VISITORS…

Diana and I had several illustrious and celebrated personages visit us here in Cambria during the last several weeks.

First arrivals were Todd and Melissa who drove up from Culver City for the weekend. We had diner with Mary Ellen Lewis, friend from Templeton, and Dahlia, “daughter” who is from Indonesia and is studying at Cal Poly. Recently Melissa spent a year in Indonesia on a Fulbright Scholarship and Todd joined her there for six months teaching a few computer classes at a local university and getting several photographs published in the Indonesian Times pursuing his photographic career. It was interesting to hear them swap tales with each other, and speaking Indonesian with each other; it was a fun night all around! 

The next morning Todd braved our local dog park with me, after which we had a leisurely breakfast harbor side in Morro Bay.

The next week my cousin Karin Fowler and her husband Scott, arrived in Cambria, despite an uncooperative GPS system. They are visiting their two boys and their families in the Sacramento area for six weeks. They are both retired and looked great; they are from Grand Haven, MI but deny any coincidence that they had ten feet of snow last week!
Our main activity was exercising our mandibles exchanging updates on our respective lives. Unfortunately we don’t get to see the Fowlers very often. We did manage to partake our share of some good cuisine—a favorite family pastime!

I think the highlight of the visit was the mandatory trip to the Elephant Seal Rookery at Piedras Blancas. It was an especially excellent time to see them: December – February is when the whole herd is in residence at various beaches on the northern central California coast. Consider that our herd is north of 18,000 animals, so there was a ton of activity: Births, nursing, fighting among the males (boys will be boys, especially when there are women at stake!), yakking, and, of course, sleeping (nothing like watching paint dry!). These are fascinating animals—just ask Karin and Scott!
Below are some snaps of our guests, which I hope you enjoy!