Big Sur, CA: To Sur, With Love

-

-
(a little less talk n a lot more photos)

After breakfasting beside Morro Bay, we loaded up the love machine and went all "Big Sur or Bust." We continued north on the Pacific Coast Highway, through the Big Sur area and into Carmel/Monterey Bay for the evening. It was so beautiful, we kept having to pull over and take pictures and almost missed the sunset at Monterey Bay, upon which the whole trip centered. I mean we were racing towards the sunset. We found it out on a peninsula type thing with about 50 other people walking towards it, zombie-like. Very cool.
-
Enjoy the photos, I'll keep my comments to a minimum (for me). Ross, stay awake, there is a special photo for you.

If you take this drive, you should plan for an hour or two at the River Inn, right in the heart of Big Sur. Take an hour to sit in the adirondack chairs, arranged in clusters in the middle of the stream, encouraging group conversation & relaxation with your feet in the water. River Inn also has fine (read:$$$$$) dining -- indoor (fireplace) and outdoor (creekside) -- or quick take-out. We got a couple of mediocre turkey wraps, takeout, and took them to an overlook (above) and ate our lunch in perfect picnic bliss.

The next two photos are from Julia Pfeiffer State Park.

A must stop along the scenic route.

Ten bucks to get into the park, you'll only be there an hour or less, but well worth it. There are some housing remains high on the hill and an interesting story about the wealthy people who lived there.

In the next two photos, we pulled over where we could walk down to the water without diving off a cliff. We took our papers and books, it was awesome. Here I am doing my Bible Study. I was reading Ephesians 1:1-23 about the love, kindness, grace and power we get from God through Christ Jesus. -- Magnificent! Somewhere to the right of my feet, sat a sea lion carcas. I was oblivious. Tom, downwind of us, wondered where the horrible smell was coming from.

The next picture is the famous Bixby Bridge.


OK, Ross, this is for you.

Tom was standing here with this fantastic view thinking about.....GOLF. He was telling me how awesome a golf course would be right here and then he told me, in great detail, all about his game at Pebble Beach. Look at 'im, you can see him envisioning it all, totally entranced. Bet he wouldn't have noticed a sea lion carcas here.

We made it! Monterey Bay, CA!

Tune in tomorrow for Point Lobos and San Francisco -- Days 6-9 of my Most Excellent Adventure in which I encounter (and approach!) another German speaking person.