The Drive to Monterey

The Pacific Coast Highway....Highway 1

Grey Whale Cove

such power in the surf

Danny always seem to find a rock to climb on

the surfline was deceptive. Even when you stood well outside of it, something like this would roll right up and get you!

and then it would slip quickly away!

little wild daffodils...what a treat

the birds flocked to this little body of water that fed into the ocean

lots of clay along this portion of the coast...note the house in the distance

agriculture along the way....can you see the little artichokes?

our friend Andy Brister encouraged us to make this drive and even though it was raining, we were glad we did it.

we saw a lot of pelicans on this trip

there are several golf courses along this drive

wonder how many people miss this hole?

Seal Rock...covered with seals

the tree that IS the logo for Pebble Beach golf course

Carmel by the Sea...the little specks in the water are surfers...in the rain

Carmel by the Sea

surfing in the rain at Carmel by the Sea

looking to right out of the hotel. The Ghirardelli is just down on the right

yummy hot chocolate at Ghirardelli

found something unique for the bacon loving Travis Terral family

our dinner spot

Asparagus soup...yummy

Danny's Sole

my Chicken Marsala in terrible lighting!

We woke up bright and early this morning and had breakfast at a local coffee shop. The morning was overcast and the forecast was for rain. We began our journey down the coast on Hwy 1 with our first night's stop to be Monterey. There were many places along the way that we could stop and enjoy the view or walk to the beach. We went down to the beach at Grey Whale Cove hoping that maybe we would spot a whale, but instead we were greeted with amazing beauty. The coastline is rocky with tall cliffs in this area. The beach we stopped at was sandy with coarse sand. I was busy taking pictures and thought that I was well outside of the surf, when much to my surprise it ran right up onto my feet. A young woman several feet in front of me was soaked up to her knees! It was quite a surprise! Danny found a tall perch and scanned the waves with his binoculars. There are not very many people stopping at these turnouts which is nice for us because it isn't crowded. We drove on down the coast continuing to stop and gaze at the coastline. Many times Hwy 1 took us away from the coast and more inland so we had an opportunity to drive through small towns. We stopped for lunch at Emily's Bakery and Sandwich shop in Santa Cruz for a quick bite and dessert to go. Our friend Andy Brister had suggested we drive the 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach on the other side of Monterey. It had started to rain at this point and we knew we didn't want to stop somewhere and walk around so a drive seemed just the thing to do. The 17 mile drive takes you around the Pebble Beach Company property on the Monterey Peninsula. Once again there are several opportunities to pull over and look at the beauty around you. There are 21 marked things to see on this drive. My favorite was "bird rock" which is a large rock just off shore that is COVERED with harbour seals!! We had our binoculars with us so we could see them closer. Without the binoculars, the rock literally looked like it was moving because there were so many seals. We saw pelicans also perched upon the rock. The rain just would not let up during our drive, but we decided to drive on through Carmel by the Sea and get out in the rain and walk along the beach. The beach is beautiful, clean, and sandy. The little town of Carmel is quaint and lined with lots of little shops and eateries. We left Carmel to drive back to Monterey to check into our hotel which is ADORABLE with a wood burning fireplace in our room!! Our hotel is located right next door to a Ghirardelli store and of course we needed more hot chocolate!!! We had hoped to go to the aquarium, but it closed before we could go in. We wandered in and out of a few stores and came back to the hotel for wine and cheese which was in the lobby but we brought a plate up to our room and enjoyed it in front of the fireplace. We walked to dinner tonight at the Sardine Factory. Our meal was wonderful! Danny had Sole Meuniere with Sole caught in Monterey Bay and I had Chicken with a Marsala sauce which was a house specialty. We split a Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert. We are back in our hotel room with our fire burning and enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the beach directly below our window. We should sleep well tonight! Tomorrow we continue our drive along the coach toward Avila Beach outside of San Luis Obispo. Until then....