Relaxing on the beach just after we arrived.
The stairway above Zachary's head was where we stayed.
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We had some fog being right on the coast, which was beautiful in it's own way.
But it usually blew over pretty quickly, and we also had plenty of sunshine.
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We all did some rock scrambling on the beach near the house.
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Our house was actually between Morro Bay and Cayucos to the North.
Here we are on the Pier at Cayucos.
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The view of Morro Rock from our place.
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We brought our bikes along, but had some bike trouble just before the trip, so we had to rent an extra one.
La Jolla is where Jessica attends UCSD. :)
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We biked all over Morro Bay including out to "The Rock".
Zachary & Nate also biked back to the house along Hwy 1.
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Morro Bay at sunset after enjoying a yummy seafood dinner in town.
(something about old fishing boats make great photos!)
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The sunsets were incredible most evenings.
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It was usually getting pretty chilly at this time, but worth standing out on the deck.
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Sometimes the fog was starting to roll in, but enhanced the sunset.
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We arrived just at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.
The first night was fogged over, but we had some great views during the next few evenings.
I didn't catch any meteors "on film" but I thought this cloud formation was really interesting - kinda' looks like a big claw!
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This was the first time I experimented with night photography, so that was fun.
I've never seen the moon set over the ocean, but this is one of my favorite night pics I caught.
(Canon G12: 15 sec exposure @ F2.8 / ISO-800)
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We found lots of sand dollars on the beach. Actually these are pretty small... sand quarters?!
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Group shot from the deck on a foggy day to avoid harsh over-head lighting. :)
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We saw lots of pelicans during the week
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They aren't shy about getting up close and friendly
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There were also lots of these Long Billed Curlews digging in the sand, probably catching little crabs and stuff
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I only saw one of these Black Crowned Night Heron - kinda' reminds me of a penguin!
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Egrets, we all got 'em. (aka Great White Heron)
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I had to chase this guy up and down the beach to get a good picture of him!
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We saw quite a few otters and a bunch of Sea Lions also (while kayaking on the bay)
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Looks like this guy is enjoying a meal
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I had heard there were plenty of dolphins playing in the surf, so I was very much looking forward to seeing them, but had to wait until the last full day.
Jessica caught this excellent action shot with her phone
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They were very close to the beach, but some people didn't even know they were right there. I took this from the house.
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I caught this guy surfing - they were doing that for a while - wonder if it stirs up a food source for them.
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Thanks for a great week, and Goodbye!
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About to enter the Visitor Center - notice the mansion on the hill to the right.
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Zoom in on the main house from the visitor center
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We saw a bunch of mountain goats on the hill below the house.
There are still zebras roaming the grounds also, but they didn't make an appearance for us.
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Picture of the house once we got to the top of the hill
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Exploring the grounds around the guest houses.
The fog rolled in over the ocean on this day.
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Group shot in from of the main entrance - who has the key?!
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I hung back as the tour group proceeded so I could get some clean shots of a few rooms
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The details are just amazing here - just about every square inch of the walls and ceilings are covered with intracate art work,
and every piece has an equally interesting story. For example, those are chairs along the back/right wall, which used to be
choir seats in a church in Spain. However, there weren't enough to go all around the room, so William Hearst had his workers re-create them in excruciating detail.
It is difficult to tell them apart unless you look very closely.
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Hung back and shot a few rounds of pool here.
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It was quite hot that day, so this pool looked very tempting.
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And of course, the obligatory visit to the spectacular indoor pool before we left.
This guy knew how to live it up!
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We hit some construction on the way down, which allowed me to take a nice shot back up the coast.
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A quick view of the Point Sur Lightstation as we got close to our destination.
Someday I would like to go out there and try the tour.
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Elizabeth was especially chilly, having just returned from Senegal.
Of course, we would have made a fire anyways.
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Our annual tree pic at the end of the weekend
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Large rock formations at the beach, notice folks going up the side - that's our gang
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Jessica & Zachary perched atop the rock
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Nice view from up there - it's the first time I went up
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Sliding back down - it was quite steep
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We just biked to the trailhead, and are resting up before the big hike
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We typically get a group shot inside this burned-out redwood
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and also in front of the large redwood slice
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crossing over the creek as part of the hike up to the falls
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and finally, made it to Pfeiffer Falls (more of a trickle, really - it was a dry year)
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A view of the Epic after we disembarked in St. Maarten
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Beautiful flowers inside a butterfly farm
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Looking down at Orient Bay - known as Paradise View for obvious reasons.
