Happy honeymooners

Note: This is a continuation of the previous post.

The morning of day two began more rested than day one and with a lot less hunger. As soon as we were back on the road it really hit me where we were and just how amazing this state is. My first request on this trip was coming up next and I could not have been more excited...Steinbeck country (John Steinbeck is my absolute favorite author)! We made our first stop in Salinas, CA. We visited their farmer's market, had lunch at Sang's (they advertised that Steinbeck ate there...not so sure about how factual that was, but the food was amazing), and then made our way to the Steinbeck Center where we walked through large exhibits of his different books. I could have been happy with just our morning portion, but then we went to another area that Steinbeck wrote about: Monterey Bay. We walked around Cannery Row (pretty much a giant tourist trap but I'm a sucker for those) and eventually made our way to Lovers Point Park, where my jaw dropped again at the beauty. After enjoying Monterey, we got back on the road. The sky went from bright blue to fog with more of a wooded coastal view. We were now driving through Big Sur, CA and if we ever decide to fall off the grid and quit life, odds are you'll find us here. We made stops at any place that looked interesting (turns out that was pretty much at every vista pull-off), but our favorite being a tiny trail we found that took us up to the top of a hill with unbelievable views. We finally made our way to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (this is where our camping gear came in handy) only to find a sign that said campground full. Let me backtrack a little. I love camping and sleeping under the stars in our little tent on our trips...now...but at that particular point in my life I was only accustomed to backpacking and hadn't grasped the full awesomeness of campgrounds, and so I was a little freaked out by being surrounded by strangers (thanks, Dateline obsession). Now that we're up to speed, you can understand why I was a little happy to see this sign. Not wanting to believe it, Tommy drove up to the ranger station and was overjoyed when the ranger told him that they had a few cancellations for the night...yay? After we set up camp and had dinner, we enjoyed the rest of our night sitting by a camp fire surrounded by redwoods.

Day three was upon us and after Tommy rinsed his hair in a nearby creek, we hit the road. First stop was the Henry Miller Library (sadly, it was Sunday and closed) and then we continued the method of driving and stopping at anything that looked interesting. This process brought us to the Willow Creek picnic grounds in Los Padres National Forest. At first glance it looked like the usual pull-off, but as we were getting back in the car about to drive away we noticed a road that took us down closer to the shore. There, we found a beach of nothing but rocks varying in size. At first I was just going to let Tommy climb on them and explore (I have spaghetti noodles for ankles and the genes of my mother who, if the wind blows just perfectly enough, will fall) but as he got closer to the ocean he found tiny tide pools thriving with sea life. I put all fear of breaking an ankle aside and started my venture...when it comes to wildlife, I will move mountains. We explored these tide pools the whole morning and probably would have stayed longer, but it was getting close to lunchtime...have you seen a trend with food yet?

For lunch we found an area (Ragged Point) that was made up of a little resort, outside eating area, and general store all on the side of the road. We ate lunch, charged our cell phones, and explored their views of the coast. As we were asking two women to take our picture, we found that they were actually making their way north. We both swapped places of interest that we had seen so far, and during this conversation they suggested we stop to see the elephant seals just a little further down the road. That is the moment I lost my mind. Like I said earlier, wildlife will make me do crazy things and I had to see those seals!

#meadadventures tip: Talk to anyone that will talk to you. Odds are they are exploring things just like you and may have seen something interesting or you may stumble upon someone from the area that can share a hidden secret. Also as a "good human" tip...if you ask someone to take your picture, offer to take a picture for them too.

We reached Hurst San Simeon State Park and the smell when we got out of the car told us we were in the right place. The beach was covered with female elephant seals and their young. We spent a little while walking up and down the coastal trail as I took way too many pictures of them. Just as we were getting used to the smell, it was time to go. We continued on until we reached our goal for the night, Santa Barbara. This night was a hotel night and we both needed a shower!