They are back!

Playing, cooling off with their flippers up or just floating and relaxing.
Some were swimming quietly along looking at us for a while and then back under the water to reappear some place else a little later.


If it wasn't so foggy and drizzly I could sit and watch them all day long.

Sadly, we found again four more sea lion corpses!




We walked the beach all the way to the historic distillery.
It's fun to hop on the slippery rocks, though some places were difficult to pass because of the drift seaweed.
Many birds were feeding there.



Along the bluff and on the beach there are still some remnants of the Ocean Shore Railroad once following northern California's coastline. You can still see the bridge support, rusted iron, bricks and concrete walls.
The rest has gone into the sea...

Got Free Stuff?

You can walk along Fitzgerald Marine Reserve beach all the way from Moss Beach to Pillar Point. Leaving the crowds behind at Moss Beach there are all kinds of sea creatures and harbor seals on the rocky reefs keep you company.
I shouldn’t have forgotten the friendly elderly hippie couple who were just packing their sleeping bags after spending a night here.


It’s still a mystery to me where all the rusty antique engines and wheels here and there on the beach are coming from. I’m also puzzled seeing the brick and concrete remnants of old construction. Does it have any connection with the lost glory of the late nineteenth century beach resort?


On my trip back I have a nice view from the high bluff and I’m even surprised to see a pod of whales. Some are very close to the shore.
I guess this is not the best time for spotting whales so I’m probably very lucky again.


PS: Today I put Maarten’s bike trailer on Craigslist. For free.
I didn’t want to deal with interested people so anybody could pick it up right from our curb.
It was gone within 10 minutes.

But...eventhough I removed my posting immediately from Craigslist, I keep receiving emails, people are coming and searching our curb, even ringing the bell and knocking on the door...

Got free stuff?

Křeček

I know it’s time for a short update. But it is so hot lately I can’t think up any coherent text.
Maarten has started summer school and I believe it suits all of us much better than the summer break. Therefore everybody is happy.

In my last post I didn't mention Maarten had another encounter with the wildlife. There were some holes at our last campsite whose inhabitant didn’t want to share with anybody. But Maarten wouldn’t just leave the hamster alone and kept putting his hand into the holes trying to reach the hamster.
This little critter had bitten Maarten several times in his fingers. Maarten didn’t really hurt (as usual), his skin was only a little scratched.
To be honest I didn’t pay much attention to this accident.

Last Saturday, a week later, Maarten suddenly started to complain about a pain in his right hand. There was a very tiny cut and he kept scratching it.
Nothing strange in his case since he gets a bee sting almost every day. And unfortunately I also know where this habit is coming from...

On Monday morning this tiny wound was not tiny anymore and his ring finger was badly swollen. I didn’t want to panic and gave Maarten’s hand a bath in a baking soda solution. This helped somehow.
But then in the evening, by pure coincidence, I was reading this article ‘How to survive a bite by a rabid animal’ and I realized how stupid it may be to be neglectful.
I had a dreamless night, which is nothing that exceptional, and the pediatrician told me what I already knew from the internet after all. However, I found some comfort having Maarten checked.
Now, he takes antibiotics and... he should leave all animals alone!

It's hot! hot! hot!
Even the swimming pools are too warm.
Today, again, 104 F in San Ramon and 80 at the ocean. Big difference within only one hour drive.
80 F is pretty warm, however, I was cold the first moments at the beach.


We spent such a long time exploring the tide pools. Maarten is really crazy about sea life. Actually, he prefers the starfish and anemones above the seals. Maybe they are already too common to him or rather because he can’t touch them.
Later when the water was coming up again, quite fast I was a little concerned about reaching the beach access close to where we parked.


There was a surprise waiting behind the rocky cliff.
The water had already covered the reefs and therefore the harbor seals all came ashore.





They were surprised too and started moving quickly back into the water.
We could have waited there for hours. I did my best to move quietly and slowly as far from them as possible but... Maarten was with me!


And, at last, the moment he was really waiting for!
Splash into the sea!

Summer Break

This school year is over. Maarten had to say good bye to his beloved Misses for a couple of weeks. A last day picnic at the schoolyard was quite a hot event but a big success. Maarten arrived all rosy and pink and happy with a little gift and 'private' pictures with his teachers.

And here we go again. No school! Another attack on Maarten’s routine? Do we really have such a special child who always reacts so sharp to any changes?

Even though we still do so much together all the time nothing seems really to equal the school fun. Additionally the weather has been so hot the last days.


Luckily our town hasn’t closed the water feature at the Central Park yet compare to some neighboring communities. I understand that policy since it’s extremely dry this summer.
Those unfortunate wildfires all around us are one of the scary consequences of this drought.

In this heat you’d definitely look for water!
Though there is no sea in anyplace we can possibly get wet during a hot summer.
It was different in The Netherlands, in Belgium and it is different here again.
Here in the East Bay , there are some swimming pools, lakes, lagoons and so-called ‘swimming holes’.

I like the whole area around Lake Del Valle, from Sunol to Livermore. I don’t think I would go to one of its public beaches.

But for Maarten it's ideal here. The beach is sandy and it’s shallow so he can safely play and practice his swimming.
We’ve already visited some of these swimming places and I personally don’t enjoy the lifeguards enforcing the ‘safety’ rules. I know they only do their jobs. We all have to get out of the water for a collective break and Maarten is not allowed to swim with his noodle and even though the lake is pretty big, swimming is restricted to beach areas where a lifeguard is on duty.
On moments like this I realize I somehow prefer the Czech back-to-the-nature culture.


Despite the heat, Maarten claims to visit his favorite ‘little forest’, in the nearby Las Trampas. Even though the creek has already been dry for months Maarten loves to play here. It is so hot that even the shady riparian area doesn’t offer any comfort.
I’m always aware of a possible encounter with a cougar or danger from a startled bull; but last time we were suddenly surrounded by a flock of wasps. And they attacked us, Maarten in particular. I tried to get them off his clothes but he still got stung and he hurt a lot. It was his first experience so I understand that he got scared.
Luckily we each got stung only once. Still I’m surprised that they attacked us for no reason.
I guess I should drop ‘the cougar’ for a while and do more research about wasps.

Only an hour drive separates us from the seashore.

We went to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve at Moss Beach especially because of Maarten who is crazy about all sea creatures lately. But believe me, this is not just for kids.
It was foggy and very cold compared to the East Bay but the rocky shore edge exposes so many interesting sea creatures and algae during the low tide. I was afraid we were too late since the lowest water that day was already at 7:30. Yet two hours later we could still see tide pools full of funny hermit crabs, little fish, starfish and blue-green anemones (the bigger ones should be more than hundred years old according to the ranger).


Last week, probably because of the heat, I had a big appetite for mussels; something, I used to eat often back in Holland during the summer. I haven’t seen them here in the supermarket yet, but now, I already know where to look for them.

Toward noon the shore edge was almost submerged at high water and the seals, who waited patiently at the rocky reefs, took their territory back again.


Just two miles south of the Reserve is Princeton-by-the-Sea, a small town in the north of Half Moon Bay. The Pillar Point forms the northern end of the Bay here.
A secluded beach is just a short walk from the parking lot and thanks to the harbor piers the sea here is very peaceful.
In no time Maarten took his pants off demanding to go swimming immediately.
Brrr.


PS: One of Maarten’s front teeth is a little blue. I noticed that looking at this 'vampire' picture. I know his teeth are having a hard time almost every day and I was pretty worried about this bluish tooth. The dentist found just what I've already expected. Luckily no infection but the tooth is not only chipped,which is obvious, but also cracked.