Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea

Our next stop was Marina, CA which is located just north of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea.   This was just an overnight stop, not a planned destination.  However, we decided to go on a driving tour called "17 Mile Drive" that sounded interesting.  you pay to drive through the entire Pebble Beach community.  We drove down to Monterey to start the drive, but decided to first check out their Fisherman's Wharf. 


Monterey - Fisherman's Wharf:

It was very quaint compared to San Francisco.   It was also very pretty!  Lots of shops and restaurants.  We ended up stopping on our way back to the motorhome for dinner in one of the many restaurants.

It was early in the morning and wasn't very busy.  Later that day it was crowded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working boats.....

and docks.

I love looking at these old boats.

 

 

 

 

I don't know how these sea lions get in these places. 

 

This one seems to be a loner.

 

The Fisherman's statue.....every seaside has one. 

 

 

Carmel-by-the-Sea:

Carmel is the city where Clint Eastwood was the mayor for one term, from 1986 to 1988.   We stopped to visit a Spanish mission called "Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Caremo".    Also known as "Mission Carmel".  It is a Roman Catholic church and remains a parish today.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.   It's the only one of the California Missions to have its original bell tower dome.

You enter and exit through the gift shop. 

There were several fountains and statues throughout the grounds.  Very pretty.

Old grave sites......some from the 1800's.

This is the side of the main building.  We stopped and talked to an artist who had set up his easel and was in the process of painting a portion of this side.

 

 

 

 

 

17 Mile Drive:

This drive takes you through the entire Pebble Beach community.  It is a gated community, however, it allows tourists to drive through a planned route.  There are several gates in which you can start the drive.   When you stop at the entrance gate to pay the $10.00 (per car) fee, they give you a map to follow with all of the points of interest marked on the map.  (The residence of the area have a special sticker on their cars which allows them to come and go freely).  The road has a red stripe in the center (along with the white stripe) so you will know which road to follow in order to stay on the "17 Mile Drive" route.  

The road takes you along the coast as well as inland through affluent neighborhoods and by famous golf courses.  You can be right at the waters edge one minute and up on a cliff looking down at the water the next. 

 

These were some of the highest waves we have seen along the coast.

 

I guess this surfer thought so also.

 

 

 This point of interest was called "Bird Rock".  While there are a lot of birds on the rock, there are also a lot of sea lions.  With the sea breeze coming from the ocean and passing over this rock the smell is awful!

 

Alan spotted a large pod of whales feeding just off the coast at one of the "point of interest" stops.  We watched them for a while before moving on to the next stop.  You could see even more whales at the next stop.  There was a guy at this stop that had a quad copter drone with him.  He launched the drone and we watched as it went out to where the whales were feeding.   Hopefully the guy got his drone back. 

 This is a picture of some of the whales while feeding.  Sometimes you could see several surface at a time.

 

We finally got a picture of the tail as he goes back down.

 

This tree known as the "Lone Cypress" sits on a granite hillside off the "17 mile drive" and is a western icon.  It has been called one of the most photographed trees in North America.  Possibly as old as 250 years, the cypress has been scarred by fire and held in place with cables for 65 years.    It literally sits on stone.

A little further down the road we spotted these wind blown trees.  Their shape is due to a process called "Salt Pruning".   This is a process by which saline mists generated by seawater are driven ashore by winds and over time alters the shape of trees and shrubs.  We have seen trees shaped like this all along the coast, but I think these were the most dramatic.  Even though it looks windy......there was little to no wind this day. :)

 

 

 

 

This was one of the eight golf courses in the Pebble Beach community.

 

 

The landscape would change dramatically just a few miles down the road.

Golf courses were tucked here and there. 

 Absolutely stunning views!

At the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, you can visit the lodge, restaurant and the shops.  We walked around the grounds and went through the lodge to the restaurant.   From the lodge and restaurant you can watch the golfers playing out on the course.  From the shops, you can watch golfers on the putting green.  The grounds and lodge were beautiful. 

These are the gates where you can drop off your golf bags, etc.

The lodge is across from the shops with the practice putting green in the center.

 

 

A few of the shops across from the lodge.

 

 

Rolex is the Official Timepiece of  the Pebble Beach Resort.  You will find them throughout the Resorts' golf courses and lodges.  Is this a high end place or what?

 

Inside the lodge.

These were taken inside the lodge looking out onto the golf course.

 

After we finished driving the "17 mile drive", we decided to drive up Hwy. 1 which runs along the coast and gets very steep and curvy.  It is not recommended for driving motorhomes on.  However, while we were on this part of Hwy. 1, we passed several rigs.  At some point the road narrows even more and can get very steep.  We drove about 10 or 15 miles up the highway before turning back toward town.  I saw all I wanted from the car.....

 

 

You can see the ribbon of road and tell by the bridge how high up we are.

 This turned out to be a GREAT day trip.