Recognition & Reconnection

The world is a small place.  Running into someone you have not seen in 38 years in a place totally unexpected while doing a routine activity can be a startling experience.  Such was the case when Jim and I were out seeing campgrounds today.  I did not know whether to faint (I didn't) or cry (I did) when we were surprised by this encounter with Dale and Rita.

In one swift moment, the years of uncertainty of not knowing what had happened or where in the world they had gone was suddenly plucked from the closet one keeps in the recesses of one's mind for these seemingly unanswerable questions.  In a moment the weight of wondering is lifted.

We shared dinner and caught up on some of the details thirty eight years can harbor, but certainly we just covered an overview of our lives in this one short evening.  However, I walked away knowing I had gained the solace of learning life had unfolded kindly for them.  There is a daughter, grandsons, pets, a parent still living, security, dreams and retirement hopes.  In the end, life has been good to all of us.  And for that I am grateful.

Point Sur Lightstation

When we went down to Big Sur I mentioned I saw a lighthouse on a giant moro rock formation at what is known as Pt. Sur.  I have learned that you can actually go up to the top of it on a guided tour (first come, first served, no reservations, limit of forty total people per tour) on Saturdays, Wednesdays and Sundays.  People who want to go up there can go to the parking lot at the base of the moro where they will be met by a docent who leads the group on a walk half a mile up the road to the lighthouse either at 10 am or 2 pm.

Once there you are permitted to climb the lighthouse tower, see the light itself and meander around the catwalk of the lighthouse.  Then the tour includes a stroll past the lightstation buildings, a stop at a Visitor's Center, maybe a tale about the ghosts of past lighthouse keepers and continual views of the surrounding surf crashing on the rocks below.  They say you may even get a glimpse of a migrating gray whale (January through May) or see incredible spring flowers if your timing is correct.  This vantage point also gives one a fabulous view back to the coastline of Big Sur.

Families lived and worked at Point Sur from 1889 until 1974 when the light was made totally automated.  Now the site is on the National Register of Historic Places and Point Sur is the only lighthouse of its age open to the public in California.  Luckily many of the buildings have been restored.  Similar to Moro Bay, the moro rock is home to eagles, peregrine falcons, hawks, California condors, pelicans and their pals-the ever present seagulls.

It is so nice we are saving up places to go next year when we return to this and other areas of California.  In the meantime, if you follow in any of the footsteps along our journey, let us know what you think.  We'll keep our light on here in Puff the Magic Green RV hoping to hear from you!

Back to the Beach

Going to the beach after dinner is one of the most relaxing times I can create in my life.  We went down one last time before leaving Marina Beach and it brought back memories of fishing on the beach with my Dad in Florida years ago when we encountered a father and daughter doing the same tonight.  They were catching "sand fleas" just as I did to use as bait and I stood with them for a while to see if they caught anything. Alas, they did not but just the same it was great interacting with them.

The waves were up, the "sand fleas" were plentiful and the air was invigorating.  This is what makes the RVing life so much fun and I guess you can see by our self-photo we are enjoying the trip!

Mission San Juan Bautista

Mission San Juan Bautista is the fifteenth of the twenty-one California Missions to be built.  The largest of the missions, Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797.  Church services continue even today as we visit.  This is my favorite Mission so far. 

After the mission’s founding, the mission’s earliest buildings were constructed by local indigenous peoples, presidio soldiers and individuals from Mexico who had adopted the Hispanic culture.  The portion of the mission used as a church today was built beginning in 1803 when its cornerstone was laid.  The church was dedicated in 1812 but the interior was not fully completed until 1817 when the floor was tiled and the main altar including the ornamental screen (a reredos) holding six statutes covering the wall behind the altar was completed.  Interestingly, an American sailor from Boston who jumped ship in Monterey named Thomas Doak did the finishing work on the interior in exchange for room and board.

Some interesting features of the Mission:

•         The Mission sits atop the San Andreas Fault.
•      Every December 21^st the main altar tabernacle is illuminated by the light of the midwinter solstice.
•         Alfred Hitchcock chose the Mission as the setting for his movie Vertigo-filmed in 1957 starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.
•          Survivors of the Donner Party tragedy, the Breen family, were given a temporary home at the Mission.
•         At one time the mission served three meals a day to 1200 people.

