Drive

Jun 2
1 min read

Today my mom and I took a drive all the way up to San Simeon. It's funny because I grew up on the Central Coast, have driven past Hearst Castle countless times, and somehow had never stopped to see the elephant seals before.

First of all, San Simeon is a lot farther away than I remember. Second, after all these years, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Hundreds of giant elephant seals sprawled across the beach? Sure. What I didn't expect was that most of them looked completely dead.

Seriously. They were lying there motionless, piled on top of each other like enormous beach boulders. Every few minutes one would twitch, snort, or flop over, and everyone would collectively relax and remember they were, in fact, alive.

It was one of those random California adventures that makes you realize there are still plenty of things left to discover, even in places you've known your whole life. Plus, any day that involves ocean views, a road trip with my mom, and giant blubbery sea creatures pretending to be deceased is probably a pretty good day.