San Francisco - Sunday March 27, 2005

We packed everything up on Sunday morning, and checked out of the hotel. We stopped at two SF beaches to let Panda get some running in before the long trip home. We like to take our time coming home, enjoying the many beautiful sites along the way.

I found some incredible sea glass on the beach and gathered as much as I could before we left.

Once we hit the Santa Cruz area, we decided to take a little detour through town. At one light, we realized there were geese and on the beach. On the other side of the road, there was a whole gaggle of them, prancing about as if they owned the place, and indeed they may have since none seemed to be in any imminent danger of being hit. Traffic was all but halted for them.

We wanted to give Panda another chance to run on the beach, but decided to look a little further down the road since she'd likely have spent her time chasing the birds.

We found an area with lots of dogs running off leash and plenty of fun to be had. Panda ran circles around us while we hunted for more sea glass. We were not the only ones. Many were hunched over, rustling through rocks and shells in search of their idea of treasure.

On our way out of Santa Cruz, we found ourselves in the downtown area. I wish we had gotten a shot of him from the front, but this fine gentleman was dressed in his Easter best, resplendent in pink, right down to the apples of his cheeks. I though the sneakers and the tweetie bird parasol were a particularly nice touch.

We found ourselves in Carmel for lunch. Carmel is beautiful and incredibly dog friendly. Panda found it a little too crowded but was placated by a bit of my steak while we dined.

I was really taken by this tree. The blooms began as vivid orange, blossomed to yellow then wilted to a soft brown.

As we continued our trek home, the rain fell in intermittent bursts. I found myself falling into short stretches of sleep, waking when we passed through Big Sur then falling back asleep until I felt the car pull into an inlet and come to a stop. I have no idea what the name of this beach was, but the waves were the iciest blue as they crested. I don't think you can tell the scale of these waves, they were well overhead of any of the surfers. It was hard to get Panda out of the sea.

Eventually we did get her back on the road and with only a minimum of frustrating moments trying to find Route 1, we made it home, safe and sound. Panda made the whole trip without getting sick and we all passed and slept soundly.