California Day Three

I think I got a little smarter this time on the whole posting thing. Hopefully, I won't have to re-arrange the photo order as they upload.

Okay, I left off shopping in Monterey - I did bring home the business card for the jeweler we found, because you just never know. :)
From there we drove a few miles along the coast. . .
Hey, if I was independently wealthy, I think I’d live here. . .






With this beautiful view. . .

In Pacific Grove we stopped at the Point Pinos Lighthouse. . .

I'd happily work here. . .

Although, I don't know how you'd get ANY furniture up the spiral lighthouse stairs into this house. Craziness.


Here is the map of the Monterey area and honestly it’s not really any bigger than it looks. This lighthouse is surrounded by a golf course.



Okay, moving on as we left the lighthouse we continued on around the coast line

and I’d happily live here,

viewing this

Or here,

viewing this,



It’s not a private beach by any means, but with little place to park I can’t really imagine it completely crowded either.

Although, I have to tell ya, even through I didn't have my camera in hand for a photo. . . I was just has happy kicking through the beautiful fall leaves at a rest stop in Washington on the way home. I'd build a little home under all those trees as happily as in these beautiful coast homes.

Off we went on the 17 mile drive into pebble beach. Private community, with a private road, as in you have to pay 9.50 to dive through their community and stay on the coast line. They give you a cool map with view points along the way. Really most of it’s not that impressive and although the homes seemed beautiful it’s really sad that they have to be completely gated and even then signs posted about no trespassing and no beach access and stuff. I don’t think I’d like to live here.

Hello,

I think I could get used to golf pebble beach style though. . .

However, although this is to be the site of the 2010 US Open, I won't be going down to visit. Ugg. . . crowds just aren't my thing and in the beautiful, although tiny piece of earth. . . I'm not doing it. We got to watch them set up a little putt putt tournament on the green behind the lodge (in front of the shops) and you can just see how the monster camera would dive in and play that shot to be something else entirely. Hollywood at it's best to be sure.

California saying good evening. . .

I called my mom most every morning on the trip because I really like the sunshiny way that California says good morning.

We missed some little things we thought about doing in Carmel because sunset was upon us and we really didn’t have a realistic idea of how far we had yet to travel for the day. . . and no hotel reservations.

However, because the Bixby Bridge was on the top of our "extras" list and I was driving, we headed off Hwy 101 onto the Old Coast Hwy.

This photo of Bixby Bridge with the sun coming through it was the ONLY high point of the 10 plus mile gravel road that folks used to have to travel to get north. Silly, silly move at Dusk.

We did eventually find a hotel in Big Sur in the DARK -- risky move, especially with no cell service in the area. We had a great time giving the gentleman at the desk of the highly priced lodge a hard time. We were all laughing so hard I really thought someone was gonna wet their pants. The one good thing about Big Sur is that EVERYWHERE that you stop they will hand you another Big Sur Guide and Map. It's a 4 page news paper with a VERY Detailed Map. . . which I should photograph for you because it's a lot of words and info to fit into 5 miles of map.

Back to the point because if they had not have handed us that fabulous map we would not have realized that by taking the OLD COAST HWY we completely missed the next days stop. The first stop of the top 4 things to hit on this trip.

I'm gonna walk where?