Day 6

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Today was a long day of sightseeing on the California coast. We left Bakersfield around 8am. We passed many vineyards. It was the first time I had seen a yard of oil pumps at work. The rolling green hills were beautiful with patches of cows grazing  or yellow or purple wildflowers.

 We drove by more wineries near Paso de Robles on our way to Morro Bay. It was quite a surprise seeing a large hill of rock on the horizon and then realizing once we drove down into town that the mound was actually Morro Rock, the reason we came to town. There is a spit of land visible from the town that is merely a wonderful beach. There is a channel in between the beach island and the rock. 

 It was a very cute town, very dog friendly. It was surprisingly hot on the coast, in the 80s. We stopped by the visitor center to get a better map of Highway 1 up the coast and get a better idea of where exactly the road was closed due to mudslides. We knew it was shutdown at Big Sur, but I still had hope we might be able to see some of it. We had a bite to eat at Giovanni’s Fish Market & Galley. Fish tacos and fish & chips while overlooking Morro Rock was great.

 We drove out to Morro Rock to walk along the park. I can see why people love California. It was beautiful, and it was just the beginning.

 As we drove up Highway 1, there were many points to pull off at great vistas.

We continued 30 minutes further north up the coast past the last viable road to east to Highway 101. We drove near Hearst Castle, a huge mansion the size of Biltmore near San Simeon. 

One vista was swarming with elephant seals sunbathing on the sandy beach. They would try to use their flipper to fling sand onto their back. You’d think you were lucky when a seal started to move toward the water, but they would only move about 5 feet at a time. Near this point was the Piedras Blancas Light Station established 1875.

Our final stop on Highway 1 was the Ragged Point Inn.  It was a great stop to get an idea of what Big Sur is like. The elevation of the land is a lot higher here, creating a large cliff down to the ocean below. Gas out here was $4.40/gallon! I was glad we had enough gas still.

 We then retraced our steps and drove south on Highway 1 to be able to head east and then north up to Monterey. We went to the 17 Mile Drive. You pay $9.50 to enter the gate and drive thru the scenic coast, gated communities and golf courses. Joe had a similar response to see Pebble Beach as I had at the Grand Canyon; uncontrolled excitement. Chance loved the opportunity to hang her head out the window. The beginning of the drive was older small homes in a large forested area.

The beach was full of large rounded pebble rocks. It was hazy over the water, making it hard to get great pictures of the coast. The water wasn’t as cold as I thought it was. I was expecting it to be freezing.

 One of the points of interest was called Point Joe.  According to legend, the point was named after Joe, a Chinese man who lived in a driftwood lean-to home near the point. He would sell trinkets and tend to goats. Seems ironic.

 Chance had a freak-out moment in the car. With me popping out of the vehicle every few minutes she was getting anxious and she climbed on the pile of coolers, bags, etc in the driver side back seat. I came back from taking a picture of the shoreline and Chance is not in her seat in the car! Come to find out she had knocked over a bag into her seat, which of course terrified her (she’s scared of a plastic grocery bag moving). She decided it was safer to climb on top of the coolers which happened to have blankets on top of them due to other luggage tumbles earlier in the day. She did seem to have a better view that way of the scenery. I can’t blame her. I probably would have moved there too.

 This was a cool house we liked on Spyglass Hill Golf Course.

 There were some pretty cool old pine and cypress trees here.

 The Lone Cypress is a landmark for Pebble Beach and has prevailed on its rocky perch for over 250 years.

 We finally made it to the Pebble Beach Golf Course. Joe was practically running out of the Lodge to view the 18^th hole. I felt a little out of place in our flip flops and t-shirts in the Pebble Beach Lodge.

 After we left the 17 Mile Drive, we went to Carmel.  Somehow there is another picture of Joe running to view Pebble Beach from another angle. Carmel was a quaint community. I could see myself living there. Every home in unique and has more character than houses designed today. We were starving so we weren’t there long and drove back up to Monterey.

 We drove around Cannery Row looking for a place to eat in Monterey. We decided it was getting too late to sit down, eat and then drive 2 hours to our hotel in Millbrae, just south of San Francisco. We ate some quick Chinese on the road and arrived at the hotel around 9:30pm.

 Our car is in desperate need of a car wash now. 6 days worth of bugs on the grill was pretty ghetto in Monterey.

 I can’t wait to explore San Francisco tomorrow. It looks like another beautiful day in the 70s.