COVID definitely put a damper on travel for all of us. That, and in January of this year I got a puppy – a second deterrent for travel. But now that I’ve been vaccinated, I’ve started to venture out a bit. I had not seen my Aunt Patti for a year and a half, so I recently flew out to California for a quick visit. (The puppy stayed home with my husband.) She has an awesome house looking out over Morrow Bay, and just a few miles from Montaña de Oro state park. Twice we walked along the trails that ran alongside the ocean, breathing in salt-scented air and listening to the surf crash on the rocks below us. Every so often we came upon a bench where we could sit and stare out over the sea and contemplate the universe. (And rest our tired feet!) The second day was overcast, but that didn’t diminish our enjoyment one bit. We were even treated to a huge flock of pelicans and gulls fishing together in a secluded cove. Want to see?

I hope you get to venture out and enjoy nature soon!