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Break Time


Hearst Zebras Alerting To the Hartz'
 After beating up my aging body all day Wednesday putting up a metal storage shed we decided to take a break and heal for the next session due today.  I said, "let's drive up the coast to Ragged Point and have lunch."  As usual, my bride said "I'm packed."  So after a great breakfast she made of scrambled eggs, honey-maple pork sausage and English muffins, off we went. 
I opted for the freeway to get near the area sooner, and so we could stop and explore places once we got to Highway 1.  We stopped in San Simeon, a town with a dozen motels, a liquor store, and an "Indian" trading post.  After perusing the trading post we went into the small residential neighborhood, between the motels and the Hearst Corporation Ranch land.
At the fence we were surprised and delighted to spot several of the legendary zebras, descendents of the ones brought in by William Randolph Hearst.  While my bride collected pine cones I took a few photos, see one above.  She loves pine cones.  When I had enough photos and she had a box full of pine cones, we continued up the fabulous coast toward Big Sur.  The fog was coming and going over the headlands and the mountains giving a truly surreal look to the landscape. 
Near Piedras Blancas Lighthouse


We arrived at Ragged Point and heading for the nearly deserted dining room.  At a sunny corner table we shared a pastrami sandwich.  My bride had a cup of Italian Wedding soup, didn't this used to be called "minestrone"?, I had the potato salad.  Through the glass walls we watched starlings, redwings and jays drink bathe in a large fountained pond.  Of course the jays had to fight with everybody and their own species, too.  After the meal we strolled down the meadow, braving the chilly foggy wind to stand in awe of the view of the southern Big Sur disappearing into the fog up north.  Walking back to the parking lot (by the way, Chevron gets $5.39 per gallon here miles from any other gas...) we noticed a group of people gathered at the back of my truck. Now as my truck is festooned with numerous stickers and a large kayak, I am used to it getting attention now and then, but this was quite a group, and appeared to have a leader.  Turns out, he was escorting a bunch of German tourists and said he was translating my right wing and tea party slogans to give them a little American political schooling.  They looked rather unimpressed, but their driver, a big burly black guy, was laughing when the leader told me he liked my stickers...as in NOT!  It was funny and fun.

Turkeys & Deer, Cambria


We hit the road, winding down the hill toward SLO county, and pulled over to let the Germans' bus pass us.  We saw it again at the elephant seal viewing area.  Approaching Cabria, we went up hill toward the mansion country and immediately found a flock of turkeys scratching and feeding with a herd of deer.  We have seen this phenomenon before, I have to look it up to see if any biologists can explain it.  I got out, nobody ran off, I got my camera, started shooting and walking toward them, again nobody ran off, they just moved oh-so-nonchanlantly away from me.  No hunting pressure here, obviously.  

We headed for home after five hours and feasted on shrimp pot stickers.  What a great break.

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