San Francisco

29th September 2014

Sadly, this is our last day at Mission Ranch, and Peter and Deirdre are heading back to LA. We meet up for breakfast, say our last farewells (until we see them in November on the way home), and we departed at around 10.30am.

                                            Our last visions of Mission Ranch

                        
                         We all reckon Clint Eastwood must have used this truck in some movie !

Our drive today is planned to be via Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, hopefully a lot more scenic, albeit a bit further , but we are not in a hurry. Fortunately, yesterday, the Macdonalds gave us a great tour of Monterey, so we drove straight through to move on to areas that we hadn't seen.

The first part of the trip is pretty ordinary country, mainly sand dunes, with just enough natural vegetation to hold them in place. There is no need for lawn mowers in this country.

Then we hit some very fertile land and market gardening was definitely the base of the local economy. Artichokes and Brussel Sprouts were in abundance, much of it still tended by hand.

We refuelled in Capitola, a smaller place, where I could work out the mysteries of buying petrol in USA without too much traffic in the gas station. The fuel pumps are designed to take credit cards and everything can be done from the pump, so there is no need to go inside to pay UNLESS you have a foreign credit card (they don't work)

So I had to go inside, leave my credit card with them so they would activate the pump, and then go back inside to retrieve the card and settle the account.

The other thing that amazes me here is that they have 87 Octane fuel, how come we have a minimum of 91 and a push to move everything up to 95. I am sure if there was an emissions issue they would be on to it here.

Brussel Sprouts as far as the eye can see

We were driving through Santa Cruz, when the sign posts for Half Moon Bay disappeared, and we thought we must have missed a turn, so pulled over and reprogrammed Tom Tom to take us there. Soon under way again we realized we were not heading in the right direction and when checking Tom Tom realised that the finger had slipped on the touch screen and we were off to Halfway House CA (wherever that is). Anyway, back on track, we ended up going around the outskirts of San Jose to get to Half Moon Bay, which turned out to be about the same as going via Highway 1.

We did get to go through Cupertino and Palo Alto, the turn off to Stanford University etc, and the descent back down to the coast was a very pretty drive.

Half Moon Bay is abArt and out to celebrate the Pumpkin Festival, and everyone is getting in on it, after all Halloween isn't that far away.

This is a small patch

In Half Moon Bay , Art and Pumpkins seem to work well together, at least a festival time

The township of Half Moon Bay, is very Art and Crafty, a bit like some of the towns in the Southern Highlands in NSW. By now it was lunch time, so we found a nice Deli, ordered some sandwiches and headed off towards the water to find somewhere to eat them. Not as easy as we thought, and there was not a lot of beach access. We ended up at Dunes Beach which is a State Beach, had a brief stop and moved on. 

From here it was on to San Francisco, only about 20 miles from here. Tom Tom did a great job guiding us to the front door of our Motel, the driveway of which was blocked by an airport shuttle bus who made no attempt to move, not impressing the traffic occasionally held up behind us as we waited on Lombard Street.

Finally on the outskirts of San Francisco

Once settled in and after a bit of a rest, we decided to walk down to Fisherman's Wharf area, have a look around, and find something easy for dinner.

                                      View of the Bay looking out at Alcatraz

We ended up having a Pizza and a cold seafood platter in one of the restaurants in the area and headed back up the hill to our motel. The food was fine, and good value for the price.

Carmel and Surrounds

28th September 2014

Last night we both slept well, and feel pretty much back to normal, ready for another big day. First stop is breakfast which is served in the Tennis Club within the hotel grounds, where meet up with Peter and Deirdre to plan our day. It is still overcast, but expected to be warmer than yesterday, and clearing this afternoon.

The Tennis Club

We decide to do a further walking tour of Carmel this morning, have a coffee in town somewhere, and then go for a drive along the famous 17 mile drive, past Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, The Links at Spanish Bay and a number of other golf courses before ending up in Monterey.

Walking into town, this time on a different route, gives us a better appreciation of the size of the town (bigger than we thought), the total lack of traffic (many of the houses are holiday homes for the rich and famous), and how well presented all of the properties are. The greenies have also had a substantial influence.

This owner is planning renovations and the trees onsite must be protected from any potential damage before work can begin. The are "wrapped" in lengths of 4" x 2" pine and then the orange tape.

            We see more stunning houses (checkout the tree house in this one)

Monterey Cypress Pines dominate the landscape

We eventually end up in a small, very nice, shopping centre where we enjoy a coffee before heading back to the ranch.

Our walk back to the ranch takes us past a number of restaurants, so we can check out a potential venue for dinner, and then back along the coast to Mission Ranch.

We are soon on our way in the Macdonald's car to 17 Mile Drive, and as we approach Pebble Beach, it is clear that there is a tournament under way, and we have no chance of getting in close to see the course. However, Pete knew of a public access walkway to the coast would still give us a good view of the course, but we could only park for 20 min.

                                                  Pebble Beach Golf Course from our vantage point

We  then wandered through the periphery of the course as much as we could within the limitations of the tournament boundaries. It was great to see.

We could see the leaderboard as we walked up past the 18th green

The drive continued on with the next highlight being the Lone Cypress, a testament to the enduring nature of the Monterey Cypress Pine. This tree is claimed to have occupied this spot on it's rocky perch for 250 years.

Our drive continues on past Spyglass Hill Golf Course, the Links at Spanish Bay, through Pacific Grove and on to Monterey, where we find a spot to have lunch in a a renovated  Sardine Cannery building that was full of outlet shops. We subsequently discovered that there were a number of cannery businesses, now in different use, as Monterey was the largest sardine fishery in the World in the 1900's, until they ran out of sardines.

Lunch was just what we wanted, a sandwich that was so generous in serving that each couple shared one between themselves.

