Last week I visited beautiful Monterey California and the
Big Sur area for a conference. It was a
busy few days, but I was able to take in some of the highlights of the
area. I hope to return some day soon with family.
I flew out of Everett Thursday morning, which was my first
flight ever from Paine Field. Very nice—a
shorter drive, and a very pleasant terminal.
After landing in San Jose, I grabbed a rental and made the drive down
through the Salinas Valley to Monterey.
I got sidetracked for a few minutes in Gilroy, the self-declared
garlic capital of the world. I kind of
like this out of the way spot. I drove on
the 101, and then to Pacific Coast Highway 1, through the valley floor and miles
of farm fields. It kind of reminded me
of home, the Skagit Valley, at times, but they have more smoke right now, from
the wildfires.
On advice, I drove directly to the Point Lobos Natural
Reserve, which is just south of Carmel.
A beautiful little peninsula—a full nature reserve—it has to be one of
California’s highlights. I went for a run
along waterside trails, taking in the birds and rock formations. Although you
can see homes on the hill, the reserve itself has a wild feel, and is much
loved. People go there to watch for whales. I didn’t see any, but I didn’t look too hard.
After that, down the famous Pacific Coast Highway 1, to the
famous Bixby Bridge in Big Sur. I just
had to see this much photographed bridge, which was built during the Depression. It is a beautiful bridge and location. From there, I had to rush back to Monterey,
check in, dress up, and begin my conference.
I spoke that night, which meant it was a really full day for me. I ended the day on Monterey’s Fisherman’s
Wharf, at a nice restaurant with some local rockfish and superb clam chowder.
Friday was all work, until the evening, when I attended a
beach event with DJ, campfires, drinks and s’mores.
On Saturday morning I ran the Pacific Grove Lighthouse 5k, a
beautiful coastal race which is part of the Monterey Half Marathon
weekend. Steve Scott, a local there,
helped officiate the event. He’s ran
over 100 sub four minute miles and I used to follow his racing in Runner’s
World when I was a high school runner. I
finished just under 30 minutes, while stopping to take pictures. Not fast, obviously, but I’ve been slower.
Always work to be done.
Later, I visited Cannery Row, immortalized by John Steinbeck’s
book of the same name. And then I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is one of the best aquariums in the
world, by reputation, and I won’t argue. I’ll put up a separate
post of photos from there--because that place was *amazing*, but I will say that beyond the amazing sights, I was
much impressed by all the conservation messaging and education that the
aquarium has. The war on plastic has begun.
Exhausted, I drove back the way I came, caught my flight, and
was glad to be home for SNL.
Everett's terminal is very nice
Arches get photographed--it's a rule
The coast line is reminiscent of Kauai in some places
If this bridge could charge per photograph....it was on the cover of my conference materials
Backside of Bixby Bridge, or front-side, maybe
S'mores
Gull on a perch, near the starting line of the 5k
Shark and a diver on the left
I got a kick out of the fact that the conference rooms were named after John Steinbeck--I do like his books
Steve Scott encouraging a youth finisher
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