Day 9: California dreaming

Woke up this morning into glorious Californian sunshine. What a treat! Started off with some shopping. First was the Discovery store at Westfield mall which also didn't have any actual Discovery-related stuff in them so that chain is official given up as of now. Then my traditional target of pilgrimage, the Oakley store at Santana Row. Was initially going to look at "Unknowns" but those turned out to be far too small. However, just beside them sat a pair of Ducati Monster Dogs which happen to be my favorites: after spotting them in a bizarre small store in some Spanish airport a couple of years ago I have failed to find anything else that fits my big round face. Have been living in fear of loosing, scratching or breaking those ever since so ended up getting myself an identical pair, just to make sure.

Just beside the Oakley store, the is the local Borders which had a section dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut who has recently passed away (his Slaughterhouse 5 was one of the most influential books I read in my teenage years). "Breakfast of Champions" is now here on the table. They also had a massive two-volume The Complete Far Side (~$120) which was deemed very desirable but too expensive and heavy.

Then it was off to Monterey Aquarium which I have sought to visit several times in the past but always something happened. It was not such a big deal. Surely, they had penguins and otters and _three_ gift shops and approximately gazillion educational games for kids but all in all nothing very spectacular. Also, they had some sort of Mexican day which meant there was a large band of youngsters playing Mexican music in the center of the aquarium. I have never ever heard three people sing and so utterly miss each other and Greenpeace ought to look into what was done to these two trumpets.

After a small unhealthy lunch of some pastry and apples the sun was low enough for some photography so I headed for the Big Sur. As usual, I did not get far and got stuck quite soon at some breathtaking bay where I sat and took photos for almost three hours. Got almost swept away by the incoming tide, too. Despite the relatively low wind the waves were spectacular, hopefully some photos will escape the bin. This one is a good candidate: A nasty hair has appeared on several of my pictures, need to get a sensor cleaning kit ASAP.