Michelle, Ma Belle, Monterey Bay and Big Sur on Highway 1

The drive from Yosemite to Fresno was pretty dull after Yosemite. There were vineyards and lots of hills but we’ve become used to spectacular. Luckily it wasn’t a long drive and Michelle and Matt were waiting for us when we got there. With Moose! Moose is a sweetheart and took to Bob right away. Moose loves to be held and Bob loves to hug so they were fast friends. Matt and Michelle have a beautiful home on a cul-de-sac not too far from where Michelle works. They have a great pool in the backyard, but we were more interested in her washer and dryer because at this point we had plenty of laundry! I mentioned that Michelle is an Nurse Practitioner. She is a Pediatric Specialist, which makes sense because kids love her. But she cares for us old folks too, and her birthday present to Bob was to take us over to her clinic and get us our Covid boosters! Great birthday present! And then over to Quesadilla Gorilla for an excellent snack. We were too full for the ice cream she offered, and we were going to 13 Prime Steak for dinner and Bob wanted to save room. (Did I mention this side of the family loves food?). Matt had some work to catch up on but when he was done we got to sample his home brews. Matt has been involved in brewing beers as long as we’ve known him and he is quite proficient. I knew we were at the right house when I saw the beer taps in the garage. Matt, Michelle and Moose got to drive Penny, and Moose really liked having the roof off!

One of my favorite memories of Michelle occurred on a trip I was lucky enough to take with her and her cousin, my niece Tara, when they were young teens. We planned to spend a few days in Walt Disney World and I was so excited to get some special time with them both in my happy place. I had booked a room at the Yacht Club in Concierge because I figured with two teenage girls, all the snacks would come in handy. The room wasn’t anything special, just two queen beds. When we checked in, the front desk lady told us the room wasn’t ready yet, but then she grinned and said we would really like it. We didn’t think too much of that and went to the park. When we got back to our room, we entered what looked like the room I thought I bought, but were amazed that it opened into a dining room, living room, den, second bedroom, and had 2 ½ baths with a bidet! We had been upgraded to the most premier room in the hotel! I will probably never forget those two girls running around squealing over all the fancy amenities, sound system, and awesome little Disney touches. I was the cool aunt for sure that day!

Our dinner at 13 Prime was excellent and Bob declared it a perfect birthday. When we got back to the house, we watched a movie we had made on a family vacation many years ago on the beach in North Carolina. It was a take-off on Lord of the Rings (many of us are rabid fans) that we call Sort of the Rings, and my mom, the family matriarch, was still with us. Michelle and I have committed to spreading mom’s cremains in our numerous vacation spots (yes, I know it’s weird), so we reminisced over all the places from which she smiles upon us. We got a great night’s sleep and Michelle had extra yogurt and several excellent beers to stash in our cooler for our next few days. We said our tearful goodbyes, and armed with lots of ideas for good food and interesting stops in Monterey and Carmel, we hit the road again.

We got to Monterey that afternoon, checked into our hotel and headed over to Carmel, where we had a delicious lunch at one of the restaurants Michelle had recommended. We parked in a spot we thought was close to the beach, but found that we had to walk about a mile down a long hill, and then, of course, back up that hill, so we felt like we deserved a great lunch. We have been doing a lot of sitting with all this driving, so the exercise was good for us.

At this point, it was pretty clear to us that we had overpacked. We were not wearing more than 2/3’s of the clothes we brought, and we decided to mail a box of clothes home. Our daughter, Leigh, has been checking in on our home weekly to be sure things are under control, and we had all our mail forwarded to her so she is making sure the occasional errant bill doesn’t slip through the cracks. Now she will get a box to bring over as well. This will alleviate some of the strain on Penny’s trunk and frunk!

We went to the Monterey Aquarium, and that was a great idea. They have an excellent otter display and the otters seemed to be enjoying the day as much as the guests. The aquarium is on Cannery Row in Monterey. Cannery Row came to fame in the 40’s as a novel by John Steinbeck, about people living on this street lined with sardine canneries. The street is lined today with numerous restaurants, gift shops, the aquarium, and terrific views of the ocean. That evening, we went over to Fisherman’s Wharf and had dinner in the London Bridge Pub. They had pasties on the menu, and I remember those as a treat my nana used to make so we ordered one. It had a nice pastry crust full of beef and vegetables, and was pretty tasty.

Next day, we set off to drive to Santa Monica by way of Route 1 through Big Sur. We really didn’t know what we were in for, but we knew about the Bixby Creek Bridge and wanted to drive over it. As it turned out, a storm had rolled in over the Pacific the night before, bringing a huge cloud cover across the ocean. As we set out, we saw the clouds, but figured because it was still early, this would soon pass. We were wrong. Route 1 through Big Sur is a truly amazing drive. It is widely considered to be one of the most scenic driving routes in the United States, if not the world. The ocean meanders along to the right, and the road is cut into the face of huge seaside cliffs. A portion of the highway was closed in the past year by a landslide but had been repaired and road reconstruction makes the drive a bit tricky. However, there are frequent turnouts, allowing drivers who want to go more slowly and enjoy the view, to move over for the dare-devils. In fact, road signs warn that if five cars are following you, you need to pull over and let them go past. We were happy to do that. There are stunning views so often you can’t stop for all of them. Most of the roadway is narrow, with tight curves and blind turns. Now we knew that the Pacific was on our right, but what we mostly saw was a huge cloud bath. Periodically, the cloud would lift, and we would pull over to ooh and ahh. At times, a road would peel off down the mountain with a mailbox indicating that people actually lived somewhere on the steep incline. We also spotted the occasional inn, bed and breakfast or small hotel on either side. While I was researching the trip, I came upon the Post Ranch Inn as a possible place to stay, until, that is, I saw the price. A room here can be had for $1500 to $3000+ per night. I’m sure that’s because it is built into this amazing road overlooking the ocean—we passed the sign on our way.

We badly needed a rest room and were happy to see a gas station cut into the hillside. A sign offered coffee, a gift shop, and gas. A mere $8.49 for Premium, Penny’s beverage of choice. Good thing she didn’t need any. The fancy coffee was cheaper than the gas, but you had to make a purchase to use the rest room and we did, gratefully. I guess when you’re the only game in town you can charge what you want. Interestingly, the other Zeus Bronze Metallic Corvette, the one a day or two ahead of us, had posted this same gas price the day before so we knew we were getting close.

Finally, we reached the end of Route 1, and proceeded to our next stop, Santa Monica. Will we catch up to Penny’s sister? Will we be happy to get on a regular road again? What will we do in Southern California? Stay tuned.