Moss Landing to Big Sur

Today was just spectacular.  We drove down to Big Sur.  The surf was up after yesterday's storms.  The waves were impressive.  I could watch them come on shore for hours.

I love this view of the of the coastal mountains and the ocean.

This is the Bixby Bridge, built in 1932.

Prior to the opening of the bridge in 1932, residents of the Big Sur area were virtually cut off during winter due to the often impassable Old Coast Road that led 11 miles (18 km) inland. At its completion, the bridge was built under budget for $199,861 (equivalent to $3.5 million in 2015) and was the longest concrete arch span at 320 feet (98 m) on the California State Highway System. It is one of the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world,

We continued south, and saw the Point Sur Lightstation.  It's now fully automated, the last keeper left in 1974.   Before the completion of Hwy 1 in 1937, life up there was difficult. Bringing in supplies was a major ordeal.  After the highway was completed, life improved for the staff.

Here is a photo borrowed from the internet of the lighthouse.

Then it was on to Carmel-by-the-Sea.  That place irritated me so much that I won't even show you pictures.  It's over run by tour buses, high end shopping (like Tiffany's) and pretentious stuff.  Here's another picture of the ocean, much better.

We did go in to Monterey, which is also touristy, but because it's larger, there are also real people living there.  They have a very attractive marina.  We were both amused by this boat which is moored on floats.

This is restaurant row.  There is food everywhere in the old part of the wharf.

We've never seen this before.  Several restaurants had people out front serving up free samples of clam chowder.  They also had example plates of the food they serve out for people to look at.  We saw several homeless people going from sample to sample.

It was very breezy and cool.  The water is freezing.  And yet, there are two people out on paddle boards in swim suits.  I think a wet suit would be more appropriate for conditions.

Here we are, going by Castroville.  They are the artichoke capital of the Central Valley.  It's really weird to see so much agriculture for about five miles south of Moss Landing.  Then the terrain changes to being hilly, and covered in eucalyptus trees.

This is also at Moss Landing.  It's a gas fired power plant.  It's really large.  It's not really in a sea of vegetables, it's the camera angle.

Sitting here in my chair, I can hear a fog horn and a sea lion.