The rose gardens of today once served as the center of church activity where carpentry, tanning, weaving and candle making were undertaken.  Cats were welcomed allies in the Mission for controlling mice and were provided with their very own “cat door” which was carved into one of the side doors to the church.  Originally the garden was completely enclosed by a quadrangle of connected buildings.  Outside the Mission, the only surviving Spanish Plaza remaining in California borders the north side of the church.  Even today as church services are in progress, people stroll the plaza and children bound across its grass.

Reading through the literature on the Mission, it will warrant a return visit to see some of the nuances we missed on our first trip.  History is truly a stimulus to imagination walking these grounds and imagining the peoples who came before us doing the same as they carried out their daily lives within these walls.      

Aquarium Movie

I have been playing around with YouTube this morning.  I wanted to see if I can show you a movie now and then.  So I picked one of the movies I made of the jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium and here's the link below to click on:

A Movie of the Jellyfish

I hope you enjoy this movie of them floating in their tank.  I played it for Snoopy and he loved it!

Two Old Houses & A Store

Soledad, CA

Moss Landing, CA

Moss Landing, CA

Sometimes at my age, my body feels like I am an old house (but at least reasonably maintained unlike the first two above!)   I believe my love of old houses was first established when my parents purchased a 100 year old home in the sixties in upstate New York and remodeled it.  I have loved them ever since and usually the urge to restore them unrealistically whelms up inside of me (kind of like an old lady hot flash.)  Of course common sense prevails, but if I were young again...  

We stumbled across these buildings during our travels during the last couple of weeks.  When I got home and zoomed in on some of the details in the photos I was amazed.  The decorative details added (especially to the home pictured in the middle) are phenomenal.  There are designs at the peaks of roofs over the front door and the peak of the home.  Dental wood work trims the edge of the turret shaped roof with diamond shaped leaded glass fitted into the windows below.  Looping garlands of ivy or flowers wrap around below a portion of these same windows on what remains of a stucco-like application over the wood.  Columns frame a porch that opens off a second story window and decorate a window above.  I am certain there is a name for this style of building which I will research.

I wonder who owns these buildings now?  My imagination swirls within me devising stories about the souls who walked the halls of these structures.  These homes and the business building above all experienced the lives of people who lived and loved and worked in this valley a hundred years ago.  What were their stories?  What made them happy or sad?  Do their memories yet remain in the minds of those long ago children whose steps wound around and through these homes?  I don't know.  But I would wager someone knows the stories.  I will see what I can discover.  (Believe it or not, Jim posted the top photo on his Facebook page and one of his friends actually grew up as a boy nearby that home.  We have a source for information already!)

Sunset at Marina Beach

On a sunny evening lots of locals go down to the beach to relax, play or walk along the wet sand at the edge of the waves while watching the sun go down.  Little ones make sand castles, dig holes in the sand deep enough to almost disappear into or run with screams of delight into the frothy edges of waves climbing the shore.  Teenagers slide down the dunes above us on body boards while others watch and laugh with delight occasionally calling out to urge them forward faster.   Families and couples alike are enjoying the warm evening along the water's edge, as we join them to wade in the water with our bare feet while carrying our sandals but ultimately soaking the bottoms of our jeans as waves catch us.

We spent some time chatting with a fellow sunset watcher-the three of us sharing a picnic table as a seat while discussing the merits of Dean Martin and other singers of his era.  This fellow is at least twenty years younger than us and we are pleasantly surprised to find someone his age who is appreciative of the music of our generation when he tells us he comes down here to listen to these songs on a regular basis.  He is friendly and talkative about his life making the chance encounter rewarding.  I'll trade an evening like this in lieu of television anytime.

