I Never Wanted To Go To California- Monterey

Tuesday morning we awoke in San Francisco.  Laurel commented that she didn’t sleep well.  The Lombard Hotel is on the corner of Lombard and Van Ness.  This corner is part of US Highway 101.  Back home we may get a half a dozen cars passing by our home and our home is a couple of hundred feet from the road.  The other thing is we don’t have a yard light either, so we love the quiet and darkness.  I still wouldn’t give up the view we experienced on our stay in San Francisco.  Laurel asked if the was any thing I wanted to see or do before we headed out to Monterey.  I said yes.  Just one thing, drive down Lombard Street- The Crookedest Street.  We were only 3 blocks away so lets experiance the street.  On the way down Laurel commented this makes our driveway look flat.  After I completed the drive we went down to the wharf area before we hopped on Van Ness and found our way out of San Francisco on route to Monterey.  

We drove to Monterey and made a few quick stops along the way.  Our destination was the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Along the way we would ask people for recommendations of what to see in Monterey.  The aquarium was a must.  I am not a big zoo and aquarium fan.  I don’t know why, but they don’t hold a lot of interest for me.  The Monterey Bay Aquariun changed that felling in me.  We parked the car and made our way  to the aquarium and purchased our tickets.  We made the brief walk thru the cannery exhibit and found the first display.

  
The first aquarium tank was the Kelp Forrest.  This tank is a two stories high.  There was several towering kelp plants swaying to the rhythm of the water being pulsed thru the tank.  Fish lazily swam in and out of the kelp.  Around the kelp tank there were smaller tanks displaying anemones, crabs and an octopus.  There were some other larger tank displaying a wide variety of sea life.  There was announcement for a talk on the life of an albatross.  The talk was in front of the Kelp Forrest Tank.  After the short talk we went up to the second floor for more exhibits.  After two hours we needed to back to the car and feed some more electronic money in the parking meter.  When we reentered the aquarium a volunteer greeted us.  She asked us if we had ever been here.  We responded with a couple of hours ago.  She was to kind to point out the displays we had aready seen.  Then she made the comment about a 1 million gallon aquarium.  And I said, “Where!”

  
She pointed us in the right direction and we headed down the corridor to the exhibit.  We spotted the sign over the entrance, The Open Sea.  The first displays were of jellyfish.  The jellyfish were illuminated with lights turning the jellyfish orange.  The background was painted sea blue and the color contrast was stunning.  We watched the jellyfish float up and down the tank for several minutes.  As we continued our stroll thru the hallway we came upon the million gallon tank.  Stunning, Gorgeous, Beautiful, Mesmerizing….This is the display that sets Monterey Bay Aquarium apart from the other aquariums.  I could have taken a seat and watched for hours.  The soft music in the background and the endless freeform shapes created by the sardines will put you in a trance.  The sardines are in constant motion only changing direction because of the other fish in the tank.  Yellow Fin Tuna, Blue Fin Tuna, Sea Turtles and Hammerhead Sharks and many other fish have the tank in endless movement.  The time was coming up on 4:30 and an announcement was made saying the aquarium was closing at 5.  We made our way back to the car and made our way to the hotel.  

  
I had pointed out the hotel to Laurel as we passed it on our way to the aquarium.  When I did my research for tonights stay, this was the only hotel on the ocean.  We found our way to the hotel and checked in.  We were on the 3 floor overlooking the ocean and the city of Monterey in the near distance.  There was one thing out of my control on the stay, weather.  The skys were over cast and there would be no beautiful  sunset over the ocean.  We made the most of what we had.  We took a barefoot walk on the beach allowing the waves to kiss our feet.  When we returned back to the hotel we got ready for dinner.  I had found another small restaurant in Seaside.  The Fishwife. Again the name captured my interest.  

We made the short drive to the restaurant and enjoyed another great meal in California.  When we finished we made our way back to the hotel.  We went up to the 4th floor, to the restaurant for a night cap to a fabulous day.  The bartender was engaging and we had a great conversation during our visit.  We headed back to our room enjoying the night lights of Monterey.  There were some people having a fire on the beach and the air was filled with the smell of smoke.  The waves made a soft roar as they broke over the top.  The sound reminded us of strong wind pulsing against the house back home.  It was a soothing sound unlike the traffic sounds of San Francisco the night before.  

  
The next morning we awoke and got ready for the day.  We checked out of the hotel and made our way to Carmel-By-The Sea for a final walk on the beach.  We went north on the beach below Pebble Beach Golf Course.  After a long leisure walk on the beach we went back to the car and drove to Monterey.  I dropped Laurel at the hotel where she was staying for the conference.  I headed back to the airport in Monterey to return the car and get checked in for my flight home.  The flight had turbulence with the weather system across the country.  As I landed in Minneapolis I could see the rain/snow be highlighted by the strob light on the wing.  When I made the drive home I was driving in snow.  Yes thats right, toes in the Pacific in the morning and driving in snow that night.  It was a great vacation with Laurel.  

