South of San Francisco, Sunday

Picasso licking stamp

Yesterday, we went and saw the Picasso exhibit at the de Young Museum. Picasso wasn't a big fisherman but he did paint a lot of figures that could easily be misconstrued as fish. Or any other object for that matter. All in all, a good showing.

I was a bit disappointed at their photography exhibit. The exhibit that was running was not so much photographs but mostly objects arranged to suggest the photographic process. In the words of one reviewer commenting on an oil portrait covered in tissue paper "[the artist] appropriates the functional paper forms as an aesthetic formal device, subverting the trope of a traditional portrait.". Whatever. I like the photographs with frames and, you know, actual photographs.

Right next door was a Japanese garden that was nice in the way that Japanese gardens are though in a slightly over commercialized sort of way. You paid $5 to get in to pay another $5 to drink tea. I suppose that's to try and keep the non-tea drinking riff-raff out. That would be me. It did give me the chance to exercise my camera muscles that have been dormant in a non-piscatorial way for some time.

First sign of fish. T.J. and Jonny rejoice!

A river?

Storny.

Our hotel. 

Buddha says, "Stop. Simplify. Go fishing."

In the afternoon we were torn between more city stuff and getting out of town. Being outdoorsy types, we chose to drive south on the 1.

The drive south had all the scenic splendor that one would expect of a drive along the Pacific Ocean. We really had no destination in mind though eventually we decided to strike out for Ano Nuevo State Park to see the Elephant Seals. Of course, Google told us that access to the seals closes right around the time we would have arrived so we stopped a Pigeon Point and wandered about examining the rocks, the sea and the creatures that could be tormented by teenage boys.

Fully jet lagged we made a bee line for the hotel and room service. I very much enjoyed the ten dollar beer and twenty dollar quesadilla. There are times when one will pay almost anything for a little comfort.