It’s Saturday, the last full day of this trip, and I’m standing by the sea wall at the Best Wester Beach, which seems to be the only building on the beach in this part of Monterey. It’s an older building but well maintained ... and it’s the only place on the beach. From the sea wall, there is a light breeze wafting off the ocean, bringing the smell of salt and ocean. This is what vacations are all about. The rhythmic white noise sound of surf, breaking on the beach and the ion rich smell of sea air are cathartic, providing a sense of calm and serenity. I can see why people take the risk and move to live on the ocean.
As I write, the sun is just rising behind me (the hotel faces the ocean to the west). The southern coast started the session in shadow but was slowly illuminated with an orange sliver of morning sun. At this angle, you can see the sun rising and it’s like raising a magic curtain that changes colour from orange to yellow as it rises. The waves are surprisingly tall and the sun starts to hit the white tops as the waves curl and the view is quite amazing.
Today we are off to San Franciso via Cupertino so the kids can see Apple headquarters. Jon and I have an Alcatraz tour at 6:30 and Elizabeth and Julie will shop around. It will be a good last day.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Moro to Monterey
It was foggy when we woke up so there was nothing to see in Moro. We drove to the harbour but could barely see past the boats on the dock. This would make a nice vacation spot for a few days and, the restaurants have fresh fish every day by 12, when the fishing boats return.
The fog stayed with us most of the way to the Hearst Castle. The sun burned through the fog just as we were arriving to the castle location. As we would find out later in the drive, this section of the coast has a lot of fog banks, and I’m not sure what factors determine if the fog moves inland or stays at sea. Every time the fog moved in, temperatures dropped to 65F. When the sun was out, they rose to 85F. Perhaps the wind makes the difference ... but what factors cause the wind to blow on shore? Perhaps the shore profile. It seemed that canyons directed the wind better than sheer cliffs. One more thing to learn about.
The Hearst Castle is a sight to see. It deserves it’s reputation as one of the most popular California tourist visits. We were lucky to get a booking several weeks out and you could never get a spot via a drive up. The castle and it’s story are facinating and here you can see what a billionaire can build when money is no object. Having said that, the place is not as large as a European castle, but it is opulent and the attention to details is incredible. William Randal Hearst spent 29 years building his dream home, and it shows. I’ll so a section of pictures just on the castle and you’ll see what I mean.
From there, we drove up the coast and simply said, the coast is the focal point. This is the most spectacular coast line that I have seen. Rugged cliffs, pounding seas, fog banks drifting in and out, sand dunes, strange vegitation - we had to stop every few miles to explore and take pictures. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and I almost got stranded by the rising tide. The left side of the beach where we ate was boulder strewn, but after getting right to the ocean to explore the tidal pools (another fun activity), I notices that behind one of the cliffs that jutted out to the sea, there was a beautiful beach - and no one was on it. Making my way to the cliff that jutted out to sea, seperating the 2 beaches, one could see that when the waves ebbed, there was about 2 feet of beach open so if someone timed it right, they could run along the shore and make it to the sand beach before the next wave covered the point. Also, the wave pattern seemed to surge and ebb, so I waited for an ebb pattern and successfully made the mad dash. There was a beatiful cove on the other side and fishermen were storing their boats against the cliff. They had ropes and buckets stung up the cliff, likely to haul up their catch. While walking along the shore I noticed that at high tide, most of the beach is covered by water and that’s when the thought popped into my mind - which way is the tide going? A quick look back at the cliff told me that I picked the wrong time to cross. The gap at the cliff was now covered during the ebbs. While running back to the cliff, my mind was calculating plan B’s - I could ride it out by the boats and in worst case scenario, there were the ropes going up the cliff, so I knew worst case scenario wasn’t going to be that bad. When I got to the point on the cliff, the water was high enough that my concern was dealing with the current as the water swirled through the rocks and bounced off the cliff. I waited for the first big ebb (i was timing the ebbs while running) and ran through, this time knee deep. Whew made it, but 10 more minutes and we would have been forced to stay for 8 more hours. Liz had already wondered where i was since she hadn’t seem me for a while, so I broke another scouting rule - don’t go exploring unless people know where you are.
We continued up the road with several stops, with the best being at Julia Pfeiffer Burns park, where a small creek flows down the hills and creates a waterfall that cascades into a beautiful cove with turquoise sea.
