Carmel and 17-Mile Drive

September 25th was our 16th wedding anniversary.  We took a day trip to Carmel, which is south of Monterey, and drove along 17-Mile Drive, which is nestled between the two.  Finally we took a drive to the coast on a sunny day!  It was a gorgeous weekend with blue skies and warm breezes.  I got a dozen red roses and Kevin got his wish to not be in any of the pictures.

One of the things we wanted to do was go to the Carmel Mission.  There are 21 missions from San Diego to Sonoma.  They were established in an attempt to convert the Native Americans to Christianity.  Carmel Mission was established in 1770 and was the second of the missions.  In 1880 the roof collapsed and the mission was restored in 1924.  It became a parish in 1933 and still celebrates mass to this day.  The grounds were beautiful and the chapel was open to visitors. 

A section of the grounds was designated as a cemetary.  It was very simple in design.  The graves were each outlined by large shells and rocks.  The man who renovated the mission to its present condition was buried there.  His burial site was in a separate row of graves that had engraved headstones.  The others that you see above, were only marked with wooden crosses.   

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We headed back north by way of 17-Mile Drive.  This loop of road is home to a number of Golf Courses, most notably Pebble Beach, tremendously expensive homes, cypress trees and beautiful vistas of the Pacific.  Behind me is the waypoint called the "Restless Sea".  It was mesmerizing to watch the water hit the rocks.  A number of surfers rode the waves to shore just to the north of us.

The Lone Cypress is about 250 years old and the official trademark of Pebble Beach.  It is one of the more popular stops along 17-Mile Drive.  What a beautiful day for an anniversary celebration!

                                                                                              

Kayaking in Monterey Bay

A few years ago, Kevin and I bought kayaks to paddle around the back channels of Canandaigua Lake. We didn't have much of an oppportunity to use them because of Kevin's deployment and our recent move. We brought our kayaks to California hoping to put them to good use. Saturday 9/19/09, we headed back to Monterey to paddle around the bay.

Monterey Bay from the water.

I wanted this to be a relaxing, jump-in-the-kayaks-and-go kind of day. The last thing I wanted was a big production to get down there. Well, the day before, Kevin informed me that the Pacific Ocean is very cold and we need to get wetsuits. Huh? In Canandaigua, we wore T-shirts and shorts. Kevin's reply was, "This isn't Canandaigua." We couldn't get any wetsuits from our local sporting goods store, so we hoped to find something in Monterey.  Monterey Bay Kayaks was the answer to our prayers.  They had everything we needed.  The clerk informed me that we shouldn't wear anything cotton because we would get wet and cold.  I had no intention of getting wet, but I didn't tell her that.  My mistake.  As much as I love the idea of the unitard, the wetsuits were a godsend.  You do get splashed from time to time.  Six-hundred dollars later, we got our suits, jackets and water shoes and were finally ready to kayak.

I wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought we were just going to go in the calm water by the marina.  As you can see by the pictures above, we were practically in the ocean.  You had to be careful when fishing boats passed by because the wake they created could topple you if you were facing the wrong way.  It was exciting to be out there and in retrospect, I'm glad we did.  Once you paddle past the fishing docks, there is a rock wall alive with gulls and seals.  The fish smell was very concentrated there and the seals were noisier than I ever remember.  They were a riot.  Many of them were just hanging out.  It's hard to tell in some of the pictures, but it was actually a beautiful sunny day.  The sky was blue behind us, but the fog rolled in ahead of us. 

The best thing about being in the water was getting so close to the animals.  The seals and otters would pop up around you going on about their business.  Various birds flew all around us looking for their next meal.  As we got closer to the aquarium, the sea kelp was more abundant in the water.  Birds perched on top of it and the otters swam in the middle of it.  It was hard to get pictures because the kayak was constantly in motion and I had to keep the camera dry, but I managed to get some good shots.  The sea otters were very aware of our presence and often watched as we paddled by.

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Sea Otter Video Clip



The total trip was about three miles.  We went as far as the aquarium and went ashore for lunch.  Afterward, we headed back to the beach where we started.  Any further and we would have been in the rougher waters of the ocean.  I was so proud of myself for staying dry.  I had just hit the beach and I was paddling to get further out of the water when a small wave turned my kayak sideways and I wiped out in front of everyone.  Thank God I didn't wear cotton!  We had a blast and the dogs were good.  We headed home after sundaes at Ghirardelli.  Another great day in Monterey!

Once we got home, Ingonish went to his favorite place - the fridge.  He knows where ice cubes come from and was ready for a bedtime snack!

Port Reyes National Seashore

Labor Day Weekend 2009 held much promise as we were looking forward to a long weekend.  On Sunday 9/6/09, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Point Reyes National Seashore.  It was about an hour north of Sausalito on Route 1.  This road is the scenic route along the California coastline.  The first ten plus miles of Route 1 proved to be very twisty and crowded.  Ingonish has always had a queasy stomach in the truck, but has done well on motorhome trips.  We were keeping our fingers crossed. 

Sure enough, he proceeded to vomit two times in the same spot on our way up.  Luckily we had throw rugs down, but quickly used all of them up.  At least we knew his stomach was finally empty.  We figured it was worth it just to spend a day at the beach.

We soon found out Point Reyes was not all we thought it would be.  The roads were unpaved and bumpy and the scenery was less than inspiring.  Still, we were there and wanted to make the best of it.

The coastline proved to be very beautiful with bright blue skies.  At the southern most tip was Point Reyes Light.  We always like to see as many lighthouses as we can.  We found out the lighthouse was situated at the windiest point in the United States.  I believe it.  The wind was horrendous.  It made the wind at our Canandaigua house seem like a small breeze.  With all the rocks below, we could see why it was such an important place for a lighthouse.

Kevin decided it would be fun to take the dogs on the beach.  A few words came to my mind:  salt, sand, misbehaved.  See where this was heading?  The sand had a consistency of dirt.  I stayed back and watched the action instead.  I got jumped on the weekend before with muddy wet paws and this weekend was much cooler on the coast.  The three of them jumped in the water having fun.  The dogs absolutely loved it.  They also loved drinking the nice salt water and eating and rolling in the nice sand.  Thank God there was an outdoor shower where the boys were promptly bathed before heading back to the motorhome.  It was fun watching them have a good time.

The trip home proved to be just as exciting as the ride up.  Ingonish threw up the sand and water that he swallowed.  There weren't many places to pull over to let them out.  So, Cabot decided to pee in the motorhome without any warning.  Nice.  Even though this wasn't our best trip, we enjoyed spending time together and managed to have fun and laugh along the way.  Kevin bathed the dogs and shampooed the motorhome carpet when we got home around 10 pm.  I sat on the couch and watched TV:)