A day in Big Sur

This morning we were up early.  The plan was to drive to Salinas and enjoy a nice breakfast at First Awakenings before heading out to Big Sur.  We really enjoyed this restaurant as we have been here on each of our visits.

After breakfast we drove to Point Lobos State Reserve and went walking along the shoreline.  While there we went looking for some starfish and other sea life but the tide had not yet gone out so we weren't very successful.  Ralph and Lawrence however saw a crab and some anemone and we all saw some whales in the distance.  It was fun and relaxing to spend a couple of hours here.

Whale paparazzi

First whale sighting

From Point Lobos State Reserve we headed south towards Big Sur.  What a fantastic drive.  We stopped at the Rivers Inn for some lunch and explored a little before heading towards the Pfeiffer State Reserve Beach.  What a beautiful place!  We've never stopped here before, but it's definitely a place we would go back to.  There was fog starting to roll in so we decided not to stay for the sunset as we still had to drive back to Santa Cruz and it didn't look promising for any colour.

We stopped in Pacific Grove to check out where we will be staying next.  I think it's the same place we stayed with Ron and Anne many years ago.  It's nice and close to the golf course and within walking distance to the ocean.  We are leaving Santa Cruz tomorrow and will be spending the next 3 days in Pacific Grove.

Not sure I'd want this bird sitting on the hood of my vehicle!!

We enjoyed a nice dinner today from Coles BBQ.  The serving sizes were huge so we'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

We have been blessed with good weather and have really enjoyed all the places that we have visited.  Tomorrow morning we plan to go to The Garden of Eden at The Henry Cowell State Reserve.  This is supposed to be a nice area to go hiking and is highly recommended by the people we spoke with.

Enjoying the pleasures of Santa Cruz

Early this morning we were woken up by the sound of Ralph's phone ringing.  It was around 6:30 a.m. and the Insurance Company was calling to discuss with us about the forms to be completed.  We were happy that they are actively pursuing this on our behalf.

After an early breakfast we headed out to the Santa Cruz Pier where we spent a couple of hours enjoying the Sea Lions.  They were all around the pier and it was so much fun to watch them.  I could certainly spend the whole day here watching their crazy antics as they played with each other.

Fisherman talk - have you caught anything?

Playful sea lions

This is referred to as a "Raft".  It was so cool to see.

How did he get up here?

My happy face!!

Looking across the bay.

Waves washing up on shore.

Anticipating the surf!!

We enjoyed lunch that we made ourselves from the leftover Sour Dough bread and chicken.  While enjoying our lunch we struck up a conversation with a family that was getting ready to surf.  I noticed their license plate was from Minnesota so I commented on how far away from home they were.  We had a really enjoyable conversation and they ended up telling us about this park called "Henry Cowell Redwood State Park".  It was only a short 30 minute drive from the coast so we went there to explore. It was amazing.  We had such a wonderful time walking through the forest filled with Redwoods. They are so majestic.   

See how big!!

Look up up up...

We went down to the beach to watch the sun set.  Ralph and I practiced doing some time lapse photography.  We're pretty happy with how it turned out.

Evening sunset.

We finished our day with a really nice dinner at Firefish Grill.  The food was amazing.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Santa Cruz

We enjoyed a leisurely morning over breakfast and packing up our suitcases.  We enjoyed a nice sermon from R.C. Sproul that Ralph downloaded.

We arrived in Santa Cruz around noon.  We were able to check into our hotel right away and unload our suitcases.  We decided to go and see the Pier but found that it was too busy so we continued driving until we found a nice little park to stop and enjoy some lunch.  We made delicious sandwiches using the sour dough bread that we had bought yesterday in San Francisco.  It was amazing.  

After lunch was finished we drove to Moss Landing to see where we needed to go to catch the boat for our whale watching cruise.  Satisfied that we knew where to go and who to meet we headed for the beach.  Wow!!!  The waves were so high and the ocean was so rough.  We called it a very angry ocean.  It was really windy as well and quite cool but at the same time it felt so good to be there and enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

For dinner we went to Aptos Street BBQ.  We had live entertainment from a group called Chicken Slim Bone - which we thought was an unusual name.  They were really nice to listen too.  It was jazz music and reminded Ralph and I of a place that we had visited in Florida with Grace and John.  The food was delicious.

With all the fresh air, we are pretty tired so I suspect it will be an early night.

San Francisco

The day started out a bit rainy but cleared up nicely as time progressed. We went downtown to a camera store called Sammy’s. They were very helpful and set us up with a new camera and lens along with a bag and card to get us started. Fortunately we still have our wide angle lenses and our large 400 mm zoom for the whale watching tour later this week.  Unfortunately the battery wasn't charged so when we made coffee stops and lunch stops we were using the outlets at the restaurants to help get some juice into the battery so that we could use it for pictures.

After making our camera purchase we drove downtown and enjoyed the day exploring. We rode the cable cars, explored the lakeshore, went to Pier 39, Fishermans Wharf and enjoyed a chocolate treat at Ghirardelli's (yummy ice cream and chocolate).  It's a good thing we did all that walking!!

Dinner was spent on Pier 39 at the Crab House.  What a feast.  They have the most amazing dungeness crab. We ordered the Killer Crab Feast which comes on a sizzling platter that is loaded to the top.  It was so delicious and was a challenge to eat it all.

It was a perfect day to be out.  Not hot but not cold either.  The Golden Gate bridge was not really visible today as there was a lot of cloud and mist on the water.  We thought we might try to get sunset pictures of the bridge, but by the time the sun went down the bridge simply disappeared from view.

We received the news on Friday night that they had closed Yosemite Park due to mudslides and flooding.  We quickly made reservations in Santa Cruz for the next couple of days.  We're all disappointed that we won't be able to see those majestic mountains and waterfalls but recognize that it's dangerous to be out there with the wet conditions that they have been experiencing.  The bed and breakfast place that we had booked - Yosemite Rose was very gracious and also advised that it was a good idea to stay away.  I guess we have to plan to come back again.

It's time to say goodbye to San Francisco and "thanks for the memories".