Day 19 On our way to the coast

When we awoke we quickly packed up all of our gear. That takes us about an hour.  We left at 8 AM and it is smoky due to the forest fire nearby. We have ashes on our tent and car.  It is good we are leaving.

When we got far enough out of Yosemite we were able to call and text families.  I so was able to publish this blog.

The severe drought is very evident, but there are miles and miles of huge flowering bushes between the divided highways.  We passed huge orchards along the way too.  As the afternoon progressed we were in more and more traffic congestion with 6 lanes at times. We also went through our first toll gate. The country mice miss rural areas!

We arrived at the motel in Petaluma at 2:30 PM. Whew!

Our favorite t-shirt quote was on the shirt of a teenage girl that seemed to have an attitude: "I hate everyone...and pants!" Ha-ha!

We got to the Best Western Motel at 3:00 PM.  We cleaned up, ate a late lunch while washing a load of clothes.  Then off for the ocean.  We got a little lost, so it was frustrating.   

It was cold and windy went to the Pt. Reyes area and I saw the ocean for the first time.  All I can say is"Wow!" I loved how vast it was.  I also really enjoyed watching the waves roll in.  I loved the way it smelled too.  The habitat at the ocean shoreline is so neat!  There weren't shells on the beach, but I saw sand dollars and a few broken shells.  There were some cool birds around.

Then we drove to another section and saw our first Sea Lions and Elephant Seals! I took iPhone photos of my camera screen, so the photos don't look as good as they are.

The smoke was due to the nearby forest fire.  We were happy to get out of there.

 

This the traffic in California out in the country.

These huge, beautiful flower bushes lined the highways for many miles.

My first ever view of the ocean!  I loved it!

There were Elephant Seals on the shore.

These Sea Lions are pretty cuddly!

It looks warm, but it was really windy and cold here at Pt. Reyes on this June day!

The sunset was quite pretty!

I loved watching the waves roll in!