Heading North

We rented a car at John Wayne Airport and sped our way out of Orange County on Tuesday, heading north. It's a route we have driven many, many times. We were very lucky, only hitting about 15 minutes of LA snarling traffic just north of the LA airport. Other than that, we were able to maintain a steady albeit nail-biting, hair-raising speed of 80 mph, just to keep up with the insane flow. Being back on old familiar territory presented a slightly disconcerting sense of "driving home" even though Santa Cruz is no longer home for us.
We planned our favorite stop-- at Shell Beach (just north of Pismo) for lunch. We have always stopped there on our north/south journeys, and this was no exception. One of things we have missed up Washington are the beautiful, soaring pelicans found on the California coast. So, we were hoping to catch a glimpse, if not a photograph of these pteradactyl-like creatures. When we pulled up for our beach picnic along the coast here, this is what we saw.

Looking north at Shell Beach

The rocks are literally covered with pelicans

Soaring

Pelican affection

Pelican beauty

After this feast of beauty, we climbed back into our car and headed north for the night. Santa Cruz for the next three days.