The 7th graders at Conner's middle school go to see the Elephant Seals each year. His science teacher said that they've been going for over 30 years! Parker didn't want to go when he was in 7th grade, but I convinced Conner that it would be fun to go.
We had to meet at the school at 6:10 am the morning we left. One of the 3 kids (including Conner) that I was supposed to take didn't show up. However, a kid that was supposed to go the day before showed up that morning, so he came with me. We left about 6:20 and started our drive down the coast to Ano Nuevo. We had a beautiful view of the water as the sun was rising. It was a really pretty drive once we got through San Francisco.
Once we were almost there we stopped at Pigeon Point Light House and walked around, explored the beach a little, watched the Harbor Seals, and read about the history of the Light House.
Here's my group. Lance, Shingo, and Conner
A view from the look out at the lighthouse.
Harbor Seals sunning themselves on the rocks. One kept trying to get up on the rocks too, but kept getting knocked back into the water by the waves.
Conner and I in front of the ocean.
After a short stop we jumped back in the car and drove another 10 minutes to Ano Nuevo State Park. There we met his teacher and the rest of our group for the tour.
The house you see on the island is inhabited by sea lions. They have taken it over and they even find them upstairs in the bathtub! They have a webcam in the gift shop area that shows what's going on, on the island.
We hiked out in a small group of about 20 people about a mile out and met a ranger and our docent for the tour. Along the way we saw a couple of deer.
She gave us a lot of great information about the Elephant Seals. They had over 3,500 elephant seals out there at last count! The male elephant seals can weight over 5,000 lbs!
A closer look at the island and house.
We ended up hiking a little over 3 miles (it said it was moderately strenuous) and got to spend a couple of hours with our docent walking around the sand dunes out by the elephant seals.
We saw the bulls fighting other bulls for their women, we saw babies trying to stay close to their mama's, and we saw a little "adult education" too.
All those spots or lumps behind us on the sand are the elephant seals!
It was a GORGEOUS day on the coast!
That lump in the water is a male elephant seal that is minding his own business trying to conserve his energy. Our docent said that he isn't big enough yet to fight with the males to try and mate. The elephant seals stay on land for several months to mate and have babies and don't eat the whole time they are here. By the time they leave, they are quite skinny.
On our hike back.
After we finished our hike and got back to the gift shop, we did a little shopping and then ate our lunch. Once we were finished we hopped back in the car and headed down the coast a few miles till we found a deserted beach to play on.
Shingo brought a Frisbee disk to play with. I didn't want to get back to school right as it was getting out because of the traffic, so I agreed to stop and let them play for a while. I sat on a rock and enjoyed the sights, the sound of the waves crashing, the warm sun, and my book! I love the ocean!
The boys found sticks to catch the Frisbee. Success!
Here are the boys digging holes with their sticks.
It was a great day! I had a great group of boys and enjoyed my time with them. Thanks Conner for agreeing to go!
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