Over Thanksgiving weekend we headed south to check out Monterey, Carmel by the Sea, and Big Sur. Before we set off on, Nate was supposed to work on Thanksgiving day but was called off last minute so we had our own little Thanksgiving dinner in the Airstream. It was a bit limited due to cooking tool availability. He even opened a bottle of wine with a screw and screw driver...
Friday morning we loaded up the car and took off. We are both getting very efficient packing and knowing exactly what needs to be brought along for, Kobi, and sufficient snacks and food to last the trip! We left the East Bay area and headed over the Santa Cruz Mountains and through the brusslesprout and artichoke fields to Monterey. We escaped the madness of the malls and Black Friday shoppers, not like either of us were big into that anyway.
Our first stop was Fisherman's Wharf and Municipal Wharf 2. We walked out on the old wooded piers and observed the crab boats. There was a group of people gawking at "sea lions" so naturally I went to look. As I got closer, I realized they were sea otters!!! I have loved otters since I was little; I first saw them while we were camping near the Menominee River (the boundary between MI and WI). I watched the otters until they were out of sight and we continued over the visit the other piers and get some coffee. It was a bit chilly.
We explored the downtown area, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and headed to Cannery Row. I was familiar with Cannery Row because of Steinbeck, but was unsure of the history until we strolled in the historic district. The area was home to a sardine canning factory and the site of John Steinbeck's novels. Now, it is a bustling tourist stop. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is at the end of the row as well...which we of course had to visit. The aquarium was pretty much everything I had ever dreamed of. Once, again since I was little I always wanted to go see the kelp forests and the otters living in harmony in Monterey Bay. I was fortunate enough that day to visit the famous aquarium, experience its hands-on (not just for little ones) exploration, and see otters in the wild. Amazing!
We even got to take park in the Cannery Row Christmas Tree lighting. It was your normal community tree lighting with Santa, public officials, sugared up kiddos, and some carolers but it was nice to see.
The next day we continued south around the peninsula we Asilomar State Marine Reserve and continued on to the 17 Mile Drive. I read mixed reviews on whether this road was worth the $10 fee or not. After doing it, I would say it is worth it. The road winds through a beautiful area and follows the coast for the most part. The give you a booklet with numbered stops. We let Kobi out to run on the beach, saw dolphins, saw some amazing homes and Pebble Beach. The road runs into Carmel by the Sea so we went with it and visited the beach there too. Kobi loves the beach! He learned early on that saltwater isn't a good idea to lap up, like the Great Lakes. He runs miles around us! Occasionally, a wave will catch him off guard and he body surfs in!
We continued south on the PCH to Big Sur. If you ever do this...GAS UP before you get to the Big Sur area. There are two gas stations (maybe three) and gas is about $2 more/gal.
Big Sur is beautiful. I didn't know that redwoods grew this far south. The wild coastline zigs and zags in and out, dashes around rocks, waves crash on shore, and it can all be observed at the many look out points. We stopped at the iconic Bixby Bridge, Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park and McWay Falls.
We continued south to Pacific Valley Beach in Los Padres National Forest. We walked down to the beach and were fortunate enough to get there 30 min before low tide. Kobi had a blast running on the hard compacted sand. I snooped around the rocks to find barnacles, mussels, anemones, chitons, limpets etc. We watched the sunset and then continued to drive south to find lodging for the evening. We ended up in Morro Bay for the night. We grabbed some food, hit up a liquor store to try to local brews and hit the sack.
The next morning when we woke up in Morro Bay, boy were we in for a surprise! Morro Bay has a very large rock sitting just off shore... in the ocean. See picture. We didn't even notice it the night before because it was late and dark. We got up fairly early to start driving north because we had a lot of ground to cover.
Headed north, we got a faraway look at the Hearst Castle. It was too hot to leave Kobi in the car so we had to pass. It looked beautiful from the distance.
Unbeknownst to us, elephant seal birthing season was about to begin. There were signs for an elephant seal look out and I was more than surprised to see seals all over the beaches. Most were females and young males practicing their sparring. These seals are quite territorial, the fight for females can be vicious and even end in death. We only saw one male out in the water bellowing and testing the area. The first elephant seal pup was born less than 24 hours before our arrival as well!
We followed the same beautiful way back through Santa Cruz and back up to the SF area. It was an amazing weekend, well worth the travels! I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
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