SPARE NOT THE CALORIES

 Here it is, another day in Paradise.  I wonder if people who work here appreciate this side of California as much as I do.  The interior is pretty boring ... THIS is fascinating.

Mr. Cooper has been doing great, getting in a little more play time.  

We were up early, but later than normal.  The dredges did not run last night, so it was pretty quiet.  Time for a little adventure walk.  I went out the park and over this bridge, feeling most every step.  I need to get back to walking more.

Down a sandy road to the Salinas River I walked, coming across a path to the ocean.  There were lots of cars parked early, which means the surf is up.

There were probably a dozen guys out there braving the crazy waves.  

They were breaking all over and against each other.  I'm pretty sure only the experts take on this spot.  

The pelicans were ignoring the surfers while looking for their next meal.  The shore is very sharp here, meaning it falls off into the ocean quickly.  Anything flopping around in the sand is fair game for their breakfast.

 I mean really ... I've seen lots of ocean beaches from scuba diving, but I've never seen waves breaking in different directions like this.  It was fascinating to watch.

Oops ... this guy found out as he crashed just before running into the little dark spot that is the head of another surfer.

I watched for quite awhile, taking dozens of picture, before heading back.  I was actually on the hunt for the sea lions.  That's when I ran into a very nice lady ... named Nancy.  No kidding, it's not a popular name.  She was hired by some organization to watch the dredges, making sure they didn't run over any sea lions.  She's my age and a diver too.  We talked for quite a while.

You know me and equipment ... I watched this dredge while she filled me in.  There are two companies working here.  This one with the huge excavator onboard digs out under the boats, pulling muck and mud to a central location.  

THIS was the most fascinating.  See that tall metal pole?  There's one on the other side not quite as tall.  That's because he dropped that pipe hard into the bottom as a turning point.  He has to make a 45 degree turn to the left to miss the bridge.  As the pipe held that corner, he reached out with the bucket, buried it in the mud and gently pulled himself around.  

I've run an excavator before, but this guy ... he's magic with that bucket.  Slowly he made the turn, not hitting the bridge or the dock right next to him.  

That's the longest boom I've ever seen.   

This is where he landed, parallel to the bridge.  

            

He began pulling mud from the OTHER side of that walkway, to this side, where he piled it up, to be sucked up by the OTHER dredge.  Come to find out, the other one is attached to a 3' wide flexible pipe that goes underwater through another pipe, and something like 20 miles out into the ocean.  YIKES!!  

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute owns and runs everything around here.  Right next door is their huge research center, so as you can imagine, all this is highly regulated.

This is what the other Nancy was watching for.  These sea lions are HUGE and oh so curious.  Anytime one gets close to the dredge, they have to stop work until he leaves.  

I only had one encounter with these guys when I was diving, not even realizing they were close.  It popped up in front of me staring eye to eye, then darted away faster than lightning.  Luckily he didn't take a bite. 

 You can hear and smell them before you see them.  There must have been at least a hundred parked on this old dock.  Not a great picture, but I had to stand on top of a concrete block, hold my camera as high as I could and snap the picture.  They have fenced this area with dual fences.

That was it for the day, having walked almost three miles.  Back at the rig, I was craving something other than what I had in the way of food.  Nothing nutritious mind you, junk food would suffice.  I went back to the little deli to stock up on important things.  

That macaroni salad I got was SO GOOD, I got another one.  And hey, if it's that good, I bet their potato salad is even better.  I NEED THEIR RECIPE!  

Spare not the calories, though I only ate ONE.   But when she told me the It's-It was PUMPKIN and they were delicious, how could I not try it at least twice to be sure she was right!!

Actually, I saved them for breakfast today.  I want to have lots of time to SAVOR THE FLAVOR.

Then I'll be heading back home.  Oh gee ..... LOOK ..... there's a quilt shop on the way!!