There seems to be a pattern here. For
many days, we start out in cool, foggy weather requiring 3 layers of
clothing: under-armor, jersey and jacket. As the day progresses, only
one layer is removed. Today was no different. It was cool and foggy
leaving Santa Cruz. The sights continue to be as incredible as any
other day. It's hard to decide on which day has been the best, as
each one of them reveals such spectacular scenery, but today was a
good contender for the award.
We left Santa Cruz after a good
breakfast at a restaurant called “Jeffery's”. I had the cinnamon
raisin French toast. It was good, but too sweet, so I left much of it
on the plate. As Joe, Mark, Gary, Tim and I made our way south, we
passed by endless strawberry fields, along with artichokes and some
type of cabbage. The pickers were out in force collecting those
delectable berries and getting them ready for shipping. Did you know
that the reason a strawberry is named that, is because when they were
originally sold in the old marketplaces of England, each berry was
tied to a single piece of straw and hung from the seller's stand, and
they became known as “straw-berries”.
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| Strawberry fields |
As we continued our route south, we
found our way onto a long bike path that took us not only into the
city of Monterey, but through it too. We used it to navigate our way
past the shops and restaurants that line the coast along Cannery Row,
passing by the old sardine canning factories that John Steinbeck
wrote about.
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| Bike path with the Monterey Bay in the background |
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| Bike path near Cannery Row in Monterey |
At the end of Cannery Row, is the
Monterey Aquarium, which you might recognize if you saw “Star Trek
IV – The Voyage Home”: the one about the whales. The aquarium
used in that movie was the Monterey Aquarium.
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| Cannery Row |
Joe, Mark, Tim and I stopped for a
panini sandwich and soup near the start of Cannery Row. It was
starting to get warm and the skies had cleared. It was turning out to
be a beautiful day.
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| We ate outside the building on the left |
As we left Monterey, the 4 of us made
our way along the rugged coast that was laced with expensive homes
and golf courses. These all had wonderful views of the ocean and
coastal shoreline.
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| The Monterey coastline |
After miles of riding along the coast,
we made a turn onto the famous 17 Mile Drive, and the expensive homes
and golf courses of Monterey turned into outrageously expensive homes
and golf courses that overlooked an even more impressive coastline.
Famous people live along the way, and even more famous golf courses
call this area home, like Spyglass, Spanish Bay and of course Pebble
Beach. We followed the 17 Mile Drive for about half of its length,
exiting on the road to Carmel.
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| The 17 Mile Drive coastline |
Carmel is an expensive town that is
well cared for. The hilly terrain of the downtown streets are lined
with pricey shops, boutiques and restaurants. By this time, Tim and I
were riding together as Joe and Mark had no interest in stopping at
The Pebble Beach Golf Club.
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| The 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Club |
We got out of Carmel and made short
order of the last 12 miles into Carmel Valley. Our hotel for the
evening is an old, converted horse stable, where the stable stalls
have been modified into individual cabins. It's very quaint.
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| Our converted stable, hotel room |
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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