Great Day in San Jose

So, yesterday I lamented about not enjoying San Francisco during a recent trip there for the Interanational Communication Association conference. I've heard feedback from several of you who really like SF...and can't quite believe that I don't. Oh well, to each his own. For me, though, it's hard to compare the crowded streets, traffic, and cold temperatures to the wonderful day I spent in San Jose with my wife's cousin Tanya and her husband Chris. The two of them were graduate students at UIUC, and they visited our home in Bloomington once. So, when they paid me a lunch visit in San Fran and later suggested that rather than doing a sightseeing walk in the cold (but at least sunny) City by the Bay I should visit their house in San Jose, I was happy to agree.

Turns out that they had two dogs, Kaley and Zoe. Here's a family picture:

Their fun for the Memorial Day holiday was to take their dogs to a "dog beach"--a beach where dogs are allowed for certain hours...and on this particular beach the dogs could be off leash. It was a great location, with dogs going crazy:

And surfers catching waves:

While we were running on the beach, the three of us got separated by about 50 yards in different directions. All of a sudden, Chris...who was closest to the dogs...began yelling for Tanya. When we got up to him, we were startled to find this:

A beached sea lion. For a good amount of time I thought I was witnessing some sad event, and even contemplated whether Chris and I could possibly lug this huge thing down the beach and closer to the incoming tide. But, then, off to my right, I saw a pair of small, 8 1/2 x 11, signs on stakes stuck into the sand:

Apparently, this is something that sea lions just...well...do sometimes! It sure looked like it was in distressed...but this small laminated sign made me dispell any sense of guilt and turned back to enjoy the beach.