Tonight there is supposed to be a meteorite shower between 11 pm and 4 am.  I am tempted if we wake up during the night to go outside while hoping for clear skies to view them as earth passes through this particular source of cosmic debris for the first time.  I sense that California has given me a feeling of being more in touch with nature in so many aspects from redwoods and streams to farm fields to the mysteries of the ocean and the cosmos.  For that I am grateful.  The magic still exists in every day if only we are open to experiencing it.

    

Big Sur, CA

We drove south along the coast to visit Big Sur today and checkout the campgrounds located there.  I am certain the trip was my first journey along this stretch of the California coast.  The coastline is beautiful, dramatic and drops off hundreds of feet from the very edge of the road to the ocean below.  One surprise Big Sur held for both of us was the presence of redwood trees.  It qualifies also one of the nicest trips of the week because of the pleasant people we encountered during our time there.

The town also met our requirement of a good place for lunch (even though our only choice of a restaurant turned out to be somewhat expensive.)  Originally, the restaurant was across the street in the home of Ellen Brown who opened up her living room and dining room to the public to serve “hot apple pie” in 1934.  Lodging rooms were added on and this became Big Sur’s first resort.  It was moved to its present location on the opposite (west) side of Highway One when the paved road between Carmel and Hearst Castle was completed.  It has been a family business ever since with the apple pie still on the menu!  Next time we go there, we'll have to try the pie!

All of the campgrounds there are located down along side of the Big Sur River.  We learned that the river is closely monitored for fishing which is only allowed on a catch and release basis.  The river can also become destructive when heavy winter rains raise Big Sur River’s water level above its banks where the campsites are located.  At the time of our visit, the river was low, meandering its way through rocks and pools toward the sea.  The scent of the redwoods permeated the air and singing birds created a chorus of sounds.  There is neither cell phone service nor Internet here which heightens the sense of “getting away from it all” as we entered into a primal forest of trees hundreds of years old.

Traveling this road is interesting.  We passed a naval station with a lighthouse on an island not unlike the huge rock island we saw at Morro Bay.  A narrow road winds up around it up to several buildings and a lighthouse built along its crest.   There are several concrete bridges on Highway One built in the 1930s with beautiful arches reaching down to support columns rising up from canyon valleys leading to the sea the road crosses and visible as we wind our way along the serpentine curves that form the road.  Monterey pines grow along a few sections of the road with branches shaped by ocean winds.  Add this to your “must see” spots in the world if you get to California.

Motorcycle Art

By now you know I like finding the unusual.  It never ceases to amaze me what we discover as we travel around America.  We are truly a creative species.

This is our latest discovery.  These motorcycles are made of everyday items.  Look closely and you will be able to identify the parts that combine to make each “motor cycle” a larger than life rendition with a theme. This meets all my criteria for a must-stop-and-photograph-it moment!

So this is what license plates, shovels and horseshoes can be fashioned into.  We found these in Moss Landing, CA.

Cannery Row

When I was in high school I read a book called Grapes of Wrath written in 1939 by John Steinbeck (pictured above) about migrant agricultural workers in California.  I have always held this book up as one of my all time favorites.  Steinbeck’s hometown is Salinas, California where he was born in 1902.  Our work this week has taken us into the Salinas area where farming continues as a major business endeavor.  Fields cover the fertile, flat valley landscape found stretching from just inside the ocean dunes all the way to the mountains that separate us from California’s Central Valley.  Agricultural workers still migrate back and forth between Salinas and Yuma tending to vegetables in each location and spending about six months in both places.  While different with the mechanical advantages available to farmers of today, the workers still tend the fields by hand in many aspects in the same way as in they did back in the 1930’s bending over rows and rows of ripening plants.

Steinbeck also wrote a book called Cannery Row, which was placed in Monterey, California.  The town of Monterey embraces both Steinbeck’s book and the sardine fishing industry operated here by Spanish, Japanese and Filipino immigrants until the sardine population collapsed after World War II.  Now the town is a tourist Mecca and draws crowds for its variety of restaurants, candy and souvenir shops, and of course the Aquarium.  Weekends (especially the sunny ones) draw people to the waterfront and also to the parks along the water.  It is a festive scene on weekends, which we found to be much quieter when we returned during the week.

