A BRIEF TRIP TO MONTEREY

My last post was all about Lucy and Kate. Now a little about us ;’-).

Jeremy’s mom would be arriving and spending a week at their house and time with the girls (Jaydon is in year round school) during more of their time off from school. To give more room and time for Angie, Susan and I took a delightful trip to Monterey where I would FINALLY get in a decent bike ride ;’-).

Our first night was spent at a nice campground not far from the ride we would be taking. The playground not far from our site made us miss having the girls with us. 😞 as we knew how much they would love playing.

Decades ago I had driven by and around the 17 mile drive in Monterey. Needless to say, parts that I recalled were only dim thoughts, and this time I was thrilled that we would be riding our bikes along the drive. Added bonus was that there is no charge for bike riders 😉.

It is not a trail that follows the drive, but the actual car roads of the drive. There was little traffic, and what was there was courteous and somewhat slow.





Even though heavy mist covered far distant views, we enjoyed viewing the closer shoreline and trees as we took our time around the drive.

The famous golf course is there and did have a few golfers enjoying it.



The wind blown and swept Cypress trees are incredible. 

All went extremely well until we finished the 17 miles and were ‘trying’ to get back to town. 

At this point the map and directions on RWGPS (ride with GPS) that had been so good, so detailed and so smooth, let us down. After climbing some big climbs to the top of the hill (at the exit above) the directions deteriorated. Seemed it wanted us to enter a fast paced, busy Hwy 101! We are not foolish! So by asking a few (very nice people) for assistance, aborting RWGPS and choosing a different mapping site, we finally made it back to Pacific City where we had parked. A little weary, a little tired, but successful and happy.

On this, our second night, we stayed at the Hilton Inn Embassy Suites. What a treat from Jeremy to gift us some of his bonus points he earns at his work. We did feel decadent as we lounged in what we consider luxury.

We were on the 12th floor with fine views of the city and of the downstairs as well.

We used our final day to stroll around Monterey and Cannery Row to enjoy sights, shops and cookies ;’-). And to walk through the aquarium that both Angie and Jeremy had strongly suggested visit.

Jelly Fish collection is impressive.

And the cute penguins are always a treat to see.

Then into the streets of Monterey.

The hardworking cannery workers are honored.

This was sardine country.

The walk back to the van gave us a few more things to notice.

Back to our original campsite for one more night before heading back to Sarah & Jeremy’s. Peaceful sleep in cool air was a nice break from the high temps in Elk Grove. 

As we were about to drive off, I caught this woodpecker (maybe a Downy Woodpecker?). This was our goodbye to this part of our trip and would actually be heading home soon after.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, we had some stressful moments but all in all it turned out to be a fine time for enjoying the Grands and being with them for the time we had.