Tuesday, August 3rd--Monterrey to Merced

Today we spent the morning in Monterrey--finding a truly nice area to just to the north of Monterrey called Pacific Grove--a neighborhood of houses and a small downtown right on the shores of Monterrey Bay with a walkway and road that traced the coastline, a few 10 to 15 feet below. I found it first in the morning, then went back early to get Alice, and finally after some coffee and a walk we both went back to get the kids. Borg's motel near Lover's Rock seems like a place that we'll return to eventually. The kids climbed down near the water to search the small tide pools and watch the seals and sea otters on the nearby rocks.

We continued our trip around the peninsula past Asilomar, where Alice visited as a youth and continued to Point Lobos Natural preserve where we spend several hours on the rugged shoreline at various points looking for lizards and birds, and touring an old whaling museum. Peter and Patrick climbed down for a shore walk at one point, while I hiked up a knoll for a broader lookout, all surrounded by Poison Oak, and signs warning about Poison Oak. Across the bay Pebble Beach golf course was visible in the far distance.

We travelled lengthwise across the state, north past Santa Cruz across the coast range and into the hot central valley, stopping at an enterprisingly developed, but not very satisfying road venue called Casa de Oro, or some such. Many treats, and a few good fruits, but otherwise seeming like a bit of a fraud. Passing into the valley we lost touch with the cooling clouds of the coast, and the greenery there in favor of short dry grasses and wide vistas overlooking the valley.

We travelled until early evening and made landfall at a place where we had been before--the Motel 8 that Alice had liked, but that I was lukewarm about. Nonetheless, it provided a nice overnight stopping point with a very warm pool and the sultry slow cool of the valley overnight. Before sleeping we went to an In and Out Burger to continue our love affair with their animal fries and burgers--trains loudly whistling past us on the nearby train tracks.