To be continued with some final thoughts….

I Never Wanted To Go To California II

It’s 4 am in the morning and sunrise is a long ways off.  Back home Laurel rises around the 6 am so she can get ready for work and to make the hour commute to Twin Cities for her job.  Me, I rise shortly after she leaves.  Now in California our body rhythms are still on Central Daylight Time.   The hotel breakast doesn’t open until 6:30 am. So we stayed in bed and tried to get a little more sleep so we can get our bodies on Pacific Daylight Time.  As the 6 o’clock hour rolled around we started our morning routines.  We figured by the time we were ready for the day the breakfast room would be open.  We went to the breakfast room for a full breakfast.  Eggs, sausage, cereal and waffles.  There was no fear of going hungry.  After we finished our fill and a refill of our favorite hot drinks for the road, we headed to the car for our first leg of the day’s travels.   

  
We headed for I-80 in Vallejo and headed north-east towards Sacramento.  My desire was to head into the Central Valley to see where America’s food is grown.  The sky was overcast and the forecast was for clearing skies by afternoon.  The drive was strangely beautiful.  The hills on both sides of the interstate were covered with straw colored matured grasses.  We also spoted a few Black Angus cattle dotting the hillsides.  I’m not sure if they were grazing on the grass or if they were out for their morning walk.  I was going to get off on I-505 but made the decision to continue on I-80 and drove to the town of Dixon.  We exited the interstate before Dixon and drove thru the countryside on our way to Dixon.  The crops were harvested and the field were worked  for next years crop season.  We found our way into town and it was still early in the morning.  Laurel suggested we travel to Sacramento and visit the capital city.  So we headed back to I-80.  

  
We programed our phone’s map program for the state capital building and made our way into Sacramento.  We weaved our way thru the city and parked our car next to the capital grounds.  We started our walking tour around the capital grounds.  The gounds were planted with specimen trees.  It was a beautiful morning stroll in the park.  The front steps of the capital building had some white chairs set up and a musician getting ready for some gathering in the near future.   There was a police officer playing with his K-9 partner on the grounds.  A young couple were having their engagment photos taken near a small rose garden.  We continued our walk and found the catus garden on the far end of the grounds and and another larger rose garden.  The skies started clearing as we made our way back to the car.  We headed out of the city on leg two of our day.  Next stop Napa Valley.

The mapping program suggested we go back near Vallejo then go north into the Napa Valley.  Me, no way  am I going to take the fastest route I want the most scenic route.  We went thru the town of Davis and Winters before we headed over the hills to the Napa Valley.  Again Laurel reminded me to stop enjoying the scenery and keep my eyes on the road.  We weaved our way up the hills enjoying the unfolding scenery of California’s back country.  We made our way to Lake Berryessa a reservoir high in the hills.  We could witness the toll the drought has taken on California’s water supply.   We could also see the old shore line on the hillside.  My guess is the lake was down 10 feet.  I didn’t have a good reference point so the water could have been down further.  I asked Laurel if they had to add on to the boat launch so the people could launch their boats.  After a short visit at the dam and a overlook of the reservoir we continued on the road to the Napa Valley. We passed a few vineyards as we desended from the hills and passed another beautiful lake.  A few more miles later we reached the Napa Vally area just south of Saint Helena.  We drove north to Castello di Amorosa vineyard.  The winery is a castle.  I saw this winery on the internet while doing research before we left home.  I thought it would be cool to visit a unique winery and the castle was unbelievable.   

  

(I have more photos of the winery but I don’t have my computer to process the photos  from the camera)

We signed up for a guided tour and did a wine tasting that included the chocolate pairing.  We could of done the simple tasting and and enjoyed the public areas, but the guided tour took us deep into the castle.  We also had the chance to taste a wine in its aging process.  At the end of the tour we were ushered into a private tasting room.  The tour guide intoduced us to our wine choices.  He started on the one end of the bar taking requests and pouring the fine wines of Castello di Amorosa.  As we left the castle we noted sheep grazing around the castle in a fenced in area.  There was some free range chicken also enjoying the grassy pasture.  It was a glorious afternoon.  The sun was high in the sky giving us fabulous vistas of the Napa Valley.  We retreaterd back to our car and started our journery back to the hotel.  Vineyards lined both sides of the highway with tasting rooms inviting visitors to stop and taste the fruits of their soil and labor.  

We returned to Vallejo and stopped for dinner before returning to the hotel.  We found a place called The Black Angus Steakhouse.  When we travel we like to eat at restaurants we can’t find back home.  We are always  hoping for a small local restaurant, but we don’t have a Black Angus back home so we thought we would give it a try.  The only Black Angus we have in our area are the ones grazing in the pastures.   After a fabulous steak dinner we retired to our hotel to relax and plan Monday’s adventure into San Francisco.  I didn’t want to start to early because I didn’t want to be sitting in the morning commute.  The plan was to go around the north end of the bay and enter San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge.  Plans were made and it was time to go to bed to rest up for our adventure into and around San Francisco on Monday.

