lions and tigers and ELEPHANT SEALS oh my!

*you might want to double click on the photo's so you could see them better...

BeforeAfter

*do her yoga for the day...

Last week while watching the 5' o clock news, we were introduced to Shirley, the elephant seal. Apparently she has propped herself on the beach at Carmel State Park to "molt", in layman's terms, shed it's skin.

It's become a tourist attraction around our neighborhood because "Nothern" elephant seals are pretty rare in this area. The farther you head south (think: Hearst Castle area) you will see tons but in this area it's mostly sea lions, sea otters and harbor seals. They call them elephant seals because of they have "trunks" for mouths. Kinda cool..anyway back to the story. On Monday, I went to the beach to check it out and Shirley was half-way through shedding and then on Thursday, she was a brand new woman, new skin and all. She even lifted her tail in one shot...I know, complete show off. These animals are fascinating. The rangers says not to be close because they might bite but this little lady was posing for the camera (famous last words right? I say they are friendly, next thing you know my camera gets eaten by a hungry elephant seal..)

Ok kids hope you enjoyed the little piece of history happening in our area.

Cheerio

-Cori

many faces of the johnstons

dennis comes to visit!

Joe's good buddy, Dennis, came into town Friday night from L.A.

We had a surf and turf dinner with steak, shrimp, green beans and lots of beer and wine:)

Sat morning we woke up, had a delicious egg casserole (Christmas breakfast specialty from the Davies) and headed out to the Pinnacles National Park.

The rock formation is similar to Bryce Canyon. It has these caves that you need flashlights to navigate in. It's pretty awesome.

After that we picked up a free sofa chair and ottoman that Joe found on craigslist and went to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Seaside.

We then finished the night watching Jersey Shore (beat that beat up!) and you-tubed Bill Burr tear up the crowd in Philly. That is a must see!

Sunday we went into town for breakfast and then drove into Carmel by the Sea. The beach is so dog friendly and beautiful!

Hope everyone's weekend was great. This week I'm going to hike in Carmel, visit the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, start swimming more, start reading the Lost Girls and get some other things organized.

Xo

Last November I went to San Francisco by myself. It was the first trip I've taken alone and I absolutely loved it. Don't get me wrong, traveling with friends or family is a great bonding experience. But there is something very special about going somewhere by yourself and diving into the depths of your soul. Just ask Danielle. She traveled Europe for an entire month by herself. Sure she did it with a group of strangers, but ultimately she did it by herself. There are plenty of women who are packing up their bags and exploring. We are in search for our true selves without having to identify with a specific job or a car that we drive or the labels we wear. We are constantly fearful that we won't achieve our dreams and win that rat race. We fear that we won't have a specific job that matches our college major. But its like a catch 22. We need to have a successful job to make ends meet. We need to find a job that matches our college major because we spent so much money on our college education.

Maybe these trips aren't designed for us to find ourselves but rather make it feel ok if we are at a standstill or rather lost. I think we are on to something very new and exciting for women our age. The books, Eat Pray Love and The Lost Girls are very popular because they are relatable! We can identify with these women and their desire to experience life outside ourselves.

While visiting San Francisco I did all of the tourist attractions (Colt Tower, Lombard St..etc) However, it was my trip to Yosemite that completed the trip. What is so special about Yosemite is the weather. It's constantly changing which provides the best pictures. One moment it can be raining and the next moment the fog could sweep in and cover the entire terrain. It was a very peaceful experience. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for another trip by myself. I really want to visit Alaska and see Denali National Park and the Northern Lights.

As for the rambling above, share your thoughts if you'd like or feel free to laugh at my words :) Either way, thanks for listening.

-Cori

to-do

found this amazing website: VisitCalifornia.org that provides a boat load of things to do in California broken down by Northern, Central and Southern regions.

