Marriott Monterey

... to shop much. But still it was fun to get out a bit!

Well Wish us luck on our next passage. This is the longest one that I have done so far and nearly the longest passage the boat has done. it is 400 miles from Monterey to San Diego and I don't think we will be stopping - provided we get decent winds it should take us around 4 days. I hope Mr. Roboto is up for the challenge (knock on wood)!

... t think it is reasonable to charge the full fee when practically the entire park is closed! It was no wonder that there were so many cars parked just outside the park as the Waterfall trail is not far from the entrance and would have easily been accessible from outside the park on foot. Oh well.... let’s just see it as our contribution towards the rebuilding of the park.

Waking up in the middle of the redwoods in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park was really something else. We had a nice shady spot, and were greeted to streaks of sunlight peeking through the giant redwoods. Awesome!

We headed for brunch at Cafe Kevah, along Highway 1, which is also ...

... continued our drive carefully down California Highway 1, through the bends. It was not too bad.... it wasn't long before we moved further away from the edges of the cliffs, on to flatter roads. Our intended campgrounds were not much further, at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

Yeaaaayyy!!! They had tons of availability for the night... but at the hefty price of $35!!! Wow! That is really steep for primitive campgrounds in a state park! We contemplated the price for abit, as the ...

We went to Point Lobos State Reserve, not knowing much, except that there are plenty of sea lions in residence. However, we found out at the park entrance that sea otters are also in residence! So it became our mission to spot some sea otters.

We walked the Sea Lion trail, the trail at Whaler's Cove, the Cypress Grove trail and started the Bird Island Trail, without any luck. Shucks! I ...

... they built them.

On the way to Monterey, we tried to drive through Carmel, but couldn't find it (and we had GPS!) and then decided on the spur of the moment to do the "17 Mile Drive" around Pebble Beach. This costs $9 per car, and some may have philosophical objections to paying to drive on what in Australia would be a public road, but we were glad we did it. There are about 20 signposted "vista points", some of which are quite beautiful. One was called "The Restless ...

... down! We always impress the locals.

Monterey is a beautiful and busy town. Right on the Pacific Ocean, we drove into town and even managed to find parking. Here in Monterey you can shop, walk on the boardwalk, eat and enjoy the ocean. Monterey has a Marine Conservation Area which is full of scuba divers! We were also able to see some seals sunning themselves.

Monterey used to be a fishing ...

... catch my connecting flight to San Fransisco.  And here i am (in Monterey) after two flights, BART, CalTrain, Amtrak bus, car ride from a friend. Phuhhhhh....too many transfers. It really makes you pay attention to the time and follow a schedule, that's for sure.  Monterey is the start of my pacific northwest tour. My hopes and plans are to make it to Alaska and get on a salmon boat. Stay tuned for many PacNW postings..........

Spent 2 hours at this world class aquarium, really enjoyed the sea otters, tame albatross, wonderful display of the most amazing jellyfish, huge Sturgeon, sunfish etc..very well done.Wandered around Cannery Row then went out on the 17mile Pebble Beach drive, a private toll road (so no bikes allowed) through all the famous golf courses and beaches, tons of seals basking on the rocks, magnificent homes, some on at least an acre and huge, lots of trees ...

... d'origine. Jeudi 15, la journée s'annoncait ordinaire, elle a été fabuleuse, je n'ai vu que des belles choses. Je commence par aller visiter la Carmel Mission, son vrai nom est Mission San Carlos Borroméo, fondée en 1770 pour convertir les indiens, ce fut plus lent que prévu, le premier indien n'a été baptisé qu'en 1776. Par la suite l'église et son enceinte tombèrent en ruines, ce n'est qu'en 1931 qu'on entreprit la restauration ...