Day Two - San Luis Obispo to Monterey

Today we traveled from San Luis Obispo to Monterey, taking our time and making lots of stops along the way. Our first stop was in Morro Bay State Park, where we went to the Natural History museum. We took a tour from a docent, who showed us a lot of the animals in the area, and talked about the estuary. We happened to be there when there was a glut of small fish in the bay, so the pelicans were diving en masse into the water from high above. Morro Rock was unfortunately, completed obscured by fog. We saw several black crowned night herons up close, and got some good photos.

As we started further up the coast along highway 1 - the route recommended by the docent and some of our friends who travel often - most of the vistas up and down the coastline were hidden by the thick layer of fog, but eventually we started seeing more and more beautiful views as it burned off. We stopped fairly frequently, often drawn by the spectacular rocky beaches and cliffs of the area. Although the Central California Coastline is renowned for its serene majesty, neither of us had ever seen it before. What a wonderful treat to get to know this part of our home state!

The water varied widely between deep azure and pale turquoise, primarily due to water depth, but was free of the drab green or even gray murkiness we seem to always see in Huntington Beach and surrounding generally urban areas of Southern California. There was abundant coastal life as well, from numerous and varied seabirds, to lizards, kelp beds and sea grasses. As we crested each new rise in the road, it seemed we were rewarded with a new, stunning view. Insanely, there were a large number of bicyclists passing us on the steep mountain roads. There was a big ride from Monterey to San Simeon, over 100 miles of narrow curvy hills.

Thanks to information from our friends Dave and Earl Hardenbrook, we stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It was, as promised, exceptionally beautiful, and there was just a short walk from the parking area to a spectacular view that included cerulean water, dark lava rocks, and a waterfall (small, but a nice touch) that hits the inaccessible beach cove below. A sign on the bathrooms warned us that most of the rescues on the Big Sur coast are of people attempting to get to that lovely little secluded beach. There was poison oak everywhere along the trail.

The drive through Big Sur was unbelievably scenic, alternating between tall redwoods and gorgeous ocean views. We never realized how small the town of Big Sur actually is, though. We reached our B&B in Pacific Grove just in time for dinner at a great little pizza place called Gianni's. We have two nights here, so we settled in for the night an are planning to get up early tomorrow. Buenas noches!