Day 10 - Monterey - Woodland, CA

On our final driving day, we headed back north from Monterey.  After checking out the wharf area, including Cannery Row (think Steinbeck) we headed back towards Santa Cruz on California 1.  Just north of Monterey we saw that today, being Monday, migrant workers were out in the fields working and harvesting crops.  Although it was hard to tell what was growing, we're pretty sure more than one field had lettuce or spinach, maybe broccoli.

Further north, near Pescadero, we finally saw surfers trying to catch some waves.  Additionally there were two wind surfers using big crescent shaped kites to go in and out from the shore.  On the way out, they would go airborne as they jumped each wave.  It was fun to watch them and I was happy to see the quintessential beat up VW bug with a surfer hanging out in the parking lot!

Our lunch stop was at Half Moon Bay in a wonderful Italian place.  The owners had just built a new building having lost their lease at a previous location.  The new digs were really nicely done.  An open air market kind of feel.  The best part of the meal (if you know me at all) was dessert:  Ghirardelli butterscotch pudding!

After lunch we continued our northern trek and were soon in the outskirts of San Francisco.  We wanted to avoid the city as much as possible so we continued up California 1 to the Skyline Highway then the Great Highway, entering San Francisco by Golden Gate Park from the west.  Cutting through The Presidio we were soon on the Golden Gate Bridge with Alcatrez off to the right.  After crossing the bridge, we made our way up the mountain to visit the vista point that I've been to before with my family.  It offers great views of the bridge and the city in the background.  Today was a bonus in that the wind was gusting off the ocean.

Our next stop was Muir Woods, a surprisingly short drive north of the Golden Gate, but yet another fun, curvy road.  We arrived mid-afternoon and were soon on the trails headed into the woods.  This site is run by the National Park Service and it's clearly the spot for city dwellers to venture into nature.  It was busier than Redwood Nat'l Park and the Park Service was doing extensive renovations.  They are working to increase the salmon population in the creek that runs through the middle of the park in addition to making path and trail improvements.  What that meant for us is lots of chainsaws and some front loaders.  The site itself, however, was very beautiful and a great tribute to the man for whom it's named.

We had to skip Point Reyes on a previous day due to time, so we ventured that way after Muir Woods.  Back on California 1, we passed the overlook for Muir Beach where the fog was blowing in and up over the hills.  A little further north, we stopped at a pullout to look back at where we had just been when out of the blue a coyote sauntered in front of our car and walked to our left.  No bear sightings on this trip, but coyote...yes!

We arrived at the Point Reyes Visitor Center after it closed and as I looked at our time, I knew we needed to just move on in order to get to our hotel near Sacramento.  Point Reyes will have to make a future itinerary.  Moving back east, we motored through the hills, knolls, and mountains around Novato, Petaluma, and then down into Sonoma and Napa:  wine country!  Wineries and vineyards were all around, literally covering entire hillsides with grapes.  A neat sight to see!  Dinner was in downtown Napa at a wonderful spot that had few patrons, surprisingly.  A short time later, we were near the Sacramento Airport at our hotel and packing things for our return trip.

This has been a wonderful adventure and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to go.  Big thanks to Carolyn for always been a wonderful traveling companion as well.

I'll end with a quote that was at Muir Woods; a fitting end for sure!

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. -- John Muir

Day 9 - Newark - Monterey, CA

Just outside San Francisco is the Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California's oldest state park.  On our way south, I thought this would be a great way to start the morning.  Well, it turned into an adventure for sure!  The road in was essentially 1 1/2 lanes and some of the curviest I've ever seen.  Add on that we were running low on gas (I thought there would be a gas station on the edge of the park), and it made for some exciting times.  This road was a windy, twisty path through the forest with trees of every size going past on either side.  We arrived at the visitor center and discovered that it was a very popular location for a Sunday morning!  People were everywhere.  Unfortunately the rangers had no gas and I was honestly a bit queasy from driving that road in.  After a brief rest, we continued down the road and pulled into a gas station at Boulder Creek safe, but on fumes!

We soon found lunch in downtown Santa Cruz at a local place that was packed with college kids, a few young professionals, and then older folks.  It was an interesting mix of folks who were enjoying each others' company and the good food.  Santa Cruz is known for it's boardwalk area (voted America's favorite seaside amusement park per signs) which includes several permanent amusement park rides:  a wooden roller coaster, log ride, etc.  Again, Californians were out in droves to enjoy the sun and warm temps.  It was a neat sight to see on our way out of town.

We were soon driving down California 1 and past Monterey and Carmel.  We entered the Big Sur area of the highway to see even more dramatic sea to shore landscapes, along with a lot of traffic, especially around the Bixby Creek Bridge (the famous one everyone wants to photograph).  We continued down the road until we reached McWay Falls.  We made a u-turn and then headed back towards the Monterey Peninsula.  This area was beautiful as well, but in comparison, I'm fonder of the coast up north of San Francisco.

We drove through some of the Carmel neighborhoods marveling at how these folks live.  Soon we paid to enter the 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach.  This route took us to all the major scenic points in Pebble Beach.  We were very taken with Spanish Bay where the wind was howling in, but the cairns erected on the beach were unmoved.  The drive around the area was beautiful:  waves were crashing into the shore; the houses were huge and gaudy; and we were able to watch the sunset right as we saw the Lone Cypress which has become the symbol for Pebble Beach.

A short stop in the Pebble Beach club gift shop and we were soon on our way to dinner in downtown Monterey.  We found THE best place ever:  Montrio Bistro.  Our waiter was very friendly, along with the rest of the staff, and we could tell the kitchen folks put a lot of thought into each selection.  YUM!!!  Our hotel was nearby and soon we were checked in and looking forward to our final day in the car.