asks that if you want to give a donation in the name of George McGovern please give it to this organization which combats hunger in the US (or SD). When he ran

I think Massachusetts was the only state to vote for him. I remember, although my brother would never admit this, he and I were the only 2 votes for McGovern in our home town.

I stayed in Hinckley, MN for quite some time. I enjoyed the Swedish history of the area. I also loved the campground. I stayed in the campground connected to the casino in Hinckley. The sites were big, and the amenities were great and the cost was reasonable - at least before the Memorial Day holiday. They had over 100 campsites and I thought I’d stay over the weekend so I didn’t have to be on the road. They could accommodate me Tuesday through Friday, and Sunday through Monday. So I just had to go find a place for Saturday, which wasn’t too bad. But I lucked out and found a campground with only 30 sites which would take me Saturday through Monday. Being at the campground at the casino reminded me of being at Swansey. “Hey, Jim, how was your winter?” ” Laurie, Grandpa’s here. Come see him.” I guess a lot of them come back each year.

While in Hinckley I explored my Swedish routes. I visited 4 towns which had Swedish heritage. One of them had a great museum. It had buildings put up by Swedish immigrants, including a house, barn, church, etc, and this year featured Swedish handicrafts. I was told many years ago they were filming a movie in Sweden about emigrants to the US. They sent Ingrid Bergman to this museum. There were a number of pictures of Ingrid Bergman doing handicrafts, smiling, etc. There were people from Sweden visiting the same day I was. All in all, I loved the museum. Of course, years have passed since the first Swedish immigrants came. I asked a number of people before I went, about the towns (one called “Little Sweden”), the big round barn, and other things I had heard.  Not one person I asked knew anything about anything Swedish. Driving down the road I saw this big sign that said Swedish Mall, and drove in and parked. There was a memorial for the first Swedish immigrants to land there. It said there was a restaurant and gift shop, among other things. I went in to the big mall building and found no gift shop. One shop owner said he didn’t know there was one, but directed me to the owner of the mall building. She told me it was in the restaurant, and there I saw 2 short shelves last dusted in the 50s, on the wall with “Swedish-looking” articles like those little red wooden candle holders with a couple flowers painted on them.  So much for roots. But I did find the big round barn, the water tower built like a Swedish teapot, and the mention of immigrants from Sweden, Finland and Norway. They must have sought out the snowiest areas of the country.

In Hinckley I visited the Fire Museum.This was very sad. On Saturday, September 1, 1894, a fire storm raced through the area. The fire wall was 4 ½ miles high. In 4 hours it destroyed 6 towns, 48 square miles of pine forest, and killed 418 people. Of course at this time they only kept records of the white settlers. There are no records of how many native Indians also perished. The most interesting thing I learned here was that 2 trains saved hundreds of people from Hinckley. They piled all the people they could on the trains. One raced through the fire storm. One couldn’t go forward and had to back up. Once it couldn’t go any further, the people jumped out and into a mud flat/swamp area. There were sad, sad stories and stories of heroism. Another interesting fact was that the state set up a relief committee which provided modest homes and basic furniture to families. They had an example at the museum. Another interesting fact is that the soldier who shot and killed John Wilkes Booth apparently died in this fire. It really is a small world.

My next state was Wisconsin. I stayed in Superior, first town on the Wisconsin side beside Duluth, MN. I went to the downtown waterfront of Duluth. It had typical tourist restaurants and shops, but it also had a lift bridge. On the news I had seen huge ships coming in, dwarfing the people watching beside them. While I was there only fishing boats went through, but it was fun to see the bridge lifted.

When I was at a tourist information center I picked up a brochure of the Apostle islands off the shore of Wisconsin in Lake Superior. The officer at the center told me not to miss these. They were really something. So I booked a boat ride to see the islands. The history of the islands was interesting. We went by a fish camp on one. All the trees were about 50 years old on another. We found out that was because they logged the island until all the trees were gone. We heard about an enterprising young realtor who offered a house for sale with a sunken living room, dining room and kitchen. This was his house which he had built and attempted to move over the ice one winter. It had sunk to the bottom of the lake. But the islands were green wooded pieces of land. In other words, I wasn’t impressed. I’m not usually negative about things I see, and I wondered why. I kept waiting to see the islands as they were shown on the brochure. I think what they did was display a picture taken by someone standing in the water in front of Devil’s Island.

