We picked up Margot in San Francisco on Monday afternoon and drove to Carmel-By-the-Sea where we stayed for 3 nights. We spent the first day in Monterey. Much of the time was spent at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was very cool! Wonderful displays and programs throughout the day and some very good exhibits going into great detail about the ocean habitat along the west coast.

The next day we went to Big Sur for a hike. Big Sur is one of these rare places you find that is wild, remote, incredibly beautiful, yet easy to access and explore. Big Sur is more like an area then an actual specific place. It covers roughly 90 miles of coast line along route 1 with 18 plus walking trails. There are walks with breathtaking views of the coast and others going deep into the coastal canyons that have dense red wood forests. They walks offer natural beauty mixed with stunning views of the ocean.

We went on two walks in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The Ewoldsen Trail that offers a good sampling of old growth redwood forests, scrub landscapes and sweeping canyon and ocean views. And the McWay waterfall trail a very short and popular trail right on the coast.

I am going to stop here for the moment. I have so many wonderful pictures to show you. I am going to break this up into another post. Enjoy the pictures.

Margot and M.E. at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

jellyfish, I think are the most photogenic of marine life

more neat jellyfish

sardines

one of the exhibitions is a diver going into a big tank and feeding the fish

here he is feeding small sharks, he was able to talk to the crowd who gathered to watch, it was very interesting

coastal view

the waterfall

M.E. and Margot

a walk on the Ewoldsen trail, which way do we go?

dense redwood forest

Margot

I love walking in these forests

Bob & M.E.

canyon view

M.E. & Margot

around every turn another beautiful view appears

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Margot & M.E.

coastal view

coastal view

coastal view