Jutta On The Road – Day 3

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Disclaimer: This blog entry wasn’t written until 15 years after the trip. It should be noted that it was a huge mistake to have not written it way back when. Sometimes, after writing so much about other days, it happens that at the time directly after the trip (or even during), I convince myself that the details are not that important. Years later, these details are that important, and pulling them out of foggy memories is difficult. The photos help and often leave clues, and then Caroline’s memories are usually far clearer than mine. With that said, here goes.

North of San Simeon (home to Hearst Castle) on the Central California Coast are a number of beaches that are home to colonies of cows. Depending on the time of year, you can see adult bulls battling for harems, newborn calves squawking next to mothers, juveniles lounging about, and gobs of tourists. Oops, that description was meant for the elephant seals.

If you want to avoid the throngs of tourists, visit early in the day or late in the afternoon – or visit on weekdays for the best viewing. Motels are relatively inexpensive; we paid $75 last night for three of us on a Saturday. Oh yeah, depending on the season, you won’t just see a few seals; there are hundreds of them soaking up the sun.

There are also squirrels that we were feeding bits of our granola bars apparently…this is obviously before we learned better and stopped feeding wild animals.

Maybe you are thinking that this picture looks a lot like the photo from the day before. Well, the seals definitely lay around a lot; they also scratch themselves and fart a lot.

The views along the coast never grow old.

We delight in every perspective and only wish we could move slower on our treks up or down the Central Coast of California.

Here at Gorda By The Sea, my mother-in-law walked out of the shop with this flower (after she paid for it, obviously); it turned out that this was a gift for Katharina back in Germany. Our niece was five years old back then; I wonder if she still has this.

We can linger at the sea all day.

What are those on the rocks? They are California condors and, just like with a bison jam in Yellowstone, the traffic jam of cars and people gawking as if a whale had just beached was the giveaway that something was going on. This is just as rare a sight in some ways as these birds of prey were almost extinct before California made a huge effort to save the species.

After pulling over, we were bowled over to see this condor couple not more than 20 feet (7 meters) away from us. I was certain that raising my camera would scare them off; instead, they bored us off. Like wax figures, they sat there, no stretching the wings, no swooping down on some hapless bird for a wee bite, not even a giant condor poop. We waited, waited patiently, then impatiently. The people noises did not interest or disturb them, and barking from the stupid bearded fat man didn’t do much either, besides annoying his wife – uh, sorry, Caroline! And so, without an action shot, we got back into the car and continued driving north. I bet they really were wax figures meant to fool us tourists and that they are still sitting there.

The coast is about more than the sea as contrasts stack up along the way.

Lunch had to be taken at our favorite cafe in California, right here at the Big Sur Bakery. Can you tell that I’m still working on getting Jutta to make nice for the camera?

Over the years prior to this visit and in all the visits since, we never tire of the sound, the smell, the colors, the weather, or the way it all comes together to strike us with how profoundly lucky we’ve been to witness this grandeur with our own eyes.

A simple thorny thistle that is as wondrous as any of the other sights we’ve seen today or are yet to come across.

Adding something new to this coastal visit with a stop at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo.

Things look tranquil, but I can guarantee you that just an hour earlier, I was working hard to keep my mother-in-law awake, and she was working hard to catch a nap.

We try to go slow to allow Jutta to read every marker and examine every plant and detail.

But before we know it, we’re in Monterey, shaking hands with monkeys.

So our stop in Monterey, more specifically, our stop at the wharf to introduce Jutta to clam chowder in a bread bowl, didn’t go as planned. Oh, she ate it even though she said it wasn’t her favorite. Turns out it was so not her favorite that she’s in the bathroom vomiting it out while I’m over here taking photos of the boats.

Good thing we didn’t have any more driving scheduled for the day, so we headed over to Pacific Grove for a short walk in some surprisingly strong winds to let Jutta’s stomach settle.

And soon afterward, she’s fit again and ready to enjoy the rest of the day.

Nothing left to do but chill out by the ocean, watching the glistening water catch sunrays, hypnotizing us into wanting to live right here. Our room for a mere $69 was at the Thunderbird Motel in Seaside, as we’re too cheap to splurge for those $120-a-night rooms in Monterey.

