The landscape itself is beautiful, populated by grasses and oaks:
:The old barn houses barn owls during breeding season:
The next day, Lee and I traveled the 17-mile drive along the Monterey shoreline. Spanish Bay was rocky:
Bird Rock was populated with noisy elephant sea lions instead of birds:
There were deer on a nearby golf course:
The famous Monterey pines are always beautiful:
On the rock in the photo below is the Monterey pine that is photographed more than any other. Do you recognize it?
Lee had to stop to see the infamous 18th hole of the Pebble Beach golf course:
A visit to the Monterey Bay area is not complete without a day at Carmel-by-the-Sea. The main street (Ocean Drive) is lined with pines, high-end stores, and great restaurants.
We strolled the streets with our friends Kathy and Dave, whom I have known for many years. Good times!
Lee and I visited the town of Monterey a few more times, and below are the pics to prove it. By the way, it turns out we were very fortunate to catch such beautiful weather. Normally, January is cold, wet, and foggy. We just happened to catch sunshine and an unusual warm spell, resulting in great photo opportunities! The photo below was taken looking towards Monterey's harbor, filled with sailboats.
The three specks you see in the water below are scuba divers, heading out to explore the kelp beds:
And the harbor again, from a closer vantage point:
I am sure you have heard of Cannery Row, of which John Steinbeck wrote. Here is Lee walking towards what used to be the canneries. They canned sardines here until the sardine fisheries crashed from over-fishing following World War II. Today, Cannery Row is filled with tourist shops:
I loved the sunset - the pink sky colored the water pink. Beautiful! By the way, we were also told that one rarely sees the sunset from the Monterey Bay shoreline, because it is usually shrouded in fog. We saw numerous glorious sunsets! Are we charmed? I think so.