I am sure there is much more to explore in Monterey, like the history of the people who established this town and lived in buildings like those above.  I would also like to learn the story of who the brass statutes represent but we still have to get down to Carmel and Big Sur so we’ll work in another stop along Cannery Row before we head further north.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Jim and I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Mother’s Day and in the process I achieved one of my “bucket list” items.  Years ago when the aquarium was built, I read an article about it in some publication and the three story kelp forest aquarium tank they built as part of several aquarium displays within the multistory building sounded fascinating.   It is indeed as intriguing as I had imagined.  Isn’t it lovely when something on your “list” exceeds your expectations?  

Mother’s Day drew a huge crowd to the aquarium.  The kids were having a wonderful time with the interactive displays and for the most part carefully followed the staff’s guidance in the “touching zone” where they could feel the smooth surface of sea rays and the imagined “fingers” of sea urchins.  I must admit even at my age it is fun to participate in this type of 

opportunity.

  

We had lunch in the aquarium’s restaurant overlooking Monterey Bay and its beach along Cannery Row.  People were everywhere and the seagulls were attempting to make them a source of a snack here and there, but to very little avail.  One thing that amazes me is the clarity of the water in the bay.  The efforts to make this a pristine environment have proven to be achievable.  While still remaining compatible with the fishing trade that is abundant (but controlled) here, preserving the environment and its creatures is an ongoing success story in Monterey Bay.

There are two other areas of the aquarium that I could spend hours within.  One is the jellyfish display.  The jellyfish are the most relaxing section of the aquarium with jellyfish gently floating up and down in their tanks as soft music plays in the background.  I found it to be mesmerizing.  The jelly fish came in a multitude of shapes, colors and sizes.  Some tanks displayed orange colored creatures.  Others were inhabited by clear, ghost-like forms that mostly float motionlessly.  Most amazing were what appeared to be flower shaped jellyfish with the appearance of tiny “electric lights” flowing through them.  (That will be a subject for research later when I get caught up on my blog stories after a week and a half of virtually no internet service!)   

The other area I could watch for hours is the sea otter tank.  There are several otters who inhabit this part of the aquarium and the joy they exhibit in their surroundings and for their caretakers is phenomenal.   They play with ice cubes or roll around in tubs of water or dive down into the tank to swim hardly taking a moment to be still.  These rescued and rehabilitated animals who can no longer live in the wild nurture other rescued sea otters until they can be released even teaching them the nuances of dealing with food sources they will find in the wild if they are youngsters.  The tank is two stories tall and you can see the otters above and below the surface of the water. 

If you ever find yourself in Monterey on Cannery Row don’t miss this aquarium.  It is worth every penny to get in. 

Sea urchins are pictured above and to the left is a tank that looks like a painting to me.  For a link to the aquarium for more information click here:

Monterey Bay Aquarium 

Happy Mother's Day Mom

Happy Mother's Day!  Dad and I gave Mom the day off today  from writing because she's my Mom.  I am getting pretty good at this computer stuff anyway because I have been practicing.

Dad and I found a YouTube video of birds and it really was quite awesome.  I saw eagles, owls, hawks and more and they were really cool.  We saw another video of cats too, but that just made me nervous!  All that meowing....

Anyway, we drove to Marina, CA yesterday.  Dad says we are only about ten miles north of Monterey where there is an aquarium they want to see.  I've heard it is pretty special from what Dad told us.  He's seen it.  I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

We are very close to the beach here-within walking distance.  Dad's parents lived here once.  His mother's favorite place to sit and watch the ocean is just down the street too.

We have trees and shrubs all around our RV space here.  I have already seen a hummingbird.  It feels pretty private and I can see the dunes at the beach right in front of us.  We get to stay here until the Monday after Memorial Day.  There is lots of work they have to do here and tourist attractions to see around us as well.

There is an artichoke festival going on at the end of May here, so Mom will be cooking some freshly cut artichokes while we are here.  She says the vegetables now are terrific because they are grown so close by.  I have to watch my food carefully.  She may try to get me to eat some of that yucky green stuff!

     Love,
     Snoopy