Blogs from Monterey, California, United States, North America
May 27th 2012
Day 7. One week down, fifty-one to go. On this lucky-numbered day, we finished up the Big Sur coastline. The sun was coming through the clouds, and the water sparkled. We passed a beautiful cove: waves crashing against worn rocks, a little stream coming out the hills, a sandbar covered in shorebirds, the hillsides glistening with dew. In another cove, we saw two sea otters resting amongst the kelp and at least 25 harbor seals relaxing on the rocks. Passing over several historic bridges built in the early 1930's, we came to Monterey, a city set like a gem on the oceanfront. Following signs for the famous aquarium, we came down alongside the beach, where we found some surprisingly decently-priced parking. ($2 an hour! Downtown!) Before heading to the aquarium, we took Rascal for a walk. ... read more
Days 8, 9 & 10 - Flagstaff, AZ to Needles, CA to Los Angeles, CA to Monterey, CA
Published: May 22nd 2012North America » United States » California » Monterey
May 21st 2012
So it's been a few days since we've blogged last but it's been busy and exhausting and we've seen a lot, so it's time to try and remember it all and get it on the blog for everyone to see. Based on weather forecasts in the northwest and for Glacier and Yellowstone, we will not be able to make it all the way up there, so we're going to stay south and head back east into Utah and Colorado before wrapping up the trip in Salt Lake City to ship the bikes home and fly back. We started out on Saturday from Flagstaff and went to the Grand Canyon. It was a good thing we purchased our National Park American Eagle Pass. This allows 2 motorcycles to enter any National Park for an entire year. The ... read more
May 19th 2012
Day 19: After a breakfast of bacon & pancakes, Bob, Kerry & Charlie went to tour the Monterey Aquarium. It is a great facility with lots and lots a very well done exibits, and touch tanks for the kids. We went into a parking garage marked "Aquarium Parking". When we walked out, we discovered that we had to walk about six blocks to get to the entrance to the aquarium. Turns out that the best place to buy patches was in the first store we went into on the way to the aquarium, so we stopped there on the way back to the car. We spent about 3 1/2 hours to see the entire facility. It covered all sorts of aquatic environments from the beach out to the deep ocean. We got to see the feeding ... read more
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Published: May 20th 2012North America » United States » California » Monterey
May 19th 2012
This morning Gena cooked bacon and I cooked pancakes and we breakfasted together. The Monterey Bay Aquarium didn’t open until 10, so we had time for a leisurely meal. Gena stayed behind this morning to do laundry (and watch Milo) while Kerry, Bob and I went to the aquarium. We parked at the garage that was labeled Aquarium and Cannery Row parking. It turns out it was five blocks from the aquarium, but we made the best of it by checking the stores along the way for patches and cheap postcards. Once in the aquarium, we went first to see the feeding at the Open Sea tank. This tank had tuna, dolphin fish, sardines, sharks, hammerheads, sea turtles and a big sun fish, among others. These were the fish you’d see if you were dumped out ... read more
North to Monterey on the Pacific Coast Highway
Published: May 19th 2012North America » United States » California » Monterey
May 18th 2012
We got our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean just north of Morro Bay as we drove north on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. At San Simeon we saw the Hearst Castle on top of a hill in the distance, but didn’t stop to visit. North of San Simeon at Piedros Blancos Beach we saw a sign for elephant seal viewing, so we pulled off. There we saw hundreds(thousands?) of elephant seals lazing on the beach and a few in the water. The information board said that this time of year the beach is occupied by females and their young and it was their molting season. The males are at sea, feeding. There can be as many as 15,000 elephant seals on this beach at once time. The beach was covered with seals in both ... read more
May 6th 2012
Been a bit slack on the blogging so here is an update from the last 5 days in crazy California. The headlines: People are crackers -literally, San fran full of homeless people drunk or high on crack, smell of weed everywhere! Visited Alcatraz had a guided tour of the prison and the grounds - really interesting Rode a tandem bike over the golden gate bridge, very windy but great fun Walked miles all over the city seeing the sites including a cable car museum, the beats museum and museum mechanique. Ate lots of clam chowder also had dinner at bubba gumps! Went to a club in San fran and experienced a very different city nightlife! Lots of R&B and grinding on the dance floor - old school! Got a greyhound bus with a driver who had ... read more
May 1st 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012, This is day one of our travel to Colorado. I am not sure what I want to include in the blog so I am just going to write a journal and periodically add it to the blog. I can add a few pictures along the way although they will have to be added later. I want to record the facts but I also want to include the feelings. After a lot of preparation we left Antioch about 10 AM. We are both excited to start on our adventure but we have a few mixed emotions about leaving the house, yard and garden for 2-3 months. It is the best time of the year in Antioch. The hills are green, the yard is bursting at the seams with new growth. The garden ... read more
April 11th 2012
Woke up to rain this morning but that soon cleared to leave another beautiful sunny day, although a few degrees cooler than we have been used to, so long trousers were on the cards today! (Dawn wrote this). We headed down to Santa Barbara pier looking at the pelicans diving for fish in the sunshine before heading up the Freeway 101, a mere 249 miles to Monterey. On the way Dawn saw clouds in the form of a funnel and a wee while later the government warning cut in to the radio broadcast warning of a possible tornado 100 miles away. The warning said if you were in your car find the nearest ditch and lie down, only problem was we were in the middle of nothing but flat, flat, flat land with not a ditch ... read more
Day 17 - Monterey Bay - Whale Watching and Seaside Quaintness
Published: November 27th 2011North America » United States » California » Monterey
November 26th 2011
Saturday 26th Nov at 5.48pm Got up early and grabbed breakfast then wandered through town and down to Fishermans Wharf where I just about managed to catch the boat for my Whale Watching trip. We were told that a grey whale had been spotted in the bay area and so we spent 30mins or so staring at the ocean looking intently for spray or disturbances of the water. The anticipation was too muc! Unfortunatley, there were none and so, disappointed, we headed out to sea. Shortly afterwards, we came across a pod of 20 or so Rizo Dolphins. They were fantastic, some had young, others played with kelp in their tails. After snapping a few hundred shots, we headed further out to sea. The swell was substancial, so much so that a guy on board asked ... read more
Day 16 - San Francisco to Monterey
Published: November 27th 2011North America » United States » California » MontereyNovember 25th 2011
Friday 25th Nov at 8.35pm Got a shuttle bus to the airport and picked up my rental car, a Mitsubishi eclipse. It may not be the fastest, sexiest convertible in the world but in garish white it's my very cool ride from San Francisco to LA. I squeeze my oversized luggage into the cramped boot space and immediately get stumped by the automatic transmission. When I eventually work out how to get it out of 'Park' and into 'Drive' I'm off...very, very slowly. The attendant on the way out, after seeing smoke coming from the exhaustI gives me some very helpful advice. Apparently you only use the break when you need to? I guess I'm just used to using both feet when driving but in true American style they can add driving to the long list ... read more