Julie wanted to visit a resort that friends had spent some time at. She tried to book a room there earlier but they only accepted a minimum 2 nights stay. When we got to the gate, we were informed that tours were not possible to protect the privacy of guest, but we could have a drink in the bar, but, when they saw Jonathan, we were turned away - no children allowed. Our first impact with California snobbery. Jonathan can be rather interesting at times, but he can act like an adult when he needs to while his parents inspect a resort. I guess california children have a reputation of being uncontrollable.
When we got to our hotel, Jon took one look at the waves and, since they were bigger than Ventura beach, couldn’t wait ‘til he got into the water. I only saw severe undertow, and the absence of surfers suggested that my hunch was right. The warning signs at the entrance to the beach provided extra strength to the argument. I suggested that he check with the front desk before he jumps into the sea. They told him that the surf was indeed too dangerous and that there was a shark attack a few days ago, just up the beach. Jon went straight to the pool.
We ordered dinner (room service) for the children - pistachio encrusted halibut and clam chowder, while Julie and I headed out to do laundry - we ran out of clothing. One and a half hours later and Burger King deluxe, the laundry was done. What we do for our kids.
The fog stayed with us most of the way to the Hearst Castle. The sun burned through the fog just as we were arriving to the castle location. As we would find out later in the drive, this section of the coast has a lot of fog banks, and I’m not sure what factors determine if the fog moves inland or stays at sea. Every time the fog moved in, temperatures dropped to 65F. When the sun was out, they rose to 85F. Perhaps the wind makes the difference ... but what factors cause the wind to blow on shore? Perhaps the shore profile. It seemed that canyons directed the wind better than sheer cliffs. One more thing to learn about.
The Hearst Castle is a sight to see. It deserves it’s reputation as one of the most popular California tourist visits. We were lucky to get a booking several weeks out and you could never get a spot via a drive up. The castle and it’s story are facinating and here you can see what a billionaire can build when money is no object. Having said that, the place is not as large as a European castle, but it is opulent and the attention to details is incredible. William Randal Hearst spent 29 years building his dream home, and it shows. I’ll so a section of pictures just on the castle and you’ll see what I mean.
From there, we drove up the coast and simply said, the coast is the focal point. This is the most spectacular coast line that I have seen. Rugged cliffs, pounding seas, fog banks drifting in and out, sand dunes, strange vegitation - we had to stop every few miles to explore and take pictures. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and I almost got stranded by the rising tide. The left side of the beach where we ate was boulder strewn, but after getting right to the ocean to explore the tidal pools (another fun activity), I notices that behind one of the cliffs that jutted out to the sea, there was a beautiful beach - and no one was on it. Making my way to the cliff that jutted out to sea, seperating the 2 beaches, one could see that when the waves ebbed, there was about 2 feet of beach open so if someone timed it right, they could run along the shore and make it to the sand beach before the next wave covered the point. Also, the wave pattern seemed to surge and ebb, so I waited for an ebb pattern and successfully made the mad dash. There was a beatiful cove on the other side and fishermen were storing their boats against the cliff. They had ropes and buckets stung up the cliff, likely to haul up their catch. While walking along the shore I noticed that at high tide, most of the beach is covered by water and that’s when the thought popped into my mind - which way is the tide going? A quick look back at the cliff told me that I picked the wrong time to cross. The gap at the cliff was now covered during the ebbs. While running back to the cliff, my mind was calculating plan B’s - I could ride it out by the boats and in worst case scenario, there were the ropes going up the cliff, so I knew worst case scenario wasn’t going to be that bad. When I got to the point on the cliff, the water was high enough that my concern was dealing with the current as the water swirled through the rocks and bounced off the cliff. I waited for the first big ebb (i was timing the ebbs while running) and ran through, this time knee deep. Whew made it, but 10 more minutes and we would have been forced to stay for 8 more hours. Liz had already wondered where i was since she hadn’t seem me for a while, so I broke another scouting rule - don’t go exploring unless people know where you are.
We continued up the road with several stops, with the best being at Julia Pfeiffer Burns park, where a small creek flows down the hills and creates a waterfall that cascades into a beautiful cove with turquoise sea.
Julie wanted to visit a resort that friends had spent some time at. She tried to book a room there earlier but they only accepted a minimum 2 nights stay. When we got to the gate, we were informed that tours were not possible to protect the privacy of guest, but we could have a drink in the bar, but, when they saw Jonathan, we were turned away - no children allowed. Our first impact with California snobbery. Jonathan can be rather interesting at times, but he can act like an adult when he needs to while his parents inspect a resort. I guess california children have a reputation of being uncontrollable.
