http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , California , Monterey en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:00:35 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:00:35 +0000 EXCERPT FROM MY BOOK OUR SUMMER IN CARMEL AMAZON.COM The square mile incorporated city of CarmelbytheSea in addition to the 120 galleries and art studios also claims two stage theaters the internationally acclaimed Bach Festival the equally renowned Shakespeare Festival a music society and an annual art festival among its more prominent cultural events. This focus on the arts is not a r http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-449981.html Left Monterey at 1830 on Monday.No wind at all so we motored all night to Morro Bay. The bar was calm so we motored in and picked up mooring balls at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. Nice seafood dinner ashore.We find we are in need of additional fuel filters Echo is eating them up so we are waiting today for them to arrive. Plan to push on to Avila Port San Louis soon. All of us are happy and h http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-442993.html On my California trip earlier this summer I spent an afternoon at the Monterey Aquarium. Most of the pictures turned out blurry apologies in advance because of the lighting but I thought I would share a few anyway. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-436352.html The highway n1 is nice ride but apparently very frequented by the bald and the beautiful... every second car was a Porsche... now explain me why you ride such a great car on a street where you can't drive over 35 mph due to the curves and the speed limits ... I feel sorry for the poor boxster motors... We stopped in Monterey for lunch and found out the the Californian coast must be the new Cte http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-429354.html The bus for our CarmelMonterey tour showed up on time at 0830 and delivered us to Fishermanrsquos Wharf for the 0900 departure. Our tour guide was Michael and he spoke of the areas we visited with a true passion and a good sense of humour. As we drove out of the San Francisco area he showed us the exact location of the San Andreas Fault and briefly went through the history of the counties http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-429045.html 200709 Monday Day 340After checking out of the hostel we headed only around the corner to Avis to pick up our rental car which turned out to be a Ford Focus automatic. We were going to head north a bit but since wersquore handing it back on Saturday we decided to head south instead. Getting out of San Francisco was pretty easy again thanks to my trusty phone sat nav First stop on the way do http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-423738.html The day started off with disappointment all of the campgrounds between SF and Monterey were full all but one were firstcome firstserve so this time it was not due to our lack of planning regardless of an inability to do so. Scrambling to find somewhere to sleep we found the library in Monterey had free wireless internet and located a campground called Laguna Seca 10 minutes away near Salin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-421524.html This past weekend my parents and Jim and I drove up to Monterey to visit my daughters and their families and my brother and his family. We took off early Friday morning and had to make the obligatory stop for coffee. Of course then two hours after that we had to make the obligatory stop for a potty break. And so it was...We drove up Interstate 15 to I210 and eventually met up with Interstate http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-407036.html Well then Today was once again fantastic. Jordan Michael and I woke up at 7 30 and rushed out to Monterey for our 18 000 ft skydiving adventure. BUT it was so foggy that we actually couldn't jump. We were all VERY disappointed but in the end I think it was meant to be. Turns out the same company does 18 000 ft at the space center in Fla. so the 3 of us are meeting up in August and we've alread http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-404117.html We last left you in Phoenix where on our final day we went to the botanical gardens perched out on the edge of the desert. It combines all sorts of weird and wonderful plants and flowers with even more weird and wonderful huge glass sculptures shaped and coloured in a way to make you feel like you're walking through Wonderland. We sat under a pavilion overlooking the desert waiting for suns http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-392536.html I decided to drive the two hours down to Monterey to look for places to stay next month for the Pebble Beach Pro Am and just check out the area a little. I didn't make it out to the farthest point into the Pacific on the Monterey Peninsula but wish I had. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-391700.html With Family http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-389128.html We arrived in Monterey last night and are happy with our 59 a night hotel. This is a slow time of year for the area and there are good deals to be had in nice places. Our drive up started out slow with bumper to bumper traffic through L.A. but after that it was all wonderful. I loved Santa Barbara wish we could have spent some time there. Dave we drove through Goleta but didn't have time t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-379560.html One of the hidden delights of the Monterey Peninsula is the Bayonet Golf Course at the old Fort Ord Army base in Monterey. Fort Ord was established in 1917 and closed in 1994. It was the home of the 7th Infantry and has now been converted to civilian uses including California State University Monterey. The two sister golf courses Bayonet and Black Horse have been converted to public golf c http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-377917.html After being at Pt. Lobos for only a short period of time one quickly realizes the beauty and character of this place is found nowhere else on earth. Endemic species abound in California and Pt. Lobos is no exception. Like a microcosm of the unique character that comprises the California Floristic Province this biological hotspot is teeming with diversity. Speckeled Granite cliffs inhabited b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-372856.html Excerpted from my book Our Summer in Carmel Amazon.comIn what the Spanish called Alta California there was not the relentless effort to colonize proselytize and claim territory that there had been in Mexico Peru and the Eastern coasts of the new world. But change was coming none the less. Perhaps the first Spaniard to see the Monterey area was Juan Rodriguez Carbrillo. The records are spars http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-370834.html Excerpt from my book Our Summer In Carmel available at Amazon.comI like history. I begin my phototravel journal with a brief amateur overview of the Monterey Peninsula. Providing some historical context helps to better understand a place today. This short historical discourse is divided into three phases. Prehistory SpanishMexican governance and lastly the arrival of the Yankee. For thousa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-366655.html It was Jack Nicklaus who answered the question If you could only play one golf course which one would it be Of course he answered Pebble Beach. And I humbly and whole heartedly agree. It is the most magical place on earth with apologies to Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. I first got to play Pebble Beach when I turned 50. My friend Mike and I played the most magical round of golf EVER. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-364895.html DAY 16Ocean Mesa to Oceano Beach to MontereyWe stayed Friday night at the same RV park we liked on our way down to Disneyland Ocean Mesa just north of Santa Barbara. The swimming pool was still warm and we got 2 loads of laundry done and scrubbed up 3 kids. What a joy to have a hot shower and floss teeth the simple things of life. Irsquom seeing that therersquos different types of RVer per http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-360410.html Let me take a moment to share about the little nuances of RV travel. Donrsquot get me wrong itrsquos been great really. But there are little funky things that happen when one is living in a Recreational Vehicle. Take for instance LITTLE NOISES. I can hear the heat turn on and off in our Spokane home but rarely think twice about it. In the RV it sounds like someone just announced ldquoGen http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Monterey/blog-356934.html