Places, Earth
Easter in Monterey
Easter in Monterey
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Places, Earth
Easter in Monterey |
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Day One We left at 7:00 AM heading north on I-5 from Los Angeles. Traffic was slowed by a bad accident in Santa Clarita, the car was on top of the center dividing wall. We continued north, entering Kern County at 8:00 AM and stopped at the rest area at Lebec. I wanted to drive my old station wagon so I couldn't use my CDs, but played a few songs by Sons of the San Joaquin on my phone as we entered the San Joaquin Valley. Driving up I-5, I noticed the beautiful aromas of oil and cows. Oil is big in west Kern County and agriculture is important in the rest of the county. The Central Valley produces a large percentage of food in America and farmers are suffering from the drought. Often there are signs and billboards by farmers warning passing city slickers how important water is to them.  Coalinga-Avenal Rest Area. We stopped at the Coalinga-Avenal Rest Area just north of the Fresno County line where I photographed an adjacent orchard of what I'm guessing might be almonds or other fruit trees. A few miles later we took Exit 325 at Jayne Avene, and traveled 11miles to Coalinga where we got gas. I photographed R. C. Baker Memorial Museum from the perimeter because it didn't appear to be open. I stopped to take photos along State Highway 198 and marveled about how pretty this out of the way area was.  RC Baker Memorial Museum.  Bear Gulch at Pinnacles National Park. We arrived at Pinnacles National Park about 12:30. Parking was full at Bear Gulch, So we had to take a shuttle. My wife chose not to go on the hike with me and stayed to watch the video in the Nature Center four or five times. I did the hike alone. It was not an easy hike. What was hard were the talus caves. Unlike limestone caves carved by underground flowing water, or lava tubes formed when the top surface of the flowing lava cools leaving a tunnel as the lava drains, talus caves are formed when deep canyons fill with large fallen boulders from above leaving a hollow spot at the bottom. In one section, the floor was flooded and I had to walk on stepping stones in a narrow corridor, supporting myself against the cave walls. In another section, I had to crawl about fifteen feet through a triangular tunnel about two feet high. At the end was a view of a reservoir.  Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park. I decided to take the rim trail back. It might be a little longer, but no crawling. After returning to the car by shuttle, we drove back far enough to photograph the entry sign. There is a trail to view the Condors, but we were hiked out for the day. We continued on to Monterey. We had hoped to visit the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, but it was closed by the time we reached Highway 101. Two cars collided going the opposite way and our car was hit by debris but seemed to suffer no damage. About this same time, the electrical warning light on my twenty-one year old car lit up. I had the car checked the week before, so this was concerning. We got a little lost on the way to Monterey, but eventually found our hotel which was very nice. After unloading the car, we drove to Fisherman's Wharf and took a number of photographs, including the Customs House, the oldest government building in California. After sampling three clam chowders, we selected a restaurant for dinner. We were a little disappointed, seems the chowder was the best item on the menu. We returned to the car which didn't start and waited a while to be towed back to the hotel. I got to bed about midnight trying not to think about my sick car. Day Two. We got to bed late the night before because of the car, so made up by awaking early. At 6:30 I was on the phone arranging for a tow and was at the mechanic shop just as they were rolling up the doors. They drove me back to the hotel and picked me up four hours later. My wife and I both got some work done and a little rest. By the time I was driving back to the hotel with a new alternator and battery, it was only thirty minutes until our tour time at the Winchester House two hours north in San Jose, so we went to Cannery Row. We hadn't been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in a long time and the prices were up a little, but the jellyfish alone are worth it. We spent about four hours wandering, about an hour of that was watching jellyfish. There is something very relaxing watching these creatures pulsating around their tanks. I shot videos so I could play them back on high stress days. I didn't realize till later that there was a large section across a bridge that we missed entirely and would have had time to see it. Foot sore, we left just before closing and walked back to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The wait was a bit longer than they expected, so I spent the time photographing buildings, statues, and rocks in the bay. Finally it was our turn and we enjoyed the meal as well as remembering the movie Forest Gump which inspired the restaurant. There is a funky little wax museum on the subject of Monterey history. I twice was told it closed at 9:00, so was disappointed when we arrived and it was closed at 7:45. Day Three We awoke early as always and I got ready for Easter Mass at San Carlos Cathedral, the former Royal Presidio Chapel of the Monterey Presidio. I had seen it eleven years earlier on the last day it would be open before beginning a major restoration. At the time, all artwork, statues, and religious articles had been removed and it took this long for me to return. I arrived early to get some photos without people and just made it as people began arriving for the Mass in thirty minute. Because of the Easter crowd, Mass was held in the hall across the street which is larger, but not historic. A regular told me there was a beautiful crucifix behind an Easter artwork and a large sign in front of the church redirected visitors the hall, so I need to return some normal day for a few more photos. After Mass, I took a few more photos as it was a bit brighter now, then returned to the hotel to pack. We enjoyed our continental breakfast, packed, and left about 10:30 heading east toward Salinas where we caught Highway 101 south. We stopped at the Camp Roberts Rest Area a few miles north of San Miguel. We needed gas so I pulled off at San Miguel, partly to take a quick peek at the Mission, but it was Easter and there were too many cars and people. Many years earlier I had planned my first trip to see the Mission and attend Christmas Mass in the only unrestored Mission church, but plans were ruined along with the Mission just three days earlier by an earthquake. It took many years before we were able to see the restored Mission church. Today I took a few photos of the Mission, got gas, and continued south. We crossed to I-5 on California Highway 46 stopping a few minutes at a rest area about midpoint. Back on I-5, we continued south without stopping, until almost to the top of the Grapevine when my poor old car overheated. I pulled over and let the car cool off, added the gallon of emergency water I thoughtfully had brought, and got back on the road. Later at home I added a gallon of antifreeze and suspect that my mechanic didn't check the water a week earlier as I had asked since it never really boiled over. I pulled back onto the highway and what was frustrating was within a minute, the grade started to level off and we were just three miles from the Lebec Rest Area. Another stop at the Lebec Rest Area and a carful drive back off the hill, the car finally reached normal temperature by the time we reached Castaic. We arrived home about 6:00 PM, about two hours later than we had hoped. Our dogs and cats were happy to have us home and my wife was happy to get back to the puppy who we adopted just six weeks earlier. Because we had spent more time at Pinnacles than we expected and missed San Jose all together because of the car repair, we began planning a makeup trip for later in the year for all the things we missed. |
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