Santa Rosa to Monterey Peninsula

Day 21 Photo Album

September 23, 2009

Santa Rosa and I got off to a rocky start.  After the insidious fog I found myself in the unfamiliar constant noise of traffic, machines, and strip malls.  Ice machines rattling all night, refrigerator and microwave happily vibrating with irritating hums.  The usual noises of life that seemed to supplant the annoyance I had begun to feel about fog. 

But we became friends this morning as I ventured into downtown and walked around to explore.  It is a lovely city and I really enjoyed walking around.  Pretty quiet for 11 am.  The art center I visited had some very good work and there seemed to be quite a lot of activities involving the arts.

My next stop was Muir Woods National Monument which is extremely popular.  Signs show that weekends are so busy there are shuttle buses from Highway 101 to the park.  After leaving the highway you wind your way through the mountains down into the park.  It is so large there are about 65 miles of hiking trails.  I settled for 3 miles of walking. 

I find it very interesting that when I arrive at a busy park I weave through with a small group of the same people.  They pass you, you pass them, you have small talk and walk on.  Take their pictures for them, see them in the gift shop, the bathroom, then out to the parking lot. 

This park had more city people who have the need to talk constantly.  In the redwoods park up north, people were more quiet and absorbing the experience.  They actually have a sign in the Muir Woods at a grove called the Cathedral Grove asking people to be quiet and listen to nature.  Ignored by most of the strollers.

It was a great experience all the same.  Quite different in that the trees were spaced more thinly and are not as wide as those up north.  The rising hills within the park also add a different feeling to the forest. 

Back out on the highway I went over the Golden Gate Bridge in partial fog, but got great photos all the same.  In San Francisco it was completely foggy.  I immediately loved the city.  It was tempting to stay a while, but I had decided to press on to Monterey today.  I took the Presidio turn and had no idea where I was headed, but it was nice.  Then I looked at my compass and thought I should turn more south.  Found Highway 1 and stuck to it all the way down to Seaside. 

Along the coast again, the fog came and went.  The temperature had dropped down to 60 again and stayed there.  This section of the highway is very straight and there are many farms along the road.  Beaches everywhere.  Spectacular views all day long.

At Big Basin Redwoods Park I saw several kite surfers and stopped to get their photo.  What a blast they were having! 

Just after sunset I reached Seaside in the Monterey area.  So I’ll be on my way to exploring the Monterey Peninsula tomorrow and see what that’s all about. 

I’ve finally arrived at my intended destination.  There is a good feeling about that, as if I’d been waiting for this since I got to California.