Chocolate, Redwoods, and Big Sur

Friday, February 22, 2013

The turkeys came through again as we were eating breakfast. This time a half dozen males were strutting around when the three dominant males came tearing over to them with their heads down. They chased them away and then began their own displaying. The females were nowhere to be seen. They slowly walked through the campground displaying and gobbling and looking rather perturbed that no females showed up. It was in the 20's and Greg decided that they were too cold to bother with the males!

Our original plan was to take a short hike along the creek before we left, but we decided it was too cold. The day was beautiful and sunny, so we headed out early. As we were leaving the park, a bobcat crossed the road in front of us! We decided that made up for the disappointment with the condors.

We turned north and continued up the valley we traveled to get to Pinnacles. We saw lots of ranches with cattle, and signs of spring. There were yellow flowers on the hillsides and fields were being tilled. We drove through Gilroy, the garlic capital, but the small town that Greg had done field work in years ago was unrecognizable, it had grown so much. We didn't see any garlic in the fields, so we drove on. At this point we turned west and began to climb the last crest of the Coastal Range to reach the Pacific Ocean. After another steep and twisty road we descended into Watsonville on the other side. We had a view of the ocean as we crossed through the pass. This was another agricultural area and we noticed fields of artichokes.

As we drove south on Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH, we found a Thai Seafood restaurant to stop in for lunch. Our next stop was to be Trader Joe's in Monterey . We checked Google Maps and drove along the coast to Monterey. After negotiating the city streets, we found ourselves smack in the middle of the chi-chi shopping district. The turn to Trader Joe's took us into the center of the block and a mobbed parking lot. Not very big, and overcrowded from Friday afternoon shoppers. We headed out an alley and drove around the city until we found a spot on a side street. We can't parallel park, but we are narrow enough to park along the curb. We walked several blocks to the store. We had to be careful how much we bought because we had to carry everything back with us. At that point we just wanted to get out of the crowded city and skipped the Aquarium and Cannery Row. Maybe someday we'll go back, but Friday afternoon was no time to navigate in a crowded downtown.

We got back on PCH, and left Monterey, but were looking forward to our Trader Joe's treats, especially the chocolate. It was worth it after too many WalMart resupplies! We drove past Carmel, where Clint Eastwood used to be mayor, and toward Big Sur. We began to see what makes Big Sur so famous. We pulled off several times to view the breathtaking scenery of the ocean breaking against the sheer cliffs and rocks, the water an amazing deep turquoisy blue. We decided to stop at Pfieffer Big Sur State Park for the night. This is the first California state park we have visited. The ranger sent us to the very back of the huge campground, most of which was closed off. We had to drive back with the number of the site we wanted, but we were told bring several numbers because other people were driving around choosing sites too. We were the largest RV that could be accommodated. The sites were small and the roads narrow. We arrived back before the others and were in line first. We struck up a conversation with the women in the converted truck. (See the photo). All three vehicles were interested in some of the same sites, so we all discussed the options and came up with good sites for everyone.

The campground was nestled in the woods with lots of Redwoods sprinkled in. The Big Sur river was across the road from our site. There were no hookups, only fresh water at a spigot, and a dump station. The bathrooms had showers. We paid $35 a night. We had been warned by some organic walnut growers from Northern California that Greg had befriended at Pinnacles, that all the California State Parks were now $35 due to their state budget problems. If you wanted a riverside site it was $50! The redwoods were lovely and the river clear and sweet sounding, but we decided to move on in the morning.