There were caves on this island, which looked interesting. But from the boat they were not as big or the rocks as high as on the brochure. When I got back to the pier I went to the restaurant, Pickled Herring, and had - you guessed it - pickled herring. Mmmmmm, it was good.

On my travels this whole trip I have not seen a lot of wildlife. I’ve seen mountain goats, deer, pronghorns, rabbits - one that was really big. I might have thought it a jackalope, but it had no antlers, so I guess it was just a jack. I heard a lot of coyotes a couple camps back. I picked up a Ranger’s book describing all the harrowing visits from bear. My next stop is an area well known for moose and bear. Hopefully I’ll see something, like maybe a moose or bear.

The Upper Peninsula is pretty because of all the water. I keep calling Lake Superior the ocean. I don’t feel too bad though, there are scads of SEAgulls, so they got it wrong too.

I Love My Life

I love my life. I am so grateful that I am able to travel.

Today, though, I am not traveling. I am stranded in the Black Hills of South Dakota in a blizzard. We have 10-12” of snow outside. I’m staying here until the snow stops and melts enough for me to travel the roads. There are lots of sites I want to visit in this area. Most of them I have seen before, but want to check on again. So this is a great time to continue my blog, which I have ignored for a while. I’ll highlight some places I loved.

I stayed in the Redding/Red Bluff area of California for a time waiting for a part to come to get my rig fixed. California is so desperately in need of water. One of the parks had little pools of water that the ducks usually enjoyed. There were signs with warnings about using the pools. They didn't need them this year because all the pools were dry. The ducks pretty much ignored the signs anyway.

One of the sites in the area was the Lasson Volcanic National Park. It has all 4 types of volcanoes within it. The last to erupt was Lassen Peak. Since it was winter, a number of the roads were closed, so I couldn’t get to the geysers and bubbling pools. I thought the roads might be open because the snow cover this year over the park was a fraction of a normal year.

In the years  1914 - 1917 many small explosions took place after a 27,000 year-long sleep. Then on May 19, 1915 a large explosion sent hot lava blocks down the side of Lassen Peak. On the 22nd of May, 7 men including a photographer were examining the devastation from the explosion, and 5 hours after they left Lasson Peak exploded again.

Volcanic ash and gas rose higher than 30,000 feet. Hot rocks were thrown a long distance from the peak. One man was awakened by his dog. He got up thinking there was an animal outside and when he looked out the window, he saw the lava moving down the sides of the volcano and rocks being thrown out the top. Time to leave!! The explosion devastated a huge area, which is now, uniquely enough, named the Devastation area. You can see all these lava rocks sitting around. One in particular was quite large.

I mosied down to Sacramento and spent a day with my cousin. That’s another great thing about traveling. I hadn’t seen my cousin for about 20 years. We spent a great time talking and talking and then visiting the state house.  What a beautiful building! Later my cousin’s husband joined us and we had dinner and saw a play. It was so great seeing them. Cousins are very special.

I visited Columbia which is a great little town representing a gold mining town in the mid-1800s. It had a blacksmith shop, a barn for carriages, a place to pan for gold, and more. What I liked most was the Wells Fargo office. They had all these old packages and trunks from the mid-1850s. They also had a mission bell from the El Camino. Valerie and I had seen these and wondered what they were. And here I found out.

I’ve realized that I like to visit trains and fish hatcheries. Was I a fish-eating conductor in a past life? I went to Railtown in Jamestown, CA.

This location features one of 2 continuously operating steam locomotive roundhouses in the U.S. It also features the Sierra Railway #3 - the movie train. Its movie credits include  High Noon, Back to the Future III, among others. Its TV credits include “Gunsmoke,” “Petticoat Junction” and many more. I lucked out because the day I visited they were getting the locomotives ready for the summer, so I saw them blowing their steam.

I traveled to the desert, staying a couple weeks in Desert Hot Springs. The campground was great - they had hot springs galore - about 7 of them in my section.  It was right near Palm Springs, and I took a tour there.  I thought it was more than celebrities’ houses, but it wasn’t.