Monterey, California – Day 3

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Monterey Bay, California

We’ve seen many a sea lion and seal sleeping on docks, small islands, rocky shores, and occasionally on someone’s boat, but we’ve never seen one sleeping in the water. Before we got here, though, we’d already stopped in at the Old Monterey Cafe over on Alverado for another great breakfast; we’re yet to be disappointed. We voiced our enthusiasm to the guy who opened the door for us, we were the first in after he unlocked it while also inviting us to come back early tomorrow if we’d like to do so before our 750-mile drive home. More often than not, a great attitude gets us far.

Elkhorn Slough near Moss Landing, California

We have an appointment this morning a little further down the road in Moss Landing, so before we head that way, we’ve dipped into the Elkhorn Slough. We’ve not visited very many estuaries or maybe I should say not enough of them because I don’t know exactly how many we’ve been to. Our time is very limited, and we can’t be late for our next stop.

Caroline Wise and John Wise on Monterey Bay, California

Our date was with Sanctuary Cruises to head out on Monterey Bay for some whale watching. We’ve tried this from shore seemingly hundreds of times with mostly poor results. This time, we’re hoping for some hot whale action and, if not some pirouettes, at last, some serious breaching.

Porpoise in Monterey Bay, California

These Risso dolphins are signaling for us to follow them.

Whales in Monterey Bay, California

And there they were, whales. We at least got to see their spouting, humped backs, and a couple of flukes. Over the next hour, we spot more whales and more dolphins. Along the way, it strikes me how much freedom they enjoy compared to us, as they do not require passports as they roam their universe. They are free to explore, feed, and procreate unencumbered by the chains of civilization. We are planning on coming back one day when they have some breaching scheduled.

Back on the dock, we dip into Sanctuary’s giftshop where Caroline scores a t-shirt that will stay with us even should the memories of the whale encounter fade; it reads, “Whales are for Lookin’ Not for Cookin.'”

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

With another day of low tides, we used the opportunity to visit more tide pools. Wow, a chiton right there. This mollusk has roots that date back to the Devonian, about 400 million years ago. We could have headed back to the aquarium, but it’s not all that often we get to see so much sea life next to the shore while we are up here.

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

I’ll say this looks orange and pink to me; not sure Caroline will agree, but in my somewhat colorblind vision, that’s what it looks like to me. It’s also quite ornate in its concentric circles and bumps that almost look like jewels.

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

I wanted to write something about this starfish and was wondering how many types there are, but the answer blew me away. There are between 1,500 and 2,000 species of sea stars spread out across our oceans. These resilient survivors have been crawling around since the Ordovician about 450 million years ago and live anywhere from the shoreline to as deep as 20,000 feet below the surface.

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

Usually, we only see starfish from above; this is the underside, and to me, it looks like hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny hands and fingers.

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

Don’t simply look at anemones as colorful but dull plant-like animals that just sway in the current. Like starfish, they live in shallow waters down into the pelagic zone (10,000 feet below the surface). The anemone you are looking at might be the offspring of an ancestor 100s of millions of years old. You see, the anemone can clone itself by breaking into pieces to reproduce. Imagine you were able to break off a finger to create a new you. Anemones are not just beautiful; they are magic.

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

Think for a moment of the chemistry going on here of filtering calcium carbonate in an organized fashion and then adding pigment at different layers in order to have more vibrant purple bands alternating with bands of gray and bumps that fade to white.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

We spent the better part of the rest of our day out here oceanside, which will once again relegate our visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to a nighttime visit.

Sea life along the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, California

Even in the fading light of the day, the anemone can have a vibrancy verging on the psychedelic. I wonder if deep-sea anemones also exhibit such extraordinary colors, and if they do, what purpose would that serve at the depths where light cannot penetrate?

