Anticipated hiking and scenery in Big Sur was, well, it didn’t really happen. It was a Saturday. The trailhead parking lots were full. Even so, the hikes were beyond what my knee conditions could manage right now: trails were either straight up the mountain, or straight down to the sea. And, although I waited out the morning for the fog to lift, it didn’t lift much. There were wisps of views, but it was mostly a fun drive with a few lookout stops and onward to Monterey.
Having stopped in to Monterey on the Big Boat Journey, I was excited to explore the area by land and bike.
Among John Steinbeck’s numerous writings, Cannery Row was a meaningful read while visiting Monterey. That, and any books about John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts, an inter-tidal biologist have been lively reads.
17-Mile Drive, where one pays $11.50 to enjoy a gated, golf-coursed, gorgeous- scenery-with-many-pullouts drive during daylight hours was worth the expenditure.
Overnighting in Monterey and adjacent Pacific Grove was easy to do street-side, and ocean-side. Until my third and final night when the dreaded midnight knock on the van woke me from a sound slumber. I’d always considered this event might occur. A flashlight was bouncing around outside trying to see inside Lulu, but I could see the red and blue flashing lights through the darkout shades. Immediately my level of anxiety normalized. We can conjure all sorts of horrible events in our minds. But the reality is so rare. The interaction with police officer was respectable, but I had to leave. Upon my inquiry of where to go at this time of night, the officer directed me to the Veteran’s Park, wherever THAT was. Long story short, I just drove to town, found a side street under the lights and slept the remaining few hours of darkness. Note, my overnights are a mixture of state or federal campgrounds, rest stops, side-streets in towns but not in front of houses or where signage indicates no parking. Rarely do I stay in an RV park or other over-priced, tightly-packed, social scene environment. But always I want to feel confident that if I’m bothered in the middle of the night I can easily drive away or get nearby help.
CA State Parks surf patrols. This guy loves his job. Too windy for the board he was trading it out for a kayak to ply the waters and be available if a need should arise.
Activities in Monterey and adjacent Pacific Grove included a small bookstore/coffee shop (SO glad these are open again!), laundry, a waterfront bike ride of which there are miles and miles for bikes and/or walkers, a rare dinner-to-go fish burger and salad, (thus a sunset picnic on 17-mile-drive), a bike tune-up, a nostalgic walk thru Monterey’s waterfront area. And, as mentioned, my first, and hopefully only, midnight caller!
Wow! That knock on the door must have been interesting! Your trip is filled with such adventures – life couldn’t get much better. Go Girl! Love your can-do, go with the flow attitude.