I did get a kick out of Liberache’s mailbox - a piano, and the fact that we saw that Leonardo Di Caprio was getting ready for a party. None of us got a kick out of the fact that owners hired gardeners to wash down their driveways. Do they not know there is a water crisis?

Next on my agenda was Colorado. I stayed near Boulder and Denver, in Golden. I visited my niece and her fiancée quite a bit. That, of course, was fantastic. We took advantage of a few Happy, Happy, Happy Hours, and brewing establishments. I like Boulder’s atmosphere.

I’ve taken a few walking tours of homes this trip, a lot of them Victorian. One I went into in Denver was terrific, because of the owner, not the home. It was the home of Molly Brown. What a woman!! She got the name the Unsinkable Molly Brown when she survived the sinking of the Titanic. On the Titanic she was helping others get into the lifeboats, using her knowledge of many different languages.

She put all her clothes on, and then took off layers to keep others warm. She was literally picked up and put in a lifeboat. Molly Brown constantly fought for the rights of others, particularly miners and children. She ran for Senate 3 times before women even had the right to vote. As I said, what a woman!!!!

I've also visited quite a few museums. One I enjoyed very much was the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. I like his work from the 1920s into the 1940s, before he was a full abstract expressionist. I also loved the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo, WY. You can’t take pictures there since many of the articles are very meaningful to different people, and recording the images dishonors their contributions. Jim Gatchell was a most interesting and honorable man. He opened a drugstore and was an equal friend to the white settlers and the native Indians. He was known to them as a medicine man, dispersing some of the medicines from his pharmacy. There are so many stories attached to each of the articles in the museum. I think I spent 3 hours there and didn’t see everything. There were boards and boards and boards of old pictures which were unique and informative. They had a mounted head of a jackalope and a story of a few guys who finally got this elusive wildlife. I first heard about the jackalope (half jackrabbit; have antelope) in Jackson Hole, WY 45 years ago.  I was very impressed to read this long story and see the trophy head.

In Cheyenne, WY I stayed at the Terry Bison Ranch. I played the washboard in the band and went out to feed the buffalo during the day.  I told Tawny she should have one of those tongues. They also had camels at this ranch - started with 5 about 5 years ago, and now have 6. One of the cowboys said if they drop a baby in the winter it wouldn’t make it. He said the camels were too tall for the barn. I told him they should build a taller barn.

I was very glad I stayed for a few days in Buffalo, WY. I ate and drank at the Occidental Hotel which Butch Cassidy, Calamity Jane and other well-known outlaws frequently visited. I also followed the cattle wars and the cavalry-native Indian wars. Then I went to Sundance and got wrapped up in The Sundance Kid’s exploits. But the most interesting site to me was the Vore Buffalo Jump.

When they were building Rte 90 through Beulah, WY they found a mass of bones, stopped digging and called the archeologists. One of the ranchers gave the highway department some of his land to move 90, and the site of the buffalo jump continued to be researched. Between 1550 and 1800 a number of tribes used this location to trap buffalo. At the time they hunted by foot, not horse, and it was difficult to kill as many buffalo as they needed to get through the winter. The tribes joined forces and tricked the buffalo, sometimes posing as one, to stampede toward this sinkhole with high walls. The buffalo jumped off the ridge and into the pit. The natives then went down into the pit, made sure the buffalo were dead and took pretty much everything off the buffalo for food, clothing, grease, tanning oil, etc. They found 21 different layers of bone. Through oral histories as well as the archeological findings they recreated what happened so many years ago. I found this fascinating. And I really lucked out because they were not due to open for weeks but they had a group of students and the board members came out to show them the site.

Now I’m in the coach in the middle of a foot of snow, listening to a man play songs on his tuba. Could it get any better?

Sea Lions Take Over

Blog Draft – Mar 1, 2015

I haven't written on my blog for quite a while. Why? Who knows? I'll skip around some to touch some spots I remember.

Valerie and I enjoyed the California coast, driving along the shore – Pacific Grove, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur. We went along the 17 mile drive which started in Pacific Grove and continued through Monterey and beside Pebble Beach.   And we drove the windy coast by Big Sur – without the rig, which was my choice. I would do it now, though. I have taken it over many windy turns since then because I had no choice.Just how many pictures can you take of the beautiful California coast?