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

We were not going to pass up another visit to the aquarium, even if it meant foregoing a romantic moonlit walk along the ocean. Actually, we must make this visit as it’s a large part of why we purchased our year-long membership yesterday. The math was simple: at $19.95 per person entry fee and only $85 for the membership, we’d have nearly recovered the full cost with tonight’s visit in addition to yesterday’s. But tonight is special as it’s a “Members Only” evening that is scheduled to happen once a month and it just so happened that tonight is that night. No crowds, just peace and quiet with the fish on their way to lullaby land.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

This trip could be known as the Mollusk and Cephalopod Tour. If you ever find an eye more intriguing than that of a cuttlefish, please share that with us. To learn more about the W-shaped pupil, I highly recommend Googling the most current information available.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

Meet the sand dollar, friend, and relative to the starfish.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

You can take 1,000 photos of the jellyfish exhibits here and never get a sharp image. Then again, you might get 100 that you are in love with and have no idea which one to share. Some of the jellies are semi-translucent bowls with lace-like centerpieces and a fringe of thread size fingers ringing the rim, while others look like psychedelic brains that could double as hats for old ladies.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

As I said, it’s difficult to take a sharp image, but I liked this jellyfish that looked more like a lampshade to me and needed to share it.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

Leafy sea dragons are relatives of the – no, not the starfish! They are closely related to the seahorse. The seahorse is a relative newcomer to the oceans having branched off from pipefish maybe 13 million years ago. A bizarre fact about the leafy sea dragon, the female produces about 250 bright pink eggs that it will deposit in the male’s tail where they will attach themselves and receive oxygen from their father. After nine weeks, the eggs turn purple or orange, and the brood will start to hatch, at which point Dad must pump his tail, setting his young free. Only about a dozen of their offspring will survive.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

Here’s a fish because who doesn’t want to see a fish with a band of orange for a collar? We only had two hours here at the aquarium tonight but in our view, it’s always better to be somewhere incredible, experiencing the extraordinary and beautiful, than spending all day being bored somewhere because it’s easy and part of a routine.

Monterey, California – Day 2

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Mission San Luis Obispo in California

Asleep at 11:30 or 1:30 in the morning, it doesn’t matter; we’ll still be up and ready to go for breakfast by 6:00 a.m., as that’s how my Aunt Ann and Uncle Woody do things. We pile Sophie the dog into the van and head to Cajun Kitchen, a current favorite that is a bit of a ritual on Saturday mornings.

As I’m not sure I’ve shared these tidbits before, I feel like I should drop them here for posterity. My aunt Ann is better known to the family as Tata, which we are all told means aunt in Croatian. Both of her parents were from Ozalj, Karlovac, Croatia. My great-aunt is likely a shopaholic and is obsessive-compulsive about saving coupons. Caroline and I also think she might have a propensity to grab things from work, such as staplers, pens, toilet paper, and other office supplies she thinks others might need. Every visit, we leave with a car full of stuff we don’t need, but we’ve learned not to refuse anything.

My great-uncle Woody landed on Omaha Beach in World War II to march across France on his way to Belgium, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. This guy has been my hero since I was a small child and was the embodiment of John Wayne to me. He could do anything, including getting my attention to stop whatever shenanigans I was going to get in trouble for. It never fails when we meet these two that they lavish heaps of appreciation on us for spending time with them, even if it’s only for some hours.

Following our rather brief visit, we took off to San Luis Obispo for a stop at the mission. Officially known as Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, this is number nine of the 21 missions in California and was founded on September 1, 1772. Like so many of those Missions that dot the California coast, most were in disrepair at some point in their long history. This particular outpost of the Spaniard Missionaries was falling to ruin when, back in the early 1930s renovations began.

Mission San Luis Obispo in California

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a historic church I didn’t like; the same can be said for Caroline. Solemn, serene, peaceful, and dignified are some of the words that come to mind when inside these places of worship. Many of these Missions are still operating, so it’s important to enter in observance of those who may be in prayer.

Looking back, it’s easy to be dismissive of the purpose of the Missions when you consider that their task was to bring Native Americans into the fold. Often, this was done oppressively, but we only really know that due to hindsight as, at the time, popular thinking placed indigenous people as being equivalent to animals. A sad history for sure, but we can’t whitewash reality.

