An Anniversary Present

The whole plan was to go see the otters at Monterey Bay Aquarium, a truly imposing structure on the Cannery Row waterfront. We turned off Highway 1 at Moss Landing, and just as we passed by the back of the harbor, Sharon said, "Hey! Otter!"



I pulled over. Sure enough, a sea otter lazing in the backwater of the harbor, sixty feet from the road.

Pretty soon another sea otter showed up and began sporting around with the first one.



Later, at the Aquarium, from the description Sharon gave of what we'd seen, a guide at the sea otter tank explained that the smaller sea otter was probably a juvenile who still wanted to frisk around with mom.



"Hey, ma, c'mon! Gimme a ride!"

Perfect. We were only halfway to Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we'd already reached our goal.