Unseasonable warmth

I guess the weather here in Northern California (and maybe even the rest of the US) has decided to be nice. It's been unusually warm these two weeks, with lots and lots of sunshine, and not-too-cold evenings. It's been warmer than when I came in late summer! I wonder if I'll get a right-side tan from sitting on the passenger side of the car for long hours...

Finally got a chance to see Big Sur, or at least the northern part of it. Did a short drive (about 45 minutes) down to Big Sur from Monterey where we went to see the truly amazing aquarium (yes, again). The view from one of the land's-end points is really breathtaking, and standing almost on the edge of the sheer, towering cliff was rather dizzying. I spent a lot of the drive with my camera out the window and trying to catch the best of the scenery. The curving, winding coastline with its huge cliffs, sheer drops, crashing waves and historic bridge crossings made for exquisite views, even with the sun utterly merciless on that hot, hot day.

I would've spent more time outside the car just enjoying being there, but travelling with a toddler comes with a price, and little Sean was obviously unhappy at being cooped up for the long drive - the drive was made long by ridiculous roadworks that made our car ride over an hour longer than it should have been, and Santa Cruz is 40 minutes away from Monterey as it is. But at least I finally did the drive down, which was something I'd wanted to do for a long time. Well, my sis did the driving, anyway - I just sat there snap-happy and gawking out the window.

Today we went to West Cliff...again. The seals were out in full force, whooping away while clamouring on and off their favourite little Seal Rock just slightly off the coast. The surf was so-so, but that didn't stop a sprinkling of surfers from taking advantage of the glorious weather (then again, awful weather doesn't seem to deter them either). Walked maybe half a mile down the beautiful cliffside (which is contantly eroding - seven years ago when I first visited it, the coastline was at least 30 metres out from where it currently stands). After that, drove down to see the monarch butterflies at the Natural Bridges State Park. It wasn't a fantastic turnout today, compared with other times when they covered the trees with their lovely orange wings. Still, it's nice to just look up at them and wonder at their extraordinary lives.

Saw another fireball during the drive back from Gilroy the other night. That meteor was pretty amazing, lasting a few seconds and so brilliant that I initially thought it was an aircraft in the sky. At first, it barely registered in the corner of my peripheral vision as a bright spot like an aircraft coming in our direction. Then, after shining for a couple of seconds, it suddenly did a super-speed nose dive and vanished in a flash, causing a stir of excitement in the car and exclamations of, "Did you see that?!!" I love California.