Day Three - Monterey Bay

We started the day at Point Lobos State Reserve. It was incredibly beautiful, and we took so many pictures that it's a shame we can only post a few here, but we will include a link to the album at the bottom of today's entry. We walked two different trails within the park, through wild countryside and cypress groves to the rocky shore. We saw tons of birds, one or two seals, and a bunch of sea lions which were barking loudly.



Being accustomed to the dry desert landscape in southern California, it is amazing to us to walk through such rich and varied landscapes. The trees were covered in multiple types of green moss and red lichen, and tufts of fluffy looking fibers were on many branches. Apart from the trails, Point Lobos has been left naturally wild. The trees with the ocean in the background looked like postcards, and every way we turned there was another amazing view.

We left Point Lobos and decided to catch a service at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Montery Peninsula. The grounds look very "natural" and there are various parking spots around the winding path, in groups of two or three. The sanctuary was nice inside as well, and the people were all quite welcoming. We asked about the large solar panel installation on the site and discovered that as a result, they normally have about a $9 annual net electrical bill! They are working for "Green Sanctuary" certification, and something tells us they are well on their way.

We returned briefly to our B&B lodgings, and headed over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We arrived just in time to catch the sea otter feeding, but were not really able to see much because of the large crowd gathered in front of the viewing glass. We may try again tomorrow if time allows. The jellyfish displays were ethereal, and our meandering through the building brought us to the Kelp Forest tank in time for most of the feeding there. We were able to get a view of what was happening and it was very interesting as well. We finished seeing the remainder of the second level, leaving the bottom floor for Monday.

Here is a link to our album of photos from Point Lobos.