We left our friends in Hollywood and continued up the California Coast. Our first stop was a sweet little state beach just North of L.A. While we were there we decided to take a drive up some back roads. At the end of the first road that we came to, we ended up at a Dude Ranch sitting in the middle of nowhere. This place was really cool, with authentic cowboys, trail rides, a big great room with a huge fireplace, swimming pool, and cabins throughout. Exactly the type of place that you see on the TV shows! The owner of the ranch showed us around and had the cowboys teach Abby about horses. On the way back from the Dude Ranch, we passed by groves of ripe lemon trees, and stopped to pick some lemons for homemade lemonade that night.
See the trails in the sand in front of Abby? That's where just a few minutes before a lone Harbor Seal had been. Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera and by the time we ran back to get it, he had run off.
I think out of all the amazing things I have seen this was by far the most touching. When we first saw the little guy I thought he was dead up on the beach. I gently touched his hind quarters with my foot and was surprised when he woke up and kind of hissed at me with his mouth opened wide in an act of aggression. I was kind of scared, and not knowing what he would do, I thought maybe we should give him a wide berth and let him be. But then I looked into his eyes and saw that he was just scared, not aggressive at all. I started talking to him like you would talk to a dog or cat, calmly and reassuring, until he began to respond. After a while he not only let me stay close to him, but actually let me pet him and nuzzled his head up against my hand whenever I touched his head. He was so soft, his eyes were so intelligent and kind, and being this close to something so wild, yet so tame, left me filled with wonder and appreciation.
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