The final day of my tour was spent on a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey. We traveled south on the California State Route 1 (aka the Pacific Coast Highway). Our first stop was Pigeon Point Light Station, a state historic park, where there was a large light house. I got my first look at the Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Coast. I really like the ocean. It has a certain grandeur and suggests voyages, travel, and adventure on the high seas. Our next stop was Davenport, a small town along the highway. It was not much more than a bus stop with a cafe, a bakery, and a few other buildings. I walked across the highway and climbed down a small cliff for a terrific view of the beach with waves from the Pacific Ocean crashing on the shore. I bought something to drink in the general store and used the restroom. I showed the tour guide my Clipper card but she did not seem to be familiar with them. I think she was from Washington state.
Pigeon Point Light Station
The scenery along the highway was quite unusual to me. It was all very different from the scenery in Pennsylvania. I saw lots of deep gorges, large farms, a few ranches, cypress trees, and pampas grass.
When we arrived in Monterey, we stopped at Old Fisherman’s Wharf. I thought Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row where the same thing but this was a separate collection of gift shops and restaurants along a wharf. I only had a crab cocktail and a glass of coke for lunch because I only wanted a light lunch. I saw a pelican right outside the window of the restaurant so I got up to take a photo of him. Several of the gift shops sold John Steinbeck books so I bought a copy of Sweet Tuesday. Before the trip I read his novel Cannery Row and watched the movie. That was fairly recently. I took lots of photos of the yachts tied up in the harbor and found a few seagulls to photograph too.
After driving through Cannery Row we proceeded to the 17 Mile Drive which actually took a lot of time on the trip since we made many stops. First we stopped at a beach where everyone was encouraged to dip their toes in the ocean. I walked out onto the beach and got close to the waves but I didn’t want wet feet for the rest of the trip. Next we stopped at Bird Rock, a large rock in the ocean where many birds and sea lions were resting. At this point it occurred to me to buy a textbook on Marine Biology since there was some mention of this branch of biology. Biology is the only branch of science which I find easy to understand. A physics textbook would be over my head.
Bird Rock
After that we stopped at the Lone Cypress for a photo shoot. There is a set of wooden viewing platforms for a good view of this single tree, just like we have in some state parks at home. And finally we stopped for 20 minutes at the Pebble Beach Golf Course. One of the other passengers pointed out a golfer to me. Apparently he is a famous golf pro. I will have to identify him later from the name on his golf bag. There were many impressive mansions in Pebble Beach and the Del Monte Forest had impressive stands of Monterey Pine. And finally we drove through Carmel California and saw the Mission San Carlos. There were television crews there because Father Serra has been made a saint by the Pope.
Finally we returned to Cannery Row where I was given an hour to take photos and do some shopping before our final diner at Cooper’s Pub. I took lots of photos of the Cannery Row Monument, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Pacific Biological Laboratories, and everything else I laid eyes on. I bought another book by John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley, because that is actually a famous travel book. It would be a shame not to buy that travel book while I was actually traveling.
Cannery Row Monument
For diner at Cooper’s Pub I had soup (clam chowder), a very large pork chop which took me a long time to chew, and coffee cake with ice cream for desert, very delicious.
On the long drive back to San Francisco we took a different route and drove through Silicon Valley along Highway 101. It was very dark out by then so I could not see many technology company headquarters except for Evernote. The sunset was spectacular and the light lingered for far longer than I expected.
So I was on a bus all day but got to see a lot of the countryside and a wide variety of scenery. It is probably very boring for a resident but everything was quite exotic to me. I can’t think of any movies that really capture that scenery.
On the trip home I bought a copy of the authorized biography, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. This was a thick book but I could not resist buying an iconic book on one of the technology giants. I read almost 100 pages on the plane and in the airport waiting areas. I was already familiar with the basic story of Apple Computer’s early days from reading other books. But having finally seen a little bit of California and Silicon Valley it was more compelling and inspiring. I feel like writing some software to reinvent the world!
