Christmas morning.
Stockings filled with gifts from Dad and Mom.
Wait, this one doesn't have a name on it. And there's a number; I only put numbers on the ones for Ogii's birthday.
She must have re-used the wrapping paper. And then she had the nerve to say it must be to me from her because the wrapping is so well done. She's right about that, though.
Us with our gifts.
Marshall's has some of the best wrapping paper.
Lots of t-shirts for me and dresses for her.
Laid out on the couch.
I'm a cool dude.
Breakfast was mochi donuts and hot chocolate.
While watching Scrooged.
The next week or so will be the only time the sun will shine through Keyhole Arch at Pfeiffer Beach.
And it's going to rain the rest of the week.
So today might be our only chance to see it.
So we drove down highway 1. There were a ton of people out hiking at spots the entire drive.
This cow has a beautiful view.
As does this house.
And these sculptures.
An abnormal amount of traffic today.
Behind us as well.
A ton of people stopped at Bixby Bridge.
Don't fall off.
All the people lined up taking pictures.
We sped up a bit once we got past the bridge but then completely stopped.
There was an accident, and the cops had to make sure it was safe to go around first.
We finally got to Pfeiffer Beach at around 4pm, but it was full, and they were turning people away.
It was almost a waste of 3-hour round-trip drive (although it was kind of fun to see the masses of people along the way), but we stopped along the highway near the Point Sur Lighthouse to get some pictures instead.
Pretty sunset.
Still in our Christmas sweatshirts.
And then on the way back home, we got a nice shot of Bixby Bridge with the moon.
The we checked out some Christmas lights around Sand City.
And East Garrison.
They weren't overly crazy.
But there were some nice ones.
Lots of lines.
Simple colors.
More stuff.
Beach Santa.
One more.
Watching The Ref during dinner.
The ranger who turned us away at Pfeiffer Beach said the lot had filled up around 11am, so we decided to try one more time and drove down there the day after Christmas. On the way, we stopped at Macy's. There was already a line at the door before they opened.
Not nearly as many people out hiking today.
And not as many cars.
A yurt by a house.
We arrived at 10am, and there was no ranger turning people away.
Down a narrow road.
This looks like it could flood if a lot of rain came.
This parking lot was completely empty.
The closer one wasn't quite full.
Walking to the beach.
I like riparian areas.
After a short walk through some trees, you reach the beach.
Huge rocks straight ahead, a beach that wraps around to the right with a hill overlooking it...
... and a little beach area to the left which is separated by the stream to the ocean.
In front of the arch.
It would almost fill with water.
Which would rush through.
And then it would be empty for a few seconds until repeating.
Walking north along the beach.
Some of the sand was actually purple.
Enjoying the view from the top of a rock.
Back to the beach which was separated by the stream. If the water was low, you could walk across some rocks to the east. If it was higher, you had to jump across here.
Looking south.
Picking up some trash in the woods.
Still too early for sunset, so time for lunch in the car while watching Home Alone.
More purple sand.
Some tiny plant growing.
A bright flower.
This time we hiked up the hill.
It was a bit of a ways with lots of ups and downs.
But the view was great.
Looking to the southwest.
A panorama.
A tree growing sideways.
It was fun to watch the waves come in.
Some people just sat and read books.
Doing the same.
Some body surfers.
This looked like a cleaning brush.
Sometimes the sand looked very bright purple.
The purple sand formed neat patterns around this rock.
We hiked back up to the top.
Ogii jumping for the picture.
And then back down. People were using this piece of wood as a bridge.
There were two smaller keyholes to the south. This one...
... and this one.
Lots of people took their pictures there.
Unfortunately there were too many clouds for the sun to shine through the keyhole, but it was still a fun day.
And we made it out just before it started raining for the rest of the week. The ranger at the park said Highway 1 could even be closed both to the north and the south of the park if it rained too much and the road washed out or there were rockslides, so we definitely didn't want to get stuck there for a week.
A Christmas tree in the front circular room of this house.
A few more presents from Ogii's family.
Very nice.
And a few more from another of her sisters.
Ogii loves being warm, so this was a great gift.