Monterey, Carmel and New Weather Alert !!

 

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.

 

Monterey and Carmel were on our list of places we had planned to visit.  Then, when we found a RZR we wanted to check out those places came off the list.  Then they went back on and then they came back off.  How’s that for sticking to a plan?

A golf course right behind us ---

When we pulled out of the Modesto Elks Monday morning we were heading to Atascadero.  Where we ended up was 120 miles north of that at Salinas.  It had just taken so long to get everything fixed back up again and didn’t want to drive the extra hundred miles that day.  We were already beat before we started.  Now with the change Monterey and Carmel were back on our list of things to see.  Go figure.  I told you our plans were usually changed.

The Salinas Elks is in a great location and backs up to a golf course. It’s right off the 101 and about a mile from the turnoff to the coastal area of Monterey and Carmel. That’s where we were heading on Tuesday. It was a slow start. We didn’t move fast and neither did Duchess. Sometimes days like this are very much needed. The skies were partly cloudy and it looked like it might be clearing more. We just figured if we waited for a while it would be mostly sunny. That’s what we were hoping and that’s why we drug our feet. 

Speaking of weather …. we’re certainly glad we got through Northern California before the big storm came. We always check the weather this time of year. You never know what might be ahead. Evidently a couple feet of snow was dropped as well as some mighty nasty weather along with it. There was strong winds and even a tornado that came through the area just north of where we were. Whee!! 

The drive to Monterey wasn’t very long. It was about 20 miles. We had visited this coastal town many, many years ago. I think we liked it then but we certainly fell in love with it this time. We love, love, love Monterey. I had about 120 pictures to sort through for the blog. There were so many things to see. It was a quick trip but I can guarantee that we will be back one day.

Fisherman’s Wharf was our first stop and then on to Cannery Row.  Those were the hotspots for us.  The town has an amazing Aquarium but we just drove by that one.  It’s a “next time” thing.  We can’t do it all in a few hours and we want to get down the road because we have an inverter waiting for us. 

-- $5.99 a gallon and that was the cheap gas!

The most popular route is the 17-mile Road. It circles shore for some very breathtaking view. It also winds through the Pebble Beach Community and by the famous golf course. The charge to drive through the popular and very expensive Pebble Beach area is $9.75. My suggestion would be to make sure you have a full tank of fuel. There is one gas station on the route. We added a few gallons because we didn’t have foresight enough to do that before. The price we paid was a staggering $5.99 a gallon. No …. we did not fill’er up. We just added a few safety gallons.

We left the area and headed on into Carmel.  I remember visiting this area before too.  It’s another very expensive seashore community.  There are lots of unique shops.  With so many beautiful areas around artists seem to congregate in this little town.  For some reason I seemed to really like it last time but not so much this time.  Maybe it was because we had been so in awe of the Monterey area.   

The weather had been perfect.  The clouds had mostly cleared.  It was a beautiful day but we had to head back to the Salinas Elks, our motorhome and Duchess.  When we left there were many, many spaces available at the RV park … MANY.  I was going to put out our chairs and sit outside but that wasn’t to be.  With so many vacant spots why did  this Safari pull in so close to us?     There’s hardly room to sneeze.  Had we not planned on moving the following morning, we would have moved to one of those other wide open spaces.   I can certainly understand if the RV park is packed but it wasn’t.  There were many, many empty sites and some with six empties together.  Oh well ….. movin’ on.

So, just as I'm posting this guess what I read   .....  DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE. AS WE DRAW CLOSER TO THE EVENT... WIND ADVISORIES WILL LIKELY BE POSTED FOR MUCH OF THE COASTAL AND VALLEY AREA.

Okay that WAS the direction we were heading but now?  Who knows.  You certainly can't drive an RV with winds like that without a good possibility of ending up on your side.    Remember our post yesterday?    We had to buy all new tires and then about had a heart attack when we got stopped by two cops!!  I certainly wish the problems would stop.

‘Tis life on the road.