Highway 1 in California

Continuing on Highway 1 and a bit further up the coast, those feelings of solemnity and serenity we had in the Mission are being felt right here. Where the ocean meets land, it is as though we have come to another place of worship. If you don’t visit the ocean often, you may not notice, but the tide is extra low this morning. This is called a negative tide, and it helps expose tide pools that aren’t often seen.

Starfish at low tide off Highway 1 in California

The mighty and all-powerful starfish. How do they get this big, as we never see baby starfish? How do they move, as we never see them crawling about? How do they contort their arms into the cracks when they feel like steel? Are they aware of their arms, and do they sense the anemone and know not to rest its arm across it? To me, their strength is extraordinary – have you tried prying one off a rock? Their average lifespan is about 35 years; I wonder how far they travel during that time.

Elephant Seal Colony near San Simeon on Highway 1 in California

We are about five miles north of San Simeon and Hearst Castle, which we have failed yet again to visit, but we are not missing the opportunity to stop at the elephant seal colony that lives up here. It was just two years ago that we were here on New Year’s Eve and first learned that it’s that time of the year when the cows are giving birth, and the beach is scattered with squelching pups and sleepy moms.

As the seals bask in the sun, tossing sand across their backs and carefully maneuvering around their pups, everyone around us is transfixed on seeing something we may only get to see once in a lifetime. The visitors, by and large, wear seriously big smiles for the occasion, which I believe helps cement the sights into indelible memories.

Elephant Seal Colony near San Simeon on Highway 1 in California

We’ve never seen an elephant seal that we didn’t like. While we might be a little disappointed at the boardwalk and fencing that is here compared to our first visits, it is great that California is making an effort to protect the colony. Also, a big thank you to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for supplying docents down here to answer questions and educate visitors.

Highway 1 in California

We are now about 32 miles north of Ragged Point, which is the county line between Monterey and San Luis Obispo County. Lime Creek Bridge on Highway 1 at mile marker 32 is one of the two iconic bridges on this road at the ocean’s edge.

Stop a second and consider the incredible engineering feat of carving this narrow road that hugs these steep cliffsides that race to the ocean. We drive slow, really slow, as we creep along in awe of the sights on offer along this historic road. Our leisurely pace, though, is not appreciated by the locals who use this scenic byway as a racecourse that delivers them to their jobs up or down the coast. They want to believe that by pulling right up to our bumper to pressure us to hit the gas, which will somehow wake us from our slumber and have us get out of their way, wrong. It’s a pity that these impatient and rude troglodytes have lost their awe of the amazing are could care less about those who might be out here enjoying this on the only opportunity they may ever have to take it all in.

Highway 1 in California

A big blue, unfathomably large ocean that goes on forever, giving no point of reference for what lies within its mysteries. We are relegated to stand at its shores and try to imagine, and even if we drag ourselves out over the surface, we will only ever know a sliver that is meaningless in relation to its scale. Strange to think that we can easily take a photo of the stars than ever see an inventory of the sea.

Big Sur, California

There should never come a time when Caroline and I are traveling the Central California Coast that we do not stop at the Big Sur Bakery. You can have Nepenthe, which does, in fact, have tremendous views, but coffee and scones here in the woods of Big Sur deliver a kind of magic we are missing at the famous eatery back down the road.

Garrapata State Park in Big Sur, California

Garrapata State Park should be renamed John and Caroline’s Favorite Beach because, while I’ve probably said it before, the combination of sound, light, and views north and south with the cliffside behind us make for the perfect orchestration of nature where her elegance is broadcast to the few discriminating souls that venture down here.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Garrapata State Park in Big Sur, California

Yes, we are happy to be here again. We are happy to be in love and happy to have each other. Happy is the place to be.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

Do you know what the greatest thing is about being a season pass holder for the Monterey Bay Aquarium? It’s that no matter what time you arrive, you can dip into the aquarium for the last hour of the day, and it all feels worth it. This afternoon, we became members for only $85 for the two of us; actually, it’s good for four people. Guess what we’ll be doing tomorrow?

