May 3, 2005: I stayed overnight at the El Toro Inn in San Luis Obispo -- an old but spacious motel decorated with crimped drapery. I left quite early, before 7am PDT, and headed towards Morro Bay, which looked like an interesting spot on the map. I parked at an area with shops and boat docks, as usual at this time of morning, hardly anyone was around except for a few retired folks out on their morning walk.

Mists were rising off the ocean, creating low clouds in the valleys and a soft haze on the horizon. Below: boats docked near Morro Rock.

Not five minutes had passed when I noticed something floating along the surface of the water in the distance...

...too small and slow to be a seal; too submerged to be birds... the zoom lens confirmed my guess...

It was a pair of sea otters lazily floating along on their backs across the harbor. "They're just having too much fun," remarked an older lady walking by.