In a Western Place

Big Sur, an oceanic and mountainous portion of the California coastline, spans south of Monterey to north of San Simeon. Photos were taken at Pfeiffer Beach, a well hidden coastal access point between Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and the Big Sur postal office, along highway 1.

Matty: "no wonder other animals like to eat them, they look like little dumplings!" Mmmm Elephant Seal dumplings. These resting pups were found along the coast a few miles north of San Simeon. They're protected, so we could only view from a fair distance. Good thing, the adults are vicious and u-g-l-y (but in their own cute way).

I spent this past weekend in South Lake Tahoe where Matty's band was playing their first ever show outside of the bay area. My lips became chapped, my hands dry and cracked, and my nose, totally unusable. I couldn't touch a slot machine or another person without a jolt of static electricity shooting up my arm. How the heck did I used to live in this type climate for so long?

The band played a great set at Whiskey Dicks Saloon on route 50 Saturday night. The best part was having friends from San Francisco and Sacramento meet us up there (new fans were made as well). On Sunday morning, we ate at a kick ass brunch buffet at a Casino on the state line and turned $5 into $33 at the slots, then lost it all! And, bonus, I finally got to drive through the Sierra Nevada mountains snow-capped (I've only been to Tahoe once before, in the summer). Tahoe is definitely one of my favorite places in the state, maybe next time I'll remember the moisturizer.

It's a proud time to be a Californian.