I keep seeing great wave explosions, rock formations and silly little seagull poses. I'm fortunate that I had opportunities to spend time at the ocean – the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian. My choice was never to buy a place; nor could I afford what I wanted. But as I have been traveling the Pacific, that yearning to have a place by the sea returns frequently. I also keep wanting to go back for a few months to this great place by the ocean in South Africa, which was quite reasonable. This trip I have spent much time driving the coast, walking on the beach, watching surfers, and thoroughly enjoying the ocean.

While Valerie and I stayed in San Francisco, we took some time to see the city. One day we drove in to Pier 39, in the Fisherman's wharf area, where there are stores and restaurants galore and you can see Alcatraz out in the bay. As we were checking out the stores we started to hear all this noise – argk, argk, argk. We went around a corner and there were hundreds of sea lions “hauled out” on Pier 39's K-Dock. In October, 1989 following an earthquake that hit San Francisco, a few California sea lions started flopping up onto K-Dock. They thought this was great.There was plenty of food in the bay, and California laws protect them, so they had no predators hanging around trying to feed on them. Thus, they put out the word. Within a few months there were 300. In November, 2009 they hit a record high of 1,701. These sea lions have migration patterns from Vancouver to the southern tip of Baja, but many of them stop in San Francisco to check out the tourists and provide a little show. In the summer and early fall naturalists provide information. All we got was a brochure and lots of argk, argk, argk.

The last day of Valerie's stay we went to Muir Woods. This is an old-growth, un-cut stand of coast redwoods. The coast redwoods are the tallest trees around,found on the California and Oregon coasts. Sequoia redwoods, also found in California, but on the interior, tend to be larger in girth, but not as tall. There is one more type of redwood, found only in China. These trees are big, and since they are so tall they provide a redwood canopy of shade. The fog and moisture are also prevalent in this ancient forest. I followed the redwoods up the coast, stopping to see one of the trees through which cars are driven. No. I didn't drive my rig through it. I saw many trees that were old, even a few claimed to be over 1,000 years of age. The trees weren't claiming that; the naturalists were – just to be clear.

Redwoods are beautiful. Often you can't see the top, and you have to be careful about falling backwards as you try. Or at least I do. Redwoods have burls all over them. These burls will often sprout and you will see a family of trees in very close proximity with children from the burls. While I was on the northern shore I heard on the news that burls were being stolen. These are also sold and used for carvings. The talk on the radio was urging a large fine be attached to any burls being taken off trees. Many of the trees have withstood fires and lightning strikes, but losing their burls limits the regeneration of trees and increases the risk of disease, pests, etc. Luckily we have some preservations like Muir Woods to allow future generations to see these redwoods which once covered California coastal valleys.

I visited a sea glass museum outside of Ft Bragg, owned and managed by a man who seemed to be one of the world's experts on sea glass. At Ft Bragg, they used to throw the trash in the ocean. I know!!!! How could they make the seacoast a dump??!! The sea took all those glasses and bottles and polished them and sent them back to the beaches. Ft. Bragg was well-known for its sea glass beaches, but after all these years they've been picked clean. Thank God, the coast was cleaned up and no longer used for a dump.

The next day I went back to Ft Bragg and took a train up through beautiful redwood forests. I didn't make a reservation because it was winter and their schedule was dramatically shortened. I'm glad I didn't wait for the conductor to call "all aboard" because I got the last seat. Quite a few people brought their dogs, which surprised me. There was an observation car and a food car and people were walking about. It's a good thing because if a dog were sitting on my last seat available, I would have asked the dog to move or pay me the money for the ticket. This was called the Skunk Train.In the olden days they used one type of fuel to run the train and another to run the “kitchen.” The combination created a train that you could smell before you could see. This train also takes campers out to camp “on the NOYO.” You have to stay at least 2 nights. The 

tents, cooking kits, canoes, kayaks, etc. are all provided. You can ONLY arrive and depart by the train. If you stay a while the train delivers your groceries too. We went past a 1000+ year old redwood which survived through the first cutting of this forest. It had a huge scar down one side which was probably caused by a lightning strike. That ugly scar kept it alive for who knows how many more years. We went by an orchard and found out the owner of much of the land who had cleared many acres was trying to get settlers to move to the area. He offered land to families who would plant a crop and raise cattle or sheep. (In the old west wasn't it cattle OR sheep?) Apples grew well in the area and this was one of the original orchards still going strong.

