ROADTRIP! Moss Landing, Santa Cruz, Pescadero Beach

THE DAY WE SAW A CALIFORNIAN SEA OTTER!!!!

Woke with a headache due to lack of tea yesterday and too much wine, but breakfast soon sorted that out and anyway today 

WE SAW A CALIFORNIAN SEA OTTER!

The Pixen had done her research of places nearby to visit and so with a very small chance of seeing a sea otter (but an opportunity all the same) (AND BELIEF!) we drove to Moss Landing Elkhorn Slough.

The binoculars they provided were sooooo good.

We had an idea where to look for the otters.

Pixen BELIEVED we would see one...and WE DID.

Husb spotted him. 

It looked a bit like this!!!

We were all so thrilled .

But Pixen won The Most Delighted category.

This holiday was getting better and better for her.

It was a fab couple of hours

We pushed on to SANTA CRUZ.

"Santa Cruz. You're not that faaaarrrrr"

Santa Cruz was lovely but we spent quite a while looking for each other as our 2 cars had become separated into 2 different carparks.

It would have been a perfect day for a kite but it was in the wrong car.

We were on the beach and the other four were on the boardwalk and the kite was in a boot somewhere. 

"Santa Cruuuuzzz. No you're not that faaarrr"  hahaha

"No, you're not that far"

But no wonder we couldn't find them if they were doing da Hula!

Santa Cruz is definitely worth revisiting NEXT TIME we go to San Francisco :)

Next stop was the stunning Pescadero State Beach.

NO FILTER.The colours really were like this. Beautiful.

PELICAN!

 

PELICANS!!! 

There was one final photo stop as the sun went down...

The Graywhale Cove State Beach

and then we took the car back to the airport, Ubered back to 1010 16th, and transferred our luggage to AirBnB no.2 This time we had Team HolliBelly with us and The Hennies stayed with Cub and Emily.

Look how huge and arty this BnB was. 

(Trouble was there were only 2 mugs,

But the Americans don't really do tea haha.)

ROADTRIP! Monterey, 17 Mile Drive, Carmel.

The blueberry cake for breakfast at the Travelodge was delicious.

A good start to a great day.

Monterey is a super little place made famous by the author John Steinbeck and one of my favourite types of cheese but it also has a ridiculously expensive aquarium which we side stepped as soon as we saw the entrance fee. Besides. We have stayed at the Palm Atlantis in Dubai which is like eating and sleeping in an aquarium.

But Monterey itself is lovely.

It has a great sock shop with golf socks.

AND

It has a Bear Flag Building.

The Hennies turned into Yankees with their new outfits.

And the statues are perfect to pose around.

But we were after a beach because we had a bucket and spade and a kite.

So on the way to Carmel  Beach we paid the toll to drive along the scenic 17 MILE DRIVE which passes through Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsular with its posh houses, immaculate golf courses, the Lone Cypress Tree and Bird Rock.

Not to plank.

Oh OK. To plank.

Why plank when you can be this good at leaping?

The Lone Cyprus is about 250 years old as has survived storms, gales, even fire.

I'll always remember Carmel as the place where I had my first PBJ .... oh my word...all my favourite ingredients in a toastie. Cub and Emily were a little horrified I think... 

but nothing could be as horrifying as ...........

THIS!!!!!

(No WONDER Nem tagged me in it)

(Oh Lordy)

Ha ha   :)  

After a bit of superb parallel parking up a hill  by The Cubster which impressed Husb and I enormously, we went down to the beach.

It was warm and eventually the clouds cleared but there wasn't the slightest breeze.

Pixen and Ian were hilarious with my kite but the kite wasn't having any of it, it would NOT go up.

However Sammie's half chewed rubber ball, with a bit of weight in it, was ace.

HEAD OVER HEELS...

IN LOVE.

TEN OUT OF TEN LOVE.

What  a lovely day. 

When the clouds cleared and the sun came out the whole scene was stunning. 

Twinkly water and long shadows.

We should have waited and done our plank then.