Ray and I just got back from five days with Julia in the California Central Coast. Usually Julia comes home for spring break but since this is her ‘last’ one, we decided to enjoy it with her in California. The three of us had such a nice time together. Much of our time was spent beach combing with Julia and Ray looking for rocks and me hunting for beach glass. The shores in Morro Bay did not disappoint. We left with our pockets bulging each time we walked there.
The three of us never seem to tire of beach wandering. We had some sunny days and walked in a bit of rain at other times. But it was all lovely.
Nothing like a sunset shot on a California beach.
We asked Julia if she would tour us through the Swine Unit at Cal Poly. Since she spends so much of her time there, we wanted to better understand the work she does there.
I don’t know about you, but it is such a treat to see our kids in their world. What they spend their time doing, the jobs they are so knowledgeable about, their favorite parts of their work – it lets us, as parents, see our kids as the adults they are becoming.
Julia took us through all of the various barns. Some held the boars (like the photo above). Some had the teenagers (piglets who had recently been weaned from mom but not released to run outside yet). Others had sows who currently were not taking care of a litter. There were sooooo many pigs! Julia seemed to know many of them by name and what each one was doing and why. How she could tell them apart was beyond me.
The nursery was my favorite part. When we were watching the mamas (sows) with their babies, the whole nursery was quiet. One of the sows was laying on her belly without exposing any teats to the piglets. Julia said they do this when they don’t want to nurse at the moment. The piglets started to really scream at her and she grudgingly rolled to her side to let them feed. The funny thing was once that litter of piglets was screaming to eat (and they were really screeching!) then ALL of the litters immediately began to screech. The power of suggestion, right? It was hysterical to listen to the whole barn come to life.
The piglets are so cozy when they are new. They huddle together under the heat lamps and keep each other warm.
When they are just a bit older (the piglets shown above were about 12 days old) they will do whatever it takes to find their place to nurse. Look at this one laying on top of her sibling. I watched these two for a bit. It was so cute.
As they get older, the piglets climb all over the place – exploring their pen. Mama is kept in the farrowing crate. it doesn’t look like it but she does have room to stand, stretch, drink and eat. The piglets end up on the wrong side of her and will then climb up and over to return to the side of their mama that provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I didn’t get any pictures that show this but on (most of) the males there were two little slits where they had all been recently castrated. I asked why they didn’t stitch up the opening but Julia said the environment in which the piglets live isn’t sterile so they would be sealing bacteria into the cut. Instead they just apply antibacterial on the incision and let it heal. It looked so clean and the piglets just ran around like nothing was bothering them.
On another afternoon we drove up the highway to San Simeon to watch the elephant seals. There is a protected area where they congregate in large numbers.
At this time of year, it is the females and the babies who are on the shore. They sure have a hard life – lounging on the sand day in and day out. 🙂
As always, it was nice to get home yesterday. The next time we go down to San Luis Obispo will be in June to celebrate Julia’s graduation. How wild!! Her college experience was less than traditional considering the hiccups due to the pandemic but she is definitely ready for the next phase in her journey.
How can it be that Julia is graduating?! I’m so glad you went to her and got to see where she was hanging out for the time she’s been there. All those cute little pink piglets! I love the photo of the little black-faced one peeking over the barricade. I agree that it is so much fun to see our kids in their adult worlds!
That black faced pig was so funny. We were petting a boar in the pen next to him and then this guy jumps up – like, hey, what about me??? So silly. We had a lovely time just hanging out together. Such a nice vacation!
Growing up on a farm, these pics bring back memories. Of course, we didn’t have nearly that many pigs, but it was always fun to watch them and the other animals! I too can’t believe she’s graduating already! My how time flies. It seems she just started. It really is fun to see the kids in their environment in which they thrive. Great pics, Bernie. Glad you had a great time.
Happy to know this post was a fun one for you. I think pigs are one of my favorite farm animals. They are so funny and very smart. Unfortunately they are really stinky as well! We had a great time wandering through the swine unit though.
Thanks a bunch for your note!
I am new to your web site, and didn’t know you had a daughter Thayer went to Cal Poly. I was a home even. Student there starting in 1967 – only 8400 students, bit soooo fun. I transferred to San Jose State because I wanted “textiles” major, but always remember those fun days at Avila and Morro Bay!
Nancy
Hi Nancy – I am a Cal Poly graduate from the class of 1982. I remember at that time, we had about 18,000 students. I also remember the tuition was approx $90 per quarter. It is now approx $3600 per quarter.
Yes – Avila and Morro Bay are pretty great places to spend a day!
Did you stay local to San Jose area after you went to school there. I have wanted to go to the Textile museum in SJ but it hasn’t happened yet.
