A Day in Monterey

This being Amanda's last weekend, I was having a hard choosing from the many places tourists visit in the Bay Area. Finally, I decided that she should see something she doesn't normally see in HK, coastal scenario and wild sea life.

Off we went to Elkhorn Slough starting from Paul's condo at 8:30am. This was my first visit to Paul's place, darn nice for a bachelor pad. Both Paul and Mike were quite prepared, bringing foods and drinks for snacks and backpacks to store stuff.

I got lost getting from 156 to Kayak Connection but we got there and they got us started. We saw many seals, sea otters, sea lions, pelicans, seagulls, seagull chicks, plus many birds that I can't name. My favorite that day was the pelicans, spreading their wings and flying majestically in front of us as if they were showing off how graceful they are.

After 2.5 hours of kayaking, Amanda's arms were ready to fall off and Mike had to paddle back beating all speed limits to get to the loo. All were expecting to not use their arms for the next day or 3.

After we returned all our kayak gear, we headed off to Nepenthe for lunch. I am always fond of the place. It's not particulary well known and it has spectacular views of the clifts and oceans on a clear day. Unfortunately, it was foggy when we were there but it's still very beautiful. We had lunch then visited the store downstairs. They still had the big Japanese bells with the sounds of morning prayers in a Buddist temple. The tone of these bells are very low, heavy and peaceful. One has to try it to know what I mean.

The men voted Carmel out so we headed to Monterey for the Outlet and Bubba Gum Shrimp dinner. Both Paul and I were rewarded with $24 Rockport shoes. Dinner was fun, foods were good, the blueberry lemon drinks were delicious and the company was great. Amanda thought it was the best trip so far. It says a lot since I thought Alcatraz was pretty cool!

Click here for photos.