Things-to-do in California before departure:

*Hike the Pinnacles-Check

*Garlic Festival in Gilroy-nope

*Visit Half Moon Bay

*Watch movie at Forest Theater in Carmel(outside theater)-Check

*Photograph Wineries in Monterey

*Visit the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz (The laws of gravity do not apply there..pretty rad)-Check

*Bathe at Calistoga Hot Springs Pool

*Napa and Sonoma (photograph and get drunk)

*Alcatraz tour

*Dine at the Monterey Fish House and the Swiss Fondue Resturante

*Lake Tahoe

*Humbolt Redwoods

*Yosemite (went already..this time with Joey)

*Monterey Ghost Tour

*L.A.-Check

*Joshua Tree Park

*Snowboard at Mammoth

*Disney

*Raft the American River

*Indoor Sky Diving

*Photograph Mt. Shasta

Also Danielle and I are starting a book club if anyone is interested. The current novel is The Lost Girls (a memoir)

I have yet to start the book but will be doing so soon.

Joe's friend, Dennis, is coming to visit this weekend. We will hike the pinnacles and go to the garlic festival. The apartment is coming along. We found a futon, coffee table and end tables. We need to get a dresser, night stand, desk and a lounge chair. Then we will be done with our beautiful apartment. Going to furnish the house with my photography. Got one of my photographs on a 30' X 20' canvas (the default photo on blog) to go in our living room. That will be pretty sweet. Going to get a canvas today and start painting.

Any-who hope all is well

Miss you

Cori

Hey ya'll

How's your summer going?

It's been pretty busy here in California. Joe and I moved into our apartment and we are slowly furnishing it. Craigslist baby!

We have tons of trips plan for the year to come. I signed up for a photography class at the community college in the Fall. Joe's mom is coming out Aug 2nd so I am super excited to see her.

We joined the gym so I just started swimming again. I haven't swam in a year or two. So I'm pretty stoked to get back into it.

Here's Joe:

Hi!

wow a man of many words...sorry for the lame blog..thought I'd update it some way

Cheers!

-Cori and Joe

Whale Watching

Joe and I went whale watching today. People in the area report there are an abundance of whales migrating in our bay, therefore it's the best time to go. We boarded the Check Mate boat courtesy of the company, Chris's Whale Watching tour, down by the Fisherman's Warf and spent 2 1/2 hours at sea. We saw some amazing blue whales and a friendly humpback whale that swam close to our boat and waved hello. It was unbelievable to be so close to an animal that big. I could have literally put my hand on the humpback whale and pet him/her.

Have you ever been?

Monterey Aquarium

Crabs
Hot Pink Ladies
Huge school of fish
So beautiful
View of one of the big tanks!
Penguins, my fav
Sand Dolla$
*on the way to the aquarium, it's seal pupping time on our beach. Very cool

Went to the Monterey Aquarium today. It's HUGE! and so beautiful. Can't wait to bring Joe and his Mom when she visits

4th of july weekend

4th of july Monterey City Hall
Ribs yum:)

Original Cross from the 1700's

The Carmel Mission
Point lobos (all pics below)

What a great weekend, even without fireworks!

It was the first time in a while that Joe and I got to spend some special time together and explore our new hometown.

Sat morning we went hiking at Point Lobos State Park.

Some highlights:

Saw a Sea otter

Bird Island

China Beach

Moss Trees

After that we drove into Carmel and tried to visit the San Carlos Borromeo De Carmelo Mission. The Carmel Mission has been gathering faithful people since 1771. It's stunning. Unfortunately there was a wedding going on when we went. You may visit the grounds for free when a wedding is going on, but we didn't want to be actual wedding crashers (* Note, if we were dressed a little better (we had hiking gear on) we would've considered it)

Sunday we road our bikes into the city of Monterey and went to the 4th of July festival at City Hall. It was live music with plenty of vendors. Joe and I had a 1/2 slab of ribs and yum yum yum. They were delish. The city didn't have fireworks but we had a nice time anyway.

Monday we didn't do much except hang and watch bad reality television (ever watch Real Housewives of New Jersey? God, I love it! Maybe because it's a little close to home?! haha.)

But we did walk into town later in the evening and found out that there is a farmer's market about a block up the road from our apartment every Monday. Super excited about getting fresh veggies, seafood and flowers!

Every Tuesday there is a HUGE farmer's market in Monterey. 3 1/2 City Blocks to be exact. Fresh produce, seafood, crafts and art! Might try to get a vendor's application and sell some photography

Any-who hope all is well. What did you do for the holiday?

*Cori