We’ve moved around a lot. After growing up in Glendale, CA. and we’re married, we lived for awhile in Valley Center, growing avocados and with our kids raising pigs for 4H. (So cute, the pigs that is, until they got big). Never got to the museum in San Jose tho. We moved ski area Park City, Utah for 30 years. 50+ years we’re in Idaho now.😃
Baby animals of any kind are cute and pigs are no exception. Glad you had a good trip. Bernie
You are totally right – baby animals of all sorts are adorable. Well, except rodents. I am not a huge fan of mice, rats, gerbils, etc. But for the most part I am smitten with the babies.
It was a lot of fun to hang out with Julia. We had not seen her since Christmas. Of course, I am a home body so it is also nice to be back home!
I just wrote you a long comment re Cal Poly, and your system says it’s a duplicate. Very frustrating
Sorry about that Nancy – your comment came through just fine though. Must have been a glitch because I didn’t get a duplicate from you. 🙂
What a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing your spring break visit with your daughter. I love pigs, and the piglets are so adorable. The beach scenes were refreshing. But the sunset photo takes the cake – STUNNING!
That was quite the sunset the night we took that photo – A lucky shot! Thanks so much Kay.
I’m so glad you got to spend time with Julia and that tour of the Swine Unit sounds really fantastic. I hope Julia’s last few months go smoothly and I bet we’ll blink and it will be June and time for her graduation. It will be exciting to hear what comes next for her.
She is excited to see what happens next too. She has been starting to send out her resume which is really cool. Crossing our fingers she finds just the right job! (And that it isn’t too terribly far from her parents.) 😉
Looks like a fun trip, Bernie! I love beach-combing, too, and it sounds like we need to put Morro Bay on our list of places to visit. The piggies are adorable! My brother is a nurse practitioner and started working at the Cal Poly student health center right at the end of 2023. I think we need to go visit him and my SIL!
For sure!!! It is incredibly gorgeous there. That is such a great place for your brother to work. I love the whole vibe at Cal Poly (I am biased since I am an alumni as are three of my kids) But really a great place to live. We were able to fly direct to the tiny airport in SLO. I wonder if this would be possible for you?
Thanks for sharing Bernie. So interesting to see what Julia does, and where. Beautiful area! I know you parents are proud of your “baby”.
Sure seems like it was only a short while ago she was our baby. Now she is an independent adult who will be 22 next month! So hard to wrap my head around that!!
Seems like yesterday that Julia was going off to college! What a fun spring break for all of you. Those pigs are so sweet and I am so glad you got to see Julia in her element and enjoy the grown-up young woman that she is.
It does seem so recent – Well she left four years ago and then came home because of Covid for a bit so it has been a process! But we loved our time with her and the pigs, the beach and so much yummy food!!!
Loved this post! Thanks for sharing what goes on in your life. So different than many of us, but so fun to experience through your eyes.
Hey there Heidi! We do all lead super unique lives – sure makes things interesting right? I love how my four kids have ended up in such a variety of careers. Very exciting to watch them moving along their paths. Hope all is well with you!!
How fast do those piglets fatten up? Crazy!! That mumma’s giving them the best food 🙂
Kirsty it seems if we stood there for an hour we would have noticed growth. They put on weight at a tremendous rate! Poor mama – no wonder she rolls over for a break now and then!
How young you look Bernie! Love the photo of you and Julia at sunset. What a glorious campus she has – it looks like a state park. I can’t believe it’s Julia’s last year. Does she have an idea where she will go/what she will do?
Thank you Linda – we enjoyed the time together. Once we left though, Julia came down with a virus and is miserable. Classes start today and I doubt she will make it over to her lectures. That campus is really in a gorgeous spot. Especially now when it is all green. The hills do get dry in summer months.
As far as after graduation, she hopes to move up to WA to be near family. She is just now putting out applications for work. Mainly with shelters so she can work with dogs. Crossing our fingers she finds what she wants!!
What a wonderful trip!! You were in my most favorite beach town in THE WORLD!!! ( MB!!)
and how fun to see Julia in her environment!!! the piggies are so cute!!!
I agree – Morro Bay is a great beach town. We did have a lot of fun with Julia, just hanging out together. Unfortunately the day after we left she came down with a miserable cold. I felt so bad for her last week – first week of classes and she was feeling lousy. She was just ready to come home after a long day of class and got a text that one of their sows was out in a pasture farrowing. I guess that mama decided to do things her way. So Julia and another student had to go gather up the mama and babies and get them settled into a pen in the farrowing barn. But she loves this Alycia. I sure hope she is able to continue working with swine after graduation. It will be a challenge because she wants to live up in Washington near family. So that narrows her options considerably. Enjoy life with Cam and Mitch (because you just didn’t have enough to do already!! Hahaha)