Carter took these photos of three random animals we saw during this trip, but all three of them came out really great and I wanted to post them here, even though they weren't really associated with any particular activity.
CRT2024: New Buddy
We stopped at Moonstone Beach in California to see if we could find one of the stones the beach is named for (spoiler: we didn't find one). But while we were there, we noticed a bunch of people surfing. This random dog was wandering the beach, and at some point he just attached himself to us and spent about 10 minutes or so just hanging out with us. We assume he belonged to one of the surfers, and he just hangs out until they come back in.
CRT2024: Redwoods
CRT2024: Glass Beach
CRT2024: Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
CRT2024: Bowling Ball Beach
CRT2024: Sea Ranch Chapel
CRT2024: Golden Gate Bridge
After driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, we drove up a mountain just north of the bridge to get a good photo of it. The road to the top was pretty wild - the road was cut directly into the side of the mountain, with a pretty precipitous drop right after the pavement ended. I was white-knuckling it the whole way up!
CRT2024: Shark Fin Cove
CRT2024: Point Lobos
Point Lobos is just south of Monterey, and was my favorite spot on the trip, I think. The point juts out into the ocean, and Carter and I hiked the perimeter. The trail mostly follows the cliff's edge around the point, and we lots of a little protected coves full of seals and otters - we even saw several babies of each. The water has an amazing color that only partially comes through in photos.