Dolphins

Half Moon Bay beach where we stayed a few hours

pretty mosaic Orange spot on the bottom is for pumpkins. They are the pumpkin capital of California

this shop was so pretty

later we went to the tide pools at low tide Alas they have been destroyed by the powers that be adding sand over everything

No anemones, no starfish... Very disappointed

we ate at this cool Japanese restaurant where everything was made of cement or tree stumps. Also instead of the prices being twice as much as Ann Arbor, it was only about 30% more

A clear night finally From my brother's upper deck

I think one of Naomi's favorite things this trip is seeing all the sea life in the wild. She has seen a whale before following our cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of humpbacks had been sighted during our stay but not by us. Word travels fast. Of course my brother sees three humpbacks as soon as we leave. But we did see the other main sea mammals: harbor seals, sea lions, otters and on this day, dolphins which usually are rare in these parts.

As I was still ill,I lacked the energy to spend the whole day walking all over San Francisco, saved that for the next day. but I could possibly slowly ride a bike. Half Moon Bay is about 6 miles long. My brother lives at the northern end but the city is at the southern end. There is a bike path that goes along the water which I have run on many times. What bike to ride? My brother is 8 inches taller than me and I am not short. I have ridden his bike before stopping very carefully at an angle or the crossbar gets me at crotch level. Naomi is 2 inches taller than me. She can deal with the cross bar. my niece's bike was still there, unfortunately the smaller niece. We put the seat all the way up but still the bike was too small. As we only went about 15 miles, we  would survive. We walked the bikes down the hill.

 We  stopped the bikes on a bluff where numerous artists had set up easels to paint the bay.  Numerous birds were landing on a particular part of the ocean. What was going on? Dolphins hunt in packs. They circle a school of fish confusing them and forming a fish tornado easy to snap up. Birds know to follow the dolphins as there might be leftovers for them Same with whales. So fifty birds are easier to spot than a few dorsal fins. There were about 12 of them going back and forth Naomi was thrilled. Also a sea lion came fairly close to her on the shore. she at first thought the dolphins were sharks as all she saw was the dorsal fin. But they leap out of the water.

We went to the cute town full of art galleries. Lots of glass pumpkins. Had our bento boxes at the Japanese restaurant and a treat later on at a bakery. Then we biked to the harbor to catch low tide at what used to be good tide pools. A big disappointment there. Going up that enormous hill dragging a bike. Was not fun, especially when ill. Drank wine on the deck enjoying the clear night.