Seals basking on the rocks in a cove at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. The park is three miles south of Carmel, California. We arrived at the gate several minutes after the 8 AM opening. At the booth where we had to pay to enter, one ranger said, “You must be tourists if you are here so early.” Both rangers in the booth were originally from Illinois and said they “never looked back” after moving to California.

(My wife and I traveled to California for nine days in early July – this is part of a series of pictures from our trip.)