It was then on to Monterey Harbour. We could see that there appeared to be some yachts racing offshore as we approached and were lucky enough to see them start returning to the inner harbour as we arrived.

                                                Fishermans Wharf Monterey

We could hear seals barking in the vicinity of the wharf, so ventured out to see if we could find them. Following the noise and the crowd made it pretty easy, they had their own pontoon at the end of the wharf.

On the way back to the car, we walked through the older part of Monterey, where several museums were located and were were rewarded by a fly over the US Airforce Thunderbirds, which Pete immediately took credit for organising (apparently there was an air show nearby). I wasn't quick enough to get the formation fly over but did capture one on it's way back to base.

We have booked dinner at a restaurant called Grasings in Carmel, and head back to the ranch to get ready.

After a pre dinner drink of a nice California Chardonnay on the Macdonald's balcony, overlooking the sea, we walk into town to our restaurant.

Just as we are leaving our rooms, a car pulled  up near the main office, and who else but Clint Eastwood stepped out with his wife, obviously here for dinner. Maybe we should have eaten here tonight. Peter and Deirdre have been here a number of times and despite having been told he does occasionally come here for dinner, this is the first time they have seen him here as well.

It made our day !

Dinner was great. I think it would be hard to find a bad restaurant in this place. The walk home was very pleasant in mild conditions and little traffic. We couldn't find Clint when we returned, so turned in for another relatively early night, which should leave us refreshed for our trip to San Francisco tomorrow.

We have been so lucky that Peter and Deirdre recommended we stay here instead of Monterey (our original plan) and that we have been able to spend a few days with them to benefit from their knowledge of the area and catch up on old times.

San Luis Obispo to Carmel

27th September 2014

We departed from SLO ( voted the Happiest Town in USA apparently),  at 9.30am, after a bit of a sleep in and a restless nights sleep. It really was a very friendly place and quite scenic within close proximity to the major wine growing area of Paso Robles.

The plan is to have breakfast at Morro Bay, only 12 miles away, on the coast. Once again we have nice weather, and clear skies.

Our first vision of Morro Bay harbour is the imposing Morro Bay rock, and a harbour that seems to be a great haven for yachts, on a coast where there are not a lot of places you can seek shelter from poor weather.

                                                        Morro Bay Rock

We could hear seals "barking" from the harbour area and eventually spotted them on Otter Rock, in the middle of the bay.

Seals on Otter Rocks

                                                   There are lots of yachts on moorings here

We settled in to a nice restaurant on the waterfront for a very filling breakfast (we are still trying to get used to the size of American food servings), followed by a walk along a very touristy waterfront before heading back to the car for our journey North.

Our breakfast venue

From Morro Bay we head North on highway 1 (Cabrillo Hwy) to our final destination, Carmel. The coastal scenery is spectacular, with our first stop just past Cambria, with Hearst Castle up on the mountain top on our right side and a beach and jetty which was part of the same estate on our left.

                                                                   Hearst Castle

Jetty and beach (below)

                                                 There was a bit of local wildlife as well

The road follows the coast North through all sorts of terrain, and it is tempting to pull over every few km to take another photo, but our next worthwhile stop is at a beach that is famous for the Elephant seal colony that frequents it.

Elephant seals sunning themselves 

The beach is literally covered in seals, and they are continually flicking sand up over their bodies to protect them from the sun ( I assume), using their side flippers.

From here on the terrain starts to become mountainous as we enter the Big Sur Coastline. The road follows the coast well up the side of the mountains and the scenery is stunning. We also discover that their is a major cycling event on today with hundreds of cyclists involved on both sides of the road, as the course appears to be a loop starting and finishing at the same spot.

The cyclists add a new dimension to driving this narrow road. We are also amazed at the variety of bikes , including lots of tandem bicycles.

As we continue North, the a sea mist seems to be forming and it is becoming overcast, but still quite warm.

This whole section of the coast appears to be national Park, with walking trails and camping grounds scattered along the coastline, and lots of people out walking and camping, and some just cycling. There are a few little settlements along the way, with restaurants and general stores, and some accommodation.

By 2pm we have reached the settlement of Big Sur, and decide to stop for a light lunch, sharing a generous American style, sandwich between us.

We are now less than an hour away from Carmel, and should be there by 3pm. The driving also becomes easier as most of the mountainous coastline is now behind us, and we are now seeing more forests, and flatter ground.

Finally we arrive at Carmel by the Sea and finding our accommodation, The Mission Ranch, (owned by Clint Eastwood), is a breeze. It is stunning, set in a rural scene on the edge of the town, right on the ocean. The property was originally a farm, and there are buildings scattered over the site that have been changed into accommodation, and obviously a number of new ones built that fit in with theme.

The Macdonalds have already checked in, so once we settle into our room, the Hayloft, we contact Peter and Deidre and finally meet up. We both reckon it has been 20 years since the four of us last got together.

                                                          The Mission Ranch

                                                              The Hayloft

After meeting up with Peter and Deidre we decide to go for a walk into town along the waterfront, to get a feel for the surroundings and have a cup of coffee somewhere along the way.

                           Peter, Deirdre and Carole overlooking the beach at Carmel

Not a bad ocean view

Pebble Beach Golf Course across the bay

Setting up for a party on the beach

There are some amazing houses

After coffee in town, we walked back to the Mission Ranch using a more direct route, giving us a little time to have a look around the grounds before dinner which we have booked at the restaurant here.

Peter and Deirdre with the restaurant in the background

                     The Ranch has its own herd of sheep that graze between the ranch and the ocean

Dinner at the Mission Ranch restaurant

We had a most enjoyable dinner at the restaurant, enjoyed a few beers and some local wine, and turned in for an early night to hopefully get a good nights sleep.