18th August - San Francisco to Monterey

Today we left San Francisco to start our drive south along the Pacific Highway 1, (California 1 or US 101). This leg of our journey takes us down to Monterey for a few days to visit the Aquarium and also Cannery Row made famous for the John Steinbeck novel of the same name. On the way out of San Francisco the weather was glorious sunshine as we made our way down through Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. By the time we reached Davenport and  Santa Cruz the weather had changed to a slight misty rain before brightening up again just before our arrival.

Helen did a great job of photographing the sights along the way, mostly from the car as we were moving.

At one point the shore had hundreds of surfers just as we came in to Santa Cruz.

As we came near Salinas the birthplace of Steinbeck, the scenery became more rural with fruit crops and cabbages  just as the author describes in the Grapes of Wrath and other stories.

We arrived in Monterey around 2pm, a bit early to check into the hotel so left the car parked and went for a wander. We are staying right on the quiet end of Cannery Row, so quickly found a great outdoor cafe bar for a few beers and a bite. Later, we wandered the shops along the Row, Helen has fell in love with Monterey already, a nice quiet change after the bustle of the city. I do feel she has found Marco Island Mark II !

 

 

I got a lift back to the hotel on a Harley, Helen walked 😀

Weird night sky looking across the harbour from the hotel balcony.