Diane really liked the colorful roof tops down below.
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Just grazing along side the road, so we stopped to look at each other
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Our main destination for the day, Ilet Pinel, a small island off the NE corner of St. Martin
(French side now, so different spelling :)
There is a marine preserve here, so it made for some great snorkeling. (see those pics below)
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Our little ferry boat pulling in to Yellow Beach. Even it was tropical blue!
Before leaving, we had lunch in those tiki huts near the middle of the pic, under the "Yellow Beach" sign.
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Looking back at St. Martin - the "mainland"?
The water was so clear.
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We still had some time before we had to be back at the ship, so we proceeded to drive around the "entire" island,
stopping at a few more of the nice beaches we had heard about.
Here we are at Friar's Bay on the NW side of the island.
This is one of my favorite pics from the whole trip - the beautiful water framed by the palm tree,
accompanied by the relaxing sound of breaking waves and a light breeze thru the palm trees, aaaaaahhhhhh.....
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Mullet Bay on the SW side. The sand was so soft here.
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A view of The Epic across The Great Bay, on the SE corner
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The Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) on the right and Maho Beach on the left - this spot is
famous
for planes coming in extremely low over the beach
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Well that pretty much sums it up. The beach is especially a problem when a
jet is sitting across the street powering up for a take-off!
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We drove down Front St. (famous for shopping) on our way back to the ship.
No time for us to shop - we had too much fun snorkeling and hitting the beaches!
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Yeah, that'd be good.
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Again, we rented our own car, and headed out.
(event the license plates are beautiful here :)
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This is kinda' ugly for a picture, but notice we drive on the wrong side of the road here.
That wasn't too bad, but the right turns can really mess with your mind!
That "West 38" sign reminds me - as a general rule, the local islanders don't know street names or numbers,
so don't bother stopping to ask for directions. And of course, your phone (with your trusted navigation software)
will not get a signal here either.
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We reached our destination, but before hitting the water,
decided to visit "Coral World Acquarium" since it was still pretty early.
It sounded a little hoaky, but it was actually quite nice.
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Looking back at Coki Beach, where we will spend most of the day relaxing on the beach and snorkeling. (see pics below)
You can see Coki Dive Center on the left, where we rented all of our gear for the day - very nice folks.
In fact, I had eMailed Peter multiple times before we came, and he was above-and-beyond helpful with where to go and what to expect.
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So many fishies! Most of these are Sergeant Majors. Some of these pics came out OK, but of course,
none of them do justice to the vivid colors there.
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Is that a person behind all of those fish?
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Hey, it's Diane!
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Better picture of Diane, on a different day.
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And there's this guy - for some reason, it looks like he is posing for a Pixar storyboard!
Hmmm... maybe this is why
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I really liked the Trumpetfish
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I kept chasing them down every chance I got
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The cleverly named, Bluehead
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The Bluestriped Grunt was kinda' shy
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but I waited him out
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The Yellowtail Damselfish was extremely shy, so this is the best picture I was able to get.
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There were lots of Parrotfish, and there is also a Spotfin Butterfly in this picture
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I liked the Parrotfish almost as much as the Trumpetfish :)
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Nice variety in this pic, including a Stoplight Parrotfish
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Equal time for the Stoplight Parrotfish, and a few friends
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Close up of the Sergeant Major
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He was less interested in me
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The Yellowtail Snapper was another shy guy - saw a few of them, but this is the best pic I could get.
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The Trunkfish was really funny looking, also looks like something out of Finding Nemo
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Chased down this Barracuda off the tip of Ilet Pinel - he was probably 30-36" long.
Diane wasn't willing to pose next to him for reference. ;-)
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I thought I was chasing down the same fish here, but looking at it now, it is definitely a different variety.
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Caught this view as we sailed into harbor, and were backing into port, very peaceful.
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A view of Paradise Island from a nice vantage point
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The classic horse-drawn buggy you see around Nassau
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I researched authentic local food before we left home and found very good reviews of Bahamian Cookin' (aka Bahamian Kitchen).
Indeed, everything was great, especially the Conch Fritters - worth the trip!
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We caught a taxi to Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island
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rented an umbrella and chairs
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and quickly settled in for a very relaxing afternoon.
This is also one of my favorite pictures from the trip - relaxing just looking at it!
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The Christmas portrait.
from his first year with us. (2002-2003)
