Homeward bound.

Took the scenic route from Pacific Grove along 17 mile drive this morning. Should have know this was going to be a waste of the $10 toll as the drive is only 9 miles long, although a nice coast nothing  particularly outstanding. Some classic cars driving along Ocean View Blvd were quite cool.

Last few pictures stood beside the Pacific Ocean.

Very well hidden seals on the rock.

Lone Cypress tree on 17 mile drive. Apparently the most photographed tree in North America.

As we thought we had time in hand we set off to drive up the coast to Santa Cruz for lunch. As we got closer to Santa Cruz the traffic became slower and heavier. As it was Sunday and a sunny we realised that the locals were probably heading to the coast so we decided to head straight to the airport. Thank god we had TomTom to guide the way.

We returned our Hyundai after covering just over 2500 miles. Checked in and had one for the road (a burger that is). It's been a great 3 weeks :-)

Pacific Grove and Monterey.

Started today looking at the balcony as it felt a little damp to sit out.

We walked a short distance from our apartment to Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a similar to The Deep at Hull but had sea otters that were fascinating and entertaining to watch.

The aquarium is at the end of Monterey Cannery Row that was once the site of large sardine canning companies. The canneries failed after the collapse of the fishing industry in Monerey Bay in the mid 1950's.

We'd been wanting to try clam chowder but neither of us are seafood lovers but we decided to give it a try. Here's Hazel sat under the pier tucking in to a clam chowder sour dough bread bowl. We emptied our bowls as it was surprising nice tasting a little like mushroom soup.

Being a Saturday the sea front was quite busy especially towards Fishermans Wharf where there were divers walking from the car park (across the grass looking so out of place) then down the beach to the sea.

Heading back to Pacific Grove we walked along the coastal walk next to Ocean View Boulevard to Lovers Point.

On our way back to the apartment we walked past many attractive wooden properties.

We've had a wonderful 3 weeks but are now exhausted, this is the latest photo  of us relaxing on our balcony.

Big Sur.

Today we woke up at 05:56, only because the previous occupants of our room must have set the bedside alarm clock for that time. Hazel immediately said "where are we?" which was understandable as it was our 9th accommodation.
We had a walk along Moonstone Beach before breakfast. We then reluctantly left Moonstone Landing to drive to Pacific Grove Monterey along the Big Sur.

Far too long was spaent watching the Elephant Seals, some sunbathing on he beach while others fought. We then spotted this little critter watching us.

We stopped at many points along the beautifully ruged coastline including  McWay Falls then had lunch on Pfeiffer Beach. Bixby Creek Bridge was also an impressive stop.

Finally we had a little time to look around the quaint town of Carmel, Clint Eastwood was once the towns mayor. Then on to Pacific Grove for our final nights.

(Photos have been added to 8th Oct blog, more updates to follow).

Heading North.

This morning we had a stroll around the marina before leaving sunny, warm Santa Barbara.

We took a back road through Santa Ynez wine country.

Next stop was Solvang a Danish village but felt more like a shopping outlet, we didn't think much of it.

Lunch was on the pier at Pismo Beach a rather traditional seaside resort. We spent quite a while watching the surfers.

A quick stop at Morro Bay where the strange Morro Rock dominates the harbour. We watched some sea otters playing in the bay, unfortunately couldn't get a decent photo.

We arrived at Cambria and Moonstone Beach where we had been rather extravagant and booked a ocean front room. After checking in we had a wander around Cambria looking at the scarecrows that had recently been judged for Cambria scarecrow festival. ET being the judges favourite as well as ours.

We then returned to our balcony on Moonstone Beach where I made Hazel watch another sunset (spot the surfer).