When we got to our hotel, Jon took one look at the waves and, since they were bigger than Ventura beach, couldn’t wait ‘til he got into the water. I only saw severe undertow, and the absence of surfers suggested that my hunch was right. The warning signs at the entrance to the beach provided extra strength to the argument. I suggested that he check with the front desk before he jumps into the sea. They told him that the surf was indeed too dangerous and that there was a shark attack a few days ago, just up the beach. Jon went straight to the pool.
We ordered dinner (room service) for the children - pistachio encrusted halibut and clam chowder, while Julie and I headed out to do laundry - we ran out of clothing. One and a half hours later and Burger King deluxe, the laundry was done. What we do for our kids.
LA to Moro
Time to leave the big city and head up the coast. UCLA is the first stop so that Elizabeth can look at the film grad school there and get a feel for the university. We are already preparing for graduate school. Given that this particular course only admits 42 students per year, to is a good time to start preparations. They are looking for a specific set of skills, experiences and references and E can make the choice of spending the next 3 years building a portfolio that will get her in.
Good thing for blackberry because Platform had a snap management meeting that I was able to call in while sitting in the shade of a tree on campus. Business should operate on a campus model because that is the right environment to exercise our brains.
Liz and Julie had to look at stores, so we stopped off in Santa Monica. While the girls shopped, Jonathan and I went to the beach and pier. At this point, the beach is extremely wide and, with the action on the pier, I can see why the area is so popular. Santa Monica is also far more Canadian city like - organized and structured, than LA. I would never want to live in LA, but Santa Monica would be OK.
Next stop, and LA legend - Ventura beach. Liz wanted to look at boys, and Jon wanted to swim. Vetura is also home to one of the most active busking locations in the world. We were not disappointed. The nut cakes were everywhere. One guy even had a full sized acoustic piano on the boardwalk. He played like a concert pianist but looked like a hobo. We even saw the alternative life style guys with leather and stud g strings, muscles and tatoos, but no chain saw jugglers. After a brief lunch, to fulfill Liz’s guy watching requirements (and to fill our stomachs), we hit the beach. The surf was up because of storm remnants and everyone was on their boards. Jon had a blast smashing through waves and body surfing. He is getting the hang of it and he had his first undertow experience. We had a tough time getting him out of the water but it was getting late and there was the 4 hour drive up the coast to Moro. 4 hours without rush hour. leaving at 5 pm from Ventura beach, we finally made it to Moro at 10:30. Moro has a beautiful harbour and a huge monolith in the sea, but there was a big storm the night before (with lightning - which is very rare in LA) and the place was socked in with fog.
Good thing for blackberry because Platform had a snap management meeting that I was able to call in while sitting in the shade of a tree on campus. Business should operate on a campus model because that is the right environment to exercise our brains.
Liz and Julie had to look at stores, so we stopped off in Santa Monica. While the girls shopped, Jonathan and I went to the beach and pier. At this point, the beach is extremely wide and, with the action on the pier, I can see why the area is so popular. Santa Monica is also far more Canadian city like - organized and structured, than LA. I would never want to live in LA, but Santa Monica would be OK.
Next stop, and LA legend - Ventura beach. Liz wanted to look at boys, and Jon wanted to swim. Vetura is also home to one of the most active busking locations in the world. We were not disappointed. The nut cakes were everywhere. One guy even had a full sized acoustic piano on the boardwalk. He played like a concert pianist but looked like a hobo. We even saw the alternative life style guys with leather and stud g strings, muscles and tatoos, but no chain saw jugglers. After a brief lunch, to fulfill Liz’s guy watching requirements (and to fill our stomachs), we hit the beach. The surf was up because of storm remnants and everyone was on their boards. Jon had a blast smashing through waves and body surfing. He is getting the hang of it and he had his first undertow experience. We had a tough time getting him out of the water but it was getting late and there was the 4 hour drive up the coast to Moro. 4 hours without rush hour. leaving at 5 pm from Ventura beach, we finally made it to Moro at 10:30. Moro has a beautiful harbour and a huge monolith in the sea, but there was a big storm the night before (with lightning - which is very rare in LA) and the place was socked in with fog.
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