I continued up the coast to Eureka. I never found out for sure, but I think a fellow was panning for gold, found a big nugget, and yelled “Eureka!!” And thus a town was born!! On one of my short drives along the ocean I was really glad I wasn't driving the motorhome. I wasn't sure the car was going to make it. The road was narrow, slanting toward the ocean, and consisted of soft dirt, so I was sliding around a bit. But we made it! And on the other side I found a number of surfers parked. This was a spot where the surfers changed into their wet suits and climbed down the rocks/path to surf. Of course they all came in from the other side. It was a beautiful spot. I drove up to Oregon that day just to make sure the coast was just as beautiful as in California, and it is. 

That same day I was driving back to my home away from home, and spotted a herd of elk. I pulled over to watch them for a time, and then continued down the road and saw another herd. I guess they travel through these meadows at dusk. I love seeing wildlife in their own environment. I feel privileged.

I visited a hatchery in Blue Lake. They had just let loose a huge number of trout into the river, and there were many fisherpeople out trying to hook them. There were also a couple blue heron hanging around the hatchery with the same idea. Fishing is big business in this area. The hatchery raised rainbow and steelhead trout. They have a fish ladder to bring the steelhead trout up.They then by hand take the males and squeeze out the sperm. They take a syringe and push the sperm into the females. Ughhh!!! The little trout get their nourishment off the egg sac until they're on their own and get bigger and bigger until they are released. I had many questions without someone around to answer. So I have to look this up and learn more about this hatchery.

I was in Crescent City at low tide and decided to cross over to the Battery Point lighthouse. I have so much trouble now keeping my balance, I'm sure I provide onlookers amusement as I try to stay on the rocks with my arms waving, and then just give in and walk in the water. It was a nice walk and once again a beautiful view. When I got back I felt like I was back in Alaska or the Maritimes. A guy asked me if I saw the whale. I should have been there “10 minutes ago.” Of course, the whale is gone now. I sometimes think these people hang around for an hour telling everyone they should have been there “10 minutes ago.”

The last few days I have been in Redding. They have a beautiful sundial pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River. It was designed to carry all the weight above the water and not place columns down into the fish spawning area under the bridge.
It is the tallest working sundial in the world, made of a glass deck, a 217' pylon and massive cables. It was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and is quite beautiful.

I also went to the Shasta Dam. Massive!! This was built between 1937 and 1944, by 5,000 people. Shasta Lake when filled by the dam covered 6-7 towns and villages. It was a critical need for the war effort. In a videotape they talked to some of the people who worked on the dam. You could see how proud they were of their work. They had a Shasta Dam village with all the services. After the dam was completed many of the houses from that village were bought by local people and transported to their land. It is considered a great success - stopped the flooding, provides hydroelectric power, provides water for irrigation. There is also a hatchery attached to it and it has managed the temperature of the water for the fish.

A Rookery for Elephant Seals

The day after I went to Silver City I went back to Silver City. I was going to the Gila Cliff Dwellings beyond Silver City, but the fog was very thick. I turned the corner just before Silver City and then turned back. Even though I had my binoculars just in case I didn't think I could climb the cliffs, what help would they be if you couldn't even see 2 car lengths ahead? So I visited Silver City again and went into the pink store. 

A much bigger version of this store is in Mexico, and people at LOW's go there once a week to eat, shop, dance, etc. They had a great skeleton for the Day of the Dead. I walked around, had lunch, and waited until 3:00.  Still foggy, so I gave up. 

I figured I had 3 days to get to the LA area. But, I figured wrong and arrived a day before I was due. If I had calculated correctly I would have spent 1 night in Quartzite. That was where I began to feel warm. They found me a site for that night. Then the next day I moved to the assigned site. I spent a great time with Sean, April, Quentin, Mason, Chuck and Tyler. I also met April's parents, and enjoyed their company and our conversations. Sean, April, I and the four kids went to Venice Beach.

