Montana de oro state park & Monterey Bay - Day Thirteen

We passed through the downtown of San Luis Obispo on our way to Morro Bay.  Along the way, Ellen remembered having a brochure for montana de oro state park which is listed as the third largest park in the state.   Since it was on the way, we decided to check it out.  We were very pleased with this discovery.  We hiked Bluff Trail which took us to high scenic overlooks of the ocean.  There were fields of wildflowers all around us.  It was very beautiful.  We were able to get down close to the water's edge after climbing down some rock formations.  The power of the ocean and the sound of the breaking waves was a sight to behold. 

We left the park and continued on to Morro Bay.  We visited the shops there and had lunch at the same outdoor restaurant we ate at two years ago.  The clam chowder is still the best and the outdoor atmosphere was unbeatable. 

Since Highway 1 was closed due to a landslide near Big Sur, we had to take another route North to Monterey Bay.  We passed along the way through numerous fields of produce and vineyards.  This area is one of the fastest growing wine regions in the state.  We arrived at our hotel and quickly got on our bikes for a ride to Cannery Row.  We passed by Seven Gables Inn from the VISA commercial.  It still looks like a wonderful place to spend the night.  We got back to our hotel and quickly left for dinner at The Fish House.  We knew from having eaten there in the past that it fills up quickly.  It was packed but we were able to sit and order at the bar.  The food was great and the conversations with the other diners enjoyable.  One gentlemen gave us many suggestions of places to visit on our drive back home.

Tonight makes the tenth hotel we have stayed in during the past thirteen days.  We are getting pretty good at the check-in / check-out process.  Tomorrow after a visit back down the coast to Julia Pfeiffer State Park we will be at Jen and Dan's.  It will be nice to be able to be in one spot for longer than two nights.

Pictures can be seen at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/20110428MontanaDeOroStatePark?authkey=Gv1sRgCOXd_8Hv7-6wWA&feat=directlink

More later . . .

Santa Monica - Day Twelve

We left the Long Beach CA area for a short drive to Santa Monica.  Unfortunately, it was rush hour and the 25 minute drive took close to two hours.  The freeways around LA are busy with fast moving, fast stopping traffic.  We were glad to get to the beach at Santa Monica.  We parked next to the Shutters Hotel and right next to the bike path which runs along the beach.  We rode as far as we could in both directions and covered close to 18 miles.  We saw many different sights along the way including:  beach volleyball players, surfers, roller bladders, dog walkers, bikini clad women and the Santa Monica Pier amusement park.

Ellen was in search of the movie actor Matthew McConaughey thinking they might be Matthew that I simply lost count. 

The bike path route included the Venice Beach area which is quite the spectacle onto itself.  It has been described as a freak show, but there just are not enough adjectives to describe this subculture of hippies, street people and everything in between.  There is an area about one mile long where street vendors are selling their items.  You could buy everything from botox on the beach to tattoos to body piercings to medical marijuana.  There were many handmade crafts for sale by very unusual people.  We loved it!  It is a one of a kind experience.

We had lunch at Shutters Hotel and sat at the same table we were served at two years ago during our previous trip.  The food was excellent and the view of the beach made it very special.

We left for San Luis Obispo with stops on Oceano Dunes at Grover Beach.  This is the only beach in California on which you can drive your car.  We stopped at Pismo Beach and watched the surfers from the pier before having dinner.  We continue onto San Luis Obispo and found our hotel for the night.

Tomorrow we are going to explore the area before continuing on to Monterey Bay.

Pictures can be seen at:


More later . .

Catalina Island - Day Eleven

We took the morning ferry from downtown Long Beach to the city of Avalon on Catalina Island.  The crossing took about one hour and the boat had many more passengers then either of us had anticipated. 

There two towns on Catalina Island, Avalon on the Southern end of the island and Two Harbors on the Northern end.  Avalon is the larger of the two cities.  It has a unique feel to it and lots of charm.  There are houses that wrap around the hill side overlooking the harbor.  There are many shops and restaurants. 

We had lunch at a fish restaurant with a table outside looking over the harbor.  The shrimp linguine was great and the view wonderful.  We rented a golf cart and took a one hour tour of the city and the surrounding hill side streets. The views from up on the hills overlooking the city were great.  After some window shopping, we found a spot to relax while people watching and observing all the boat traffic in the harbor. 

This was a very enjoyable day for us.  No long drives.  No strenuous hikes.  Just a relaxing day on a charming island 26 miles across the sea from Long Beach.  We caught the afternoon ferry back to Long Beach and took in an early movie.  

Tomorrow we are off to Santa Monica for a day at the beach.

Pictures can be seen at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/20110426CatalinaIsland?authkey=Gv1sRgCN-at7bl-rXuSA#

More later . . . 

