During the week, when there are few tourists, it’s easy to park our Noovo Plus at the edge of the bluffs over the beach in Half Moon Bay, rear doors open toward the ocean. It’s nice to have the fresh air, the salty breeze, the sunshine all around us while working at the van’s lounge table.
I’m a photographer and for years I’ve worked on my laptop at a local coffee shop, editing photographs, writing blog posts and essays, or reading. It works well, with electricity, coffee, and snacks readily available.
But our Noovo parked next to the ocean takes this to a new level and beyond.
With the van, we not only have coffee, but a selection of great coffees, each at a sixth of the price of the coffee shop. We have any snacks we want. And I can read a book, take a nap, or go for a walk on the bluff or the beach to refresh the mind and recharge the soul.
All of that, plus you can’t see whales at the coffee shop. From the Noovo you can.
One day, last week, while I am working on my laptop, Lori says, “A whale!” Lori sees the whole whale as it jumps almost entirely out of the ocean, not far from shore, directly behind the van. I look up just in time to see the end of the enormous splash. I may have missed it, but I didn’t miss much because the whale has only just begun. For the next half hour the whale—it’s a humpback—plays about in the outer surf, rolling about, its long pectorals flopping, or gliding under the water with its fin raised like some pretend Orca. Its fluke makes a sharp, nail gun-like whack when it smacks against the ocean’s surface, slightly delayed by the slow speed of sound, and the whale slaps its tail on the water again and again, over a dozen slaps at a time, three seconds apart, whether some signal to other whales, some technique to stun fish, or just for fun, I do not know. I don’t think anyone does.
It’s a great show. We live along a whale migration route, so we see whales every year, but rarely like this and rarely this close. And there’s only one reason we saw this spectacular display: Because we were there, in the van, and not at the coffee shop.