I realized that I didn’t have my charger for my phone (I swear I brought it with me) so I had to go and get one. This required me to go inland.

Playlist for the journey:

1. Brian Eno - Deep Blue Day
2. Dream Academy - Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (this is the instrumental version that they play in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” while they’re traipsing through the Art Institute in Chicago, which is a cover of the Smiths)
3. M83 - In Church (Cyann & Ben Version)

So nothing exciting there. Highway 46 from Highway 1 to Highway 101 is very pretty, particularly after the rains, with the verdant grass and the low-lying clouds. It’s about 26 miles or so, not too windy. A lot of the Central Coast wineries are along side this highway, but I have yet to stop at any of them. I don’t remember what year exactly that was, but at least 10 years ago or so, I went down this highway with my family to go see Hearst Castle, which is disgustingly opulent, but I guess worth seeing once in your life. (I forget how much admission was.)

Right before sunset, I decided to go find the Point Piedras Blancas lighthouse, which is, unfortunately, not open to the public. I did, however, get to watch the elephant seals and watch the sun set with the lighthouse in view.

It is apparently mating season among the seals, and it is really easy to tell the difference between males and females. Males have a characteristic snout which earned them the name of elephant seals, while females don’t. One of the males was trumpeting and trying to approach some of the females, no doubt in an attempt to copulate. The females would bellow in protest, try to bite the male, and fling sand at his eyes. This happened with three different females. The male eventually gave up, moved away from the females, and lay on the sand like a log. I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic. Heh.