We saw a few muscle men, lots of street performers, skateboarders and people, people, people. It was Martin Luther King Day so we celebrated the holiday together with the kids. 

The next day Sean, April and I toured a Russian submarine and the Queen Mary. I think the Russians left quite a few submarines in our water. As Valerie and I toured further up the coast we saw another Russian submarine. Of course the Pacific coast is closer to Russia. I remember Sarah Palin could see it from her back porch. The Queen Mary was one, if not the, biggest and fastest ships at the time it was built. And it was beautiful!!!! I would have enjoyed cruising the Atlantic on such a beauty. During the war, it was transformed to a troop carrier, and then back to a cruise ship. Quite a history. It claims to be haunted, and we looked hard for ghosts, to no avail. But we thoroughly enjoyed our day on the Queen Mary. 

The one thing I regret not doing with the LA gang was playing pitch. We always have some good games. I guess next time.

After LA I went to San Diego. My friend Valerie flew in and we went to see what I think is the best  zoo I have ever seen.

San Diego Zoo is so nicely laid out, and has good space for the animals. As soon as I started viewing the animals I was missing South Africa. I really do want to go back there. As in South Africa, I liked the big cats best. Probably because I can see the same traits in my little cat.We also took a tour of San Diego. I love the hop on - hop off tours. We went to the Seaport village, the Gas Light village and ate at a great old hotel and saloon. 

And, of course, if you're in San Diego you have to go to Tijuana, right? So now both of us can say, "Been there; done that!" 

The next day we drove and drove - more than 8 hours. We found the most tremendous campground in Paso Robles. It was clean, had great services and amenities, and accepted Passport America, so we paid half price. It was a long day and just as we were going to our respective beds, we couldn't find Tawny. We searched the coach and found a window open in the cab. So off we go in our pajamas, carrying flashlights. We found her in about 45 minutes, but by then the adrenalin kept us up for a while.

I had said that I definitely wanted to see the Hearst Castle this time in this area. We planned for that the second day. On the first day we started driving along the coast, going north. There were plenty of ooohs and ahhhhs. The California coast is absolutely eautiful. I can see why so many people want to live here. We saw a sign for elephant seals with an arrow toward the ocean. We went there and read some of the information. There were many people on a structure beside the beach. As we started to walk toward the beach we saw many rocks on the sand. As we got closer, we realized these rocks were elephant seals. We had come across a rookery for elephant seals.  

 I learned that in late November, December the male seals come to this beach and fight for sections of the beach. Then in January, pregnant females come to the beach, decide which section they want, and join the harem around the male who won that section. Then the females deliver a pup, and turn their teats to the pup's mouth, and the nursing begins. The pup nurses for about a month. Then the female seal mates many times and goes into the ocean for a few months. The pup stays for a time and builds up muscle and skill. When ready, the pups go into the water also. A few months later the mothers and juveniles return to the beach to molt. And then later in the year the whole process begins again.

Watching these seals was fascinating. One little pup kept trying to nurse from a big alpha male. He wasn't too happy with that. This made my day; made my trip. Who wants to go to Hearst Castle when you can stay by the ocean and see things like this?

The next day we saw another miracle of nature. We went to Pismo Beach and saw the Monarch Butterfly grove. This grove is home for thousands/millions of Monarch butterflies every winter. These butterflies come from the western parts of the states and Canada. The eastern butterflies go to Mexico City. All the orange specks on the tree pictured to the left are butterflies. 

I knew that butterflies migrated, and about 40 years ago saw some wintering in a tree in Pacific Grove, CA. What I didn't know and found fascinating was that it is the fifth generation that returns to Pismo Beach to winter. I realize that butterflies don't live that long, so 4 generations have died before it is time to  go south, but how do they know where to go? 'Tis a puzzlement!!!!!

After viewing the butterflies we walked to the end of the pier in Pismo Beach, and spoke with a fisherman fishing for sharks. He had a 3/4-prong gaff which was huge. If he hooked a shark he was going to lower the gaff to grab the shark and take the fight out of it. We left wondering how he was going to pull all that out of the water. Here's hoping there were a lot of people on the pier to help him if he did catch a shark. He said they tasted great and it was worth the trouble and risk.