To be continued….

I Never Wanted To Go To California

For many years I had no desire to visit California or Florida, but the other 48 states are on my short list to visit and see the beauty of those states.  Well that all changed two years ago.  Laurel and I were in New Orleans for her annual veterinary dental forum and in the back of the forum catalog listed the upcoming conferences.  The 2014 conference was to be in Atlanta Georgia and the following year it was going to be in Monterey California.  That is when I made the decision to go to California.  In the begining, planning was slow but as the date got closer the choices of places to visit started to take shape.

I first had to clear the vacation time with my employer.  With me working in retail, we are in the fourth quarter and also the Christmas season.  When I first asked my manager he said I could have two days  plus the weekend and I was hoping for more.  Laurel said when the conference starts I could go home or I would be running around the area seeing the beauty without her.  I made a counter offer to my manager for three days off and the weekend and he agreed.  I filled out my paper work and started the planning for our trip.

The plan was to fly out of Minneapolis as early as possible on Saturday so we could start our adventure in the early afternoon in California.  I was able to find a flight into Monterey so it would save us precious hours on our return trip home.  The two other airports in the region were San Francisco and San Jose.  With the traffic in California, the time saving of flying in and out of Monterey it was worth the extra cost.  Our flight took us thru Phoenix with a lay over of less than a hour before we caught our flight to Monterey.   We awoke at 4 am and headed to Minneapolis to catch our flight. We got there in plenty of time and had a few extra minutes to get a quick breakfast before boarding our plane.  The flight to Phoenix was a smooth 3 hour flight.  The Phoenix area looked amazing as we were landing.  I see in three years this forum will be in Phoenix.  Should I start saving my pennies and planing?  We boarded our plane for Monterey and enjoyed another smooth flight into Monterey.  It was noon in Monterery when the plane landed and the sun was high in the sky with a very comfortable temperature.  No Wisconsin clothing will be needed for several days.

 

We made a smooth landing and exited the plane.  Monterey airport is small.  How small, I think there were 5 gates and when you exit the plane you walk onto the tarmac.  When I flew out on Wednesday I had to wait for the TSA to reopen their check point.  No need to be at the airport two hours before your flight.  On our to way to claim our luggage we stopped at the car rental desk and picked up our car.  A few minutes later we gathered up our luggage and made our way out to our car.  First stop, something to eat.  We needed a little lunch.  We ate breakfast at 6 am CDT and now it was 1 pm PDT.  we were running on 9 hours since breakfast.  We grabbed a fast food lunch and started our tavels to our first sight to visit.

Our hotel was booked in Vallejo California giving us a great base camp for Sunday’s day trip.  Before we headed to to Vallejo we made our way to Big Basin Redwood State Park.  I told Laurel we could make a 1-1/2 to 2 hour stop and still make our hotel in plenty of time.  Being it was Saturday the traffic was light by California standards.  Big Basin Redwoods State Park features the Coast Redwoods.  These are the tallest of the Redwoods.  These trees can reach heights of over 300 feet with a life span of over 1000 years.  We enjoyed a short nature trail near the park headquarters.  The Redwoods were very impressive.  Tall and strait and branches high off the ground.  It was very easy to see around the forest floor and enjoy a small creek weaving it way thru the park, but there was still enough small plant life to block other visitor in the area.  After several photos and a stop in the gift store/ small park store we grabbed an ice cream cone and head back to the car for our trip to Vallejo.

Now a note on the road leading into the park and heading out of the park.  You can bring your big SUV for the trip, but a sports car…this is where car makers film the preformace handling of their cars.  Laurel reminded me several times to keep my eyes on the road and stop enjoying the scenery.   Several times I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a BMW or a Mercedes looking for me to use the turn outs.  I did use a few after I heard them honk their horn.  I guess if I can’t drive with the performance dogs I should get off the road.

After the park we headed to San Jose and made our way to the hotel in Vallejo via the east side of the bay.  We found our hotel and checked in and ask the desk clerk for any recommendation on were to eat.  She said most of the restaurants in the area were chains but they were within walking distance.  So we looked for a restaurant we wouldn’t find back home.  When in Vallejo….eat local!  So our choice was Chevy’s a Mexican style restaurant.  The restaurant was filled so we had to wait a few minutes.  Laurel and I went to the bar and ordered drinks and enjoyed chips and salsa.  Local restaurants in Wisconsin don’t serve salsa as good as Chevy’s.  After 10 minutes, our table was ready and we were seated.  We each ordered sampler style platers so we could try the the different flavors of Cal-Mex cooking.  The meal was very good and a nice way to wrap up a long day of travels.  We walked back to the hotel and got a good nights sleep so we would be ready for another big day on Sunday.  Sunday’s plan was a day trip thru the central valley and the Napa Valley area.

To be continued….