For now, this is our place in Nirvana. A perfect destination that alights all of our senses, well maybe not taste, but you get the idea. So Yellowstone should probably be included in the perfect place category but before I get carried away and make a list of 100 items long, I’ll leave this at that.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

Feels like we are looking into a parallel universe where John and Caroline Crab are looking out at John and Caroline Wise, and we are looking in at them, not realizing we are all the same.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

I’ll tell you what I love most about anemones: they don’t carry guns, and yet they are armed. For nearly 508 million years, they’ve lived in a symbiotic relationship with the rest of their ocean brethren and never once needed to pull out a gun to settle a score. You might say, “But they don’t know metallurgy and don’t have hands to use guns anyway,” but I’d suggest they would have evolved those skills and appendages had they given sea life an advantage.

Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California

You don’t hang out on Earth for 300 million years and not know something far greater than us idiotic humans who shit in our own nests, kill and torture each other for the pleasure of inflicting pain and suffering, and poison our planet with no regard for other species. To think that these shapeshifting masters of cleverness only live for two to five years, you can easily be astonished by how many generations have preceded the octopus you are looking at right here. I guess I contradicted myself, for those who know me and that I resent pet owners who anthropomorphize their animals, yet here I am giving intelligence to a cephalopod.

Monterey to Sequoias – Day 3

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

There’s a piece of music called “Kelp Forest” from Douglas Morton that plays here in this part of Monterey Bay Aquarium that I can hear when I’m looking at photos from this tank. It’s a short loop of music I’ve heard countless times, and it is yet to sound boring as it fits the vibe perfectly.

If you are wondering why we are not speeding down the road to the next stop, it is because two hours in the aquarium weren’t enough.

Just as we come here to look at sea life, the sea life looks back at us.

Well, I don’t think the jellies really look back at us, but for all we know, their cilia are performing double duty by acting as a kind of quantum antennae used for receiving our thoughts and broadcasting emotional triggers that talk to our sense of wonderment, and that’s why we stare in awe nearly hypnotized when we are looking at jellies.

Comb jellies, on the other hand, are the ocean’s disco, where plankton go to listen to clam music and dance.

I’m fairly certain some astrophysicists stole this design to explain how matter travels through a black hole to emerge on the other side of a parallel universe.

Mark Shimer, Caroline Wise, and John Wise at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California

After spending the majority of the morning in the aquarium, it was time to go hunt for lodging near our next stop, but first, we needed to deal with the four-hour drive to get within range.

Monterey to Sequoias – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

We got out of the Los Angeles area early for the drive up the coast over Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo before reaching the Elephant Seal Colony north of San Simeon. By this time, I’ve lost count of how many previous visits we’ve made to this exact spot on the coast. I’m certain I’ve seen some of these seals on other stops, but there’s no way I’m going to identify one by name or markings.

Off in the distance is the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse, while in the foreground are more Elephant Seals.

Thistle sounds menacing, and those giant pokey thorns don’t help its image, but the sheer beauty of the neon pink, lavender, and purples in the flower certainly make it a visually appealing plant. This type is of the Silybum group, commonly known as milk thistle, which has health benefits for our livers.

We are on a slow drive north, showing Mark some of the places we’ve fallen in love with over the years and many visits that have brought us up and down the California coast. In the years Mark has been living in the Los Angeles area working for the film industry, he’s an animator and hasn’t taken much time to explore the world around him, so we are trying to get him off his treadmill.

If you get the idea from the indiscriminate photos of more coast that we have a broad sense of what constitutes a favorite place, well, you’d be right. We love the whole thing, well, except those parts that draw sunbathers to open beaches for tanning.

This is the common morning glory flower, and it is the seeds of this plant that some will seek to get a cheap high. The problem is that the person needs to eat hundreds for the psychedelic effects to work; I’m sure there must be easier ways to reach a psychedelic state.

I think this is part of the mint family, but I’m no botanist, so sue me if I’m wrong.

McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur.

This intimidating-looking creature is the yellow-spotted millipede, also known as the cyanide millipede, for its ability to secrete cyanide. Should you pick one up (they don’t bite or sting), it will likely curl up, and if you smell almond, then you know that this millipede is trying to defend itself. While it is not typically toxic to adults, it is usually fatal to birds and rodents. So, while you might be creeped out finding these in the California forest, you need not worry about them sending you to the hospital.

