"Hey, we are transferring two sea lions and one harbor seal from Monterey Bay to our main facility. Can you help drive?"
So it began. We drove to the main center in Sausalito. It was a "medium" kind of fog. Not like driving through mayonnaise, but not clear either.
Once we arrived, we helped load the truck with some supplies destined for the Monterey Bay facility.
With the truck tied down, we headed south. After cruising down the coast on Hwy 1 for about an hour, we pulled off at a gas station in Half Moon Bay and waited. Truck 2 (the truckening) showed up with another volunteer. She had driven from Monterey, and there were also three animal carriers tied down in the back. Basically, it looked just like our truck, except there were seals in the carriers. Stinky, stinky seals.
Not to keep the seals waiting, we switched trucks, and the other volunteer headed back to Monterey in our stink-free truck with fresh carriers and supplies. Colleen and I jumped in the stench truck and started driving. As long as we kept moving, the stink couldn't get us.
Colleen: "Ya know, when we decided to move to California, I didn't expect
we'd be driving a truck full of seals up the Pacific coast. Worth it."
We couldn't really see Musty (one of the sea lions), or Purpy (a harbor seal), but Pix-up-Stix (the sea lion tied in right behind me) was busy either sniffing the bars, pooping, or attempting to escape through the bars. When he relaxed, he would just drift his head around like he was grooving to some slow jazz.
Some simple cleanup afterwards, and packing away the truck, and we were off. Mission accomplished.
Note: Colleen wants me to point out that only the harbor seal is a seal. The two sea lions are sea lions. They're all pinnipeds. I use "seals" because I'm lazy and not a scientitian.