We tried, pretty unsuccessfully, to sleep in this morning.  I was awake before 7 and we were all up around 8.  This campground has a rule that no generators run before 10am.  That meant no coffee for Nole again.  It rained overnight and continued to rain this morning.  Some didn’t want to go out in the rain but I wanted to try and look for the monarch roost this morning.  We also wanted to go to the Natural History Museum but it didn’t open until 10. 

We struck out in the direction that the camp office person told us there *might* be some monarchs and met a camp host there who sent us up a steep hillside into the golf course.  Apparently neither Nole and I were able to remember all 6 or 7 directions he gave us and we never did find any monarchs.  The boys had their bikes with them and had to walk them most of th way. 

When we got to the golf course we decided to walk/bike through it to the museum.  It was almost 10 so they would be open soon.  On the way, we passed the heron rookery.  Basically, a nesting site.  We saw some nests in the trees but no herons.  We did see some turkey vultures (those birds from yesterday were turkey vultures, not condors). 

We checked out the beach on the campground and some natural and man-made shelters that were on it. 

The museum was only $3 for Nole and me and the kids were free.  It was pretty small but fun and interesting. 

We went back to the campsite for lunch and then Nova got her chance to watch us empty the holding tanks. 

Then we drove about 10 minutes away to Morro Rock where we were told we would be able to see otters and find sand dollars. 

Nole was the first to spot some California wildlife.  He saw a sea lion bobbing his head out of the water in the bay.  He was hard to get a picture of though.  Then I spotted a couple of sea otters. My phone can’t zoom very well but there were two otters and one had a baby on its chest. My family didn’t believe me though and said it was just garbage or logs in the water.

Ahead though was a spot called “Otter Heaven” and there we found a larger group of otters floating. The sun was shining and they all seemed to be taking a nap since they weren’t doing much.

Asa made friends with a squirrel and we watched a bird dive and catch a fish!

We crossed the road to the beach that was on the ocean to beachcomb. We found lots of interesting rocks and a bunch of sand dollars. Online it said you could also find moonstone on the beach. Some of the white ones below were a bit heavy and opalescent and might be moonstone.

Nole saw another rainbow when we turned back toward the parking lot.

We took some obligatory pictures with Morro Rock. Cal had decided not to comb the beach with us and went back to the RV.

I found a fish skeleton on the beach. We won’t mention the first fish skeleton I thought I found and when I picked it up it turned out not to be a fish but a half-buried, half-decomposed seagull. Pretty much nothing I find interesting surprises my family anymore though, haha. I took some pictures of the plants I saw. There was lots of that white flower we saw growing the other day and I remembered the name. Alyssum!

Nole and the girls went back to the motorhome. Asa and I were still beach combing and walking slow. We stopped to watch the otters more and they were more awake this time. We also saw a group of 5-6 sea lions but again, they were at a distance and hard to get a picture of.

While we walked back to the parking lot, we saw a dark blob on a floating pier. It turned out to be a sea lion that was sunbathing.

We drove back to our site and I’m getting ready to make stir fry for dinner. Most of our meals have been pretty simple but this one requires more than one pan and a bit of prep. I am making enough for two nights and we will reheat it for a second meal in a couple days.