A bed of redwood sorrel.

Look into the treetops when in a redwood forest as these trees grow tall and straight. Now imagine that there have been people in our fairly recent history who would have had no problem harvesting every last one of these trees to trade them in for money. Our perspective of what’s important is myopic, while our thirst for what will allow us to imbibe group stupidity is unquenchable.

Groomed footpaths to idyllic settings are a luxury we all share, but few seem to find time to grace their path. For all who maintain these trails to the exquisite places, I thank every one of you.

This is Mark Shimer, our traveling companion for a couple of days. A long time ago, I gave him his first graphic design job following his graduation from a Phoenix design school. Today he is a pro and only getting better as he’s been tackling larger and larger projects in Hollywood. We are taking this photo at Garrapata Beach, which may forever be our favorite beach of all time.

Leaving Garrapata Beach, where every corner is a masterpiece of beauty.

That’s Caroline mesmerized by the jellyfish exhibit here at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Not a great photo due to the poor lighting, but it’s a sea turtle, and in the background is a dolphinfish, also known as Mahi-Mahi. What’s not seen is the school of blue-fin tuna cruising around the tank.

This octopus has been one of the most difficult mollusks to photograph as not only does it frequently squeeze itself into some dark corner, but anything that moves with some speed wreaks havoc on my attempts to snap a photo in near darkness. Maybe it remembers my previous attempts, and it has finally given in to allowing me a perfect pic of perfect beauty.

Whoever said these lowly shrimps were cockroaches of the sea was only partly right. While they are detritivores in that they will eat any dead or decaying organic matter, they do likely taste a lot better than the common cockroach, but how would I know?

My hypocrisy works like this: I don’t like zoos as the animals are in no way living in anything that resembles their natural habitat. For the most part, I don’t like aquariums either, but when David Packard helped create this gift to humanity that opened back on October 20, 1984, he was well aware of the importance of the ecosystem that would be on display. With that in mind, he worked on the architecture and functionality of how this place would operate and its symbiotic relationship with the ocean at its front door. The water in these tanks comes directly from the ocean and is recirculated at the temperature that best sustains the life that is on display here. While certain fish and animals are not very well suited for the confines of an enclosure, I’d say that the Monterey Bay Aquarium is doing the world a tremendous favor in bringing our attention to the health, sustainability, and responsibility we all have for our oceans.

Our up-close view of shorebirds is one we never get to have in the wild as they flutter away as quickly as we approach unless they are seagulls and you are holding out food, and then the closest hundred will flock to you in a moment squawking in their ear-piercing shrill voices of utter annoyance.

This fish is known as the artichoke fish and is another member of the mollusk family. If you look closely, you can see its spikey protrusions; they are a kind of rasping tongue called a radula, and it is what these particular creatures use to eat. Maybe you aren’t buying this? Fine, this artichoke is not actually in an aquarium or living in the ocean; it is in Castroville, California, also known as the Artichoke Capital of the World, and grows in a field.

Vegas, Great Basin, Tahoe, Pt Reyes, Monterey – Day 5

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Monterey, California

A million wonderful impressions of places that we visit even briefly are better than the alternative of having never been to them. This is not our first time to Monterey, and over the previous nearly ten years, this might be the fourth or fifth, maybe even the sixth or seventh time we’ve been here. So collectively, we have a ton of memories nurtured here, 100 miles south of San Francisco on the California coast.

Monterey, California

You didn’t think we’d stop here and not dip into the Monterey Bay Aquarium, even if it was just for an hour or two, did you?

Pacific Grove, California

A short walk in the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove during the fall and the height of the migration season is also mandatory.

Big Sur, California

That’s a lighthouse and some historic buildings out on Point Sur, but its visitation hours and days are very limited. Check out the Point Sur Lighthouse website for more info.

California Coast

We stayed along the ocean as long as we had available light to enjoy the views. From the coast, we headed inland for the night. The next day, we stopped in Los Angeles for breakfast at the Original Pantry Cafe with our old friend Mark Shimer before finishing our drive back to Phoenix after our epic Thanksgiving road trip.