Elephant Seals

Male northern elephant seals fighting in California  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_seal

Above picture from Wikipedia.


Elephant Seal, so named because of the nose on the male somewhat resembles an Elephants trunk.  This is a northern elephant seal the second largest seal in the world , after the southern elephant seal.

Pups are born with a black coat which is shed in there first month, revealing a sleek  silver-gray coat.  In their first year the coat will turn silvery brown.

How could you resist eyes like that.

Once over hunted, it was estimated that there were less than 100 elephant seals by 1910.  Today the northern elephant seal population has returned to its previous size.

Probably not an alpha male.

Spending upwards of 80% of the lives in the ocean it must feel good just to relax on the beech.

While at sea elephant seal will dive to depths of 5000 feet, staying submerged for nearly one and a half hours.

So why didn't they hire these guys to fix the oil spill.

Typically a male will dive 300 to 600 feet for one hour as they search for food.

That's a nose pointed up, not a rock.

Ya, Hi!  Typical, you point a camera and they think there in Hollywood.

Not far off, we found them near San Simeon, CA

Each winter the elephant seals return to beaches in California and Mexico.  Where they spend the breeding season.  First the males arrive and establish dominance.  Dominant males inflate their noses and produce a noise like a drum to warn lesser males away. 

Females arrive and give birth to pups they have been carrying since last year.

Pups weigh upwards of 75 pounds and are about four feet long.

Females weigh in at a petite 1500 pounds all packed into about 10 feet. 

Now here is a manly man.  Males weigh up to 4500 pounds and grow to 13 plus feet in length.

I never thought to measure the waste dimension.

Hearst Castle

That would be Hearst Castle on top of the hill.  Picture is from the Visitors Center.  At the visitors center you can see the I-Max film "Building the Dream", choose from six different tours, and enjoy some Hearst beef at the food concessions.

Neptune Pool

This is the third pool in this location, each being larger than the previous.  The first started in 1924 the final version completed in 1936.  Dimensions are 104 feet long, 58 feet wide to 95 feet at the alcove, 3.5 feet  to 10 feet deep.

Casa Del Sol
This is an 18 room guest house facing the Pacific Ocean.

The ceiling in one of the bedrooms in Casa Del Sol. The art and detail are evident from floor to ceiling.

Some of the furnishings in this guest room were brought from Europe.

Esplanade and Gardens offer visitors beauty and breath taking vistas.

Casa Grande
Our tour of the main house included five rooms on the ground floor.  

Please click on this picture to expand it to full screen.  You will be able to see the detail that the workers were able to put into the main entrance. 

We were there just after Christmas, this is one of the Christmas tree in the Assembly Room which is the largest of the four sitting room and once a gathering place for Hearst's quests.

Ceiling in the Refectory,why is this my favorite room in the main house?

Because it's the only dinning room at Hearst Castle.  Duh!

The in door pool, "The Roman Pool", is built in the style of an ancient Roman bath. The pool and surrounding rooms  were built from 1927-1934.

Our Last Job of 2010 Christmas Tree Sales

Our 25 foot flocked Christmas Tree stood next to the main street through Paso Robles. The tree had to be flocked 3 times do to rain storms that came during December.

These folks have been selling there trees here for 25 years. Their tree farm is located near Woodburn, OR.

Part of the lot between the street and the sales tent.

My picture are not of a good quality because I had lost my lens cap and had to remove the filter because it was dirty, I didn't think about adjusting the white balance.

There is not snow on the ground.

The lot we were on was half a city block and we kept about 300 trees up at all times.

Trees ranged in size from table top to 14 feet.

Price was competitive, ranging from $18.00 to $350.00.

Our RV parked behind the sales tent. About the middle of the lot.

We spent most of our time on the lot with one day a week off except for the last week. Actually a short week with very little sales.

With us at the lot were 3 guys from the tree farm, they took care of the tree. setting up the trees, giving them a fresh cut, and taking them to cars.

Inside the sales tent. We had syrup, jam, and seasonal decorations for sale.

Also inside the tent were 15 to 20 flocked trees.

T

All trees sale were completed in the sales tent. Customers were also offered popcorn, coffee, and apple cyder.

We sold over 1500 trees, a 7.5% increase over 2009.

A couple of the guys were quite the sculptures. They would cut the trees in some of the most different ways. Using trees that were damaged or had a problem that made them less valuable.

We referred to them as Charlie Brown trees.

The younger of two reindeer that spent a week with us. They were also at the other two Hopper Bros. tree lots.

In North America it is also called caribou.

Caribou is a sub-species of reindeer.

This one caused all kinds of trouble at our lot in Santa Maria, or should I say off our lot. She got away from the people who were supposed to load them into the tailor to take them to Paso Robles.