Long Beach, CA - Day Ten

Today was a travel day for us.  We left Sedona right after breakfast and traveled all day reaching Long Beach CA  around 3:30 p.m.  We have made arrangements to travel to Catalina Island in the morning.  We are looking forward to visiting this island 26 miles across the sea.  Sound familiar?

More later . . .

Sedona Arizona - Day Nine

We completed two great hikes today.  However, being Easter Sunday, church came first.  We went to the 8:00 a.m. mass at St. John Vianney this morning.  It was a beautiful church with two large windows flanking the altar.  The view of the red rock mountains was a continuous reminder of the existence of a Higher Being.  We left church and drove directly to our first hike trail head.  We hiked the Huckaby trail beginning at Midgely Bridge.  This trail descended into the Oak Creek Canyon and ran along side the Oak Creek.  The rushing water along this moderate rated 2.5 mile trail was very beautiful.  We met a U.S. Forest Service ranger along the trail who took the time to point the local vegetation and especially the poison ivy.  We asked him for a suggested next hike and told he us that West Fork was one of his favorites.  As it turned out, we had plans to hike West Fork already and this only confirmed our plans.  We completed our hike of the Huckaby trail and the drove North on 89A about six miles to Call of Canyon and the trail head for West Fork.  This three mile trail was listed as an easy wilderness trail.  This was one the best trails we have every hiked.  It was located in a canyon with the Oak Creek running through the middle.  The trail took us across the river 15 times on the way out and once again on the way back.  It was very beautiful with many picturesque locations along the trail.  We were very tired after this hike of three hours.  We then stopped in Sedona for some shopping on our way back towards our hotel.  We found a Mexican restaurant and had a very good meal.  We got back to the hotel for a very needed hot shower.

Tomorrow we leave Sedona.  It is a destination that we will want to return to again.  The red rock mountain formations surround the city which is nestled in the valley.  There were lots of cacti, juniper and pine trees.  The stores and homes were built using pueblo architecture which lives up to the southwest flair.  The Oak Creek river flows all through the area making for a beautiful setting for all vantage points.   

Pictures can be seen at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/SedonaDay2?authkey=Gv1sRgCOCD_5Wol8H9xgE#

More later . . .

Sedona Arizona - Day Eight

We said goodbye to the Grand Canyon this morning at 8:00 a.m.   What a beautiful national park.  We got to Sedona in about two hours and stopped in at the Visitor's Center.  We got a lot of good information from the ranger on the various hiking trails and area sights.  We changed into our hiking clothes and hiked the Bell Rock Pathway and a portion of the Courthouse Butte Loop.  These were listed as easy and moderate trails.  The trails were not marked very well and at times we were not sure where the trail was taking us.  We climbed up onto Bell Rock and had a great view of the area.  

We drove down the road a short distance and visited the Church of the Holy Cross.  The chapel has a cross that juts from a 1,000 foot high rock wall and soars 90 feet into the air.  We spent some time in the chapel before moving onto our next hiking location.

We decided to try to hike Catherdral Rock.  This is a short .6 mile trail that is listed as being strenuous.  It was short and strenuous and involved a lot of rock scrambling.  We got about 3/4 of the way up the trail and decided to turn around. While going up was difficult, the coming down was going to be even more challenging.  So, we decided to end our day while the going was still good.

We had a pizza dinner and decided to call it a night. 

Pictures can be seen at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/SedonaDay1?authkey=Gv1sRgCM35kKf-q4yMuQE#

More later. . .

Grand Canyon Rim Trail - Day Seven

We decided to hike the Rim Trail this morning since there were many areas of it we had not seen before. We are glad we did. We started at Kachina Lodge where we are staying and followed the rim to Mather Point. The trial had numerous locations that provided great views of the canyon. We stopped in at the Visitor’s Center and purchased a couple of books on the Grand Canyon. The author of one of the books was there and signed our book. We then took the shuttle bus back to our room. After lunch, we decided to try out the bikes. We took Hermit Road (which is closed to car traffic) to Hopi Point the highest outlook on this road. We stopped at all the outlooks along the way. Each provided a different view of the canyon. We could clearly see Bright Angel Trial a portion of which we had hiked yesterday. We could also see Phantom Ranch and the bridge leading to it with the binoculars. We then rode to the grocery store for a few items before returning to the room. In all it was a very full day of hiking and biking. The weather was beautiful with sunny cloudless skies and temperatures in the upper 60’s. We are happy that our last day at the Grand Canyon was so wonderful.

Tomorrow we will be up and gone early for Sonoma.

Pictures can be seen at: https://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/GrandCanyonDay202?authkey=Gv1sRgCMjj6dChhMCLGw#

More later . . .