Big Sur Marathon Weekend - Part 3

Although downtown Monterey had been packed for the past few days due to the race, when we woke up on Monday morning, it was kind of a ghost town.  We saw a few other runners straggling down the road with their suitcases into cabs and such, but overall, it was back to the city's normal weekday standard.  We were still on vacation, though, so it was off to Loulou's Griddle in the Middle, a great little spot on the pier we visited on our last trip to this area several years ago.

This is LouLou's - isn't it cute?

This is also not my picture.

This, however, is -

I got French toast with chocolate chips and strawberries

(I didn't use that giant chunk of butter),

while Chris ordered eggs and crab cakes.

After reloading our carb meters at Loulou's, we headed back to the hotel (via the French bakery where Chris stopped the previous morning to grab snacks for the road), packed up our gear, and wandered down the street to the parking garage to hop into the truck.  We were eventually headed to the Elkhorn Slough, but we were running early for our appointment there (story.of.my.life), so we killed some time seeing the sights along the way.

First up was Ford Ord, which used to be an Army base; it was retired around 20 years ago, but you could still see what we termed the "zombie barracks" and old officer clubhouse.  I was glad the marathon had been held on Sunday and not Monday, as the wind had picked up exponentially; being right on the coast, we were really feeling it.  We wandered around the Ford Ord area, taking peeks at the coast and looking back across the bay at Monterey.

The boardwalk up to the dune overlook

There was a path through here where you could

walk down to the beach...

as you may imagine, I did not undertake this endeavor.

Chris started and was like, nah.

That cruise ship is parked right off the dock

where we ate breakfast.

We saw it while we dined, and decided we were happy

we were scooting out of Monterey for the day.

The wind hadn't been super bad, but when we headed up to the dune overlook, it became absolutely nuts - throwing sand everywhere and making things generally miserable.

Chris persevered and snapped a few shots.

"I think I got one!"

As you can see, the view was worth it.

For him at least.

After a full day of shaking things out,

I still found sand on my pillow the next morning.

A pano to close things out at Ford Ord

After Ford Ord, our next stop was Castroville, the "Artichoke Center of the World."  There's a festival every year, including a parade, and one of the Honorary Artichoke Queens was none other than Marilyn Monroe herself!  Naturally, we had to stop there and grab a shot with the town's most famous resident:

The world's biggest artichoke!

Assist from the truck, obviously.

While in Castroville, we also visited Pezzini Farms and picked up some fun items at their farmstand - artichoke salsa, some good looking oranges, and a tea towel with a recipe for artichoke dip.

Artichokes as far as the eye can see!

Or, at least, artichoke plants as far as the eye can see!

Still being on the early side of things (that's what will likely be etched on my tombstone), we headed toward Moss Landing, where we'd be meeting our guide for the Elkhorn Slough Safari.  We found our meeting spot, but since we had some time to kill, we parked near Salinas River State Beach and enjoyed our snacks, procured earlier.

Hooray, snack time!

Eventually, it was time to head back and check in with our guide.  When I'd been planning our trip to Monterey a few months ago, I stumbled across the site for the Safari group, and it seemed like a great fit for us - they take you out on a pontoon boat into the Slough, and you ride around for two hours, looking at wildlife as they narrate the history of the area, sharing important facts as you go.  After we checked in at the van (Ragvan!) and signed our waivers, we wandered over to the dock area and grabbed some shots of the wildlife we could see while we waited for the rest of the gang to assemble.

Our sturdy craft for the afternoon

Look!  Nature!

A fierce battle with a crab

So majestic

Other boats in the harbor

We also visited their cute little gift shop

and met the shop dog, Nala.

Jim and Leigh, this is where we found your socks!

Eventually, the rest of our group gathered up, and I was pleased to see that the Olsen family tradition of us being the youngest people participating in an activity by about 40 years was still in effect.

With our contemporaries

We loaded up the boat and our captain Ashton gave us the safety lecture - I'd read online that a special seat in the back of the boat was reserved for photographers, but if no one booked it for that purpose, anyone could ask to sit there.  When I asked Ashton, he was happy to allow us the seat - score!

Boat selfie!

"Please don't fall overboard, cool?"

As we headed out into the Slough, Ashton and our naturalist, who was absolutely fantastic, and whose name I have totally, completely forgotten, gave us facts on the area and what animals we'd likely be seeing today.  It was both harbor seal and otter baby season, which was sure to be freaking adorable.  We started with some of my favorite critters, some nearby sea lions - by the way, this point in the blog is going to start an awful lot of animal pictures - I took FOUR HUNDRED in two hours, so consider this a very brief curation of the best ones - you can click on each one to blow it up bigger, if you want:

I just love how the fur of the sea lions and seals dries out

on one side and is a completely different color on their damp side.

"Jesus, lady, what do you want?

I'm trying to nap here."

I love these smelly dudes,

but I can clearly see why boat owners despise them.

They're mean and super stinky,

and if you're not careful, they'll even take over your boat.

Here, you can see them sinking one of the piers.

Nap pile!

Our guides had all sorts of cool facts to share with us, and many items were laminated on cards they passed around the boat.  I had to pose with this little guy:

A new little octopus so cute they named him "adorabilis."

For reals.

As we got out of the dock area and into the Slough, we started glimpsing other animals, including lots of cormorants.  They like to make their nest on this old pier, and man, are they stinky.  Their nests are apparently made from a mixture of refuse they find and their own...um, secretions...and they smell like it.

We'd seen a few otters so far, but as we crossed under the bridge and into the Slough, they were popping up left and right.  I don't think I knew this, but for a time in the mid-1900s, otters were considered extinct until someone saw a group in the 70s or so.  They've made a very healthy comeback, thankfully.  

Otters!

Itchy face

A mom and adolescent.

Also, a speeding bird.

This one's harder to see,

but that's a Mom with a little baby on her chest.

As I mentioned earlier, we also saw tons of harbor seals and their pups, all of them spread out on the shore, napping and sunbathing.

I love this rusty colored dude

Hello, random kayakers!

Welcome to the blog!

I like the dude in the middle,

curled up like a "U."

Pup with the rest of the family

More seals lounging,

now with bonus cormorant action.

As we turned back toward the dock, we were headed into the wind, so it got pretty cold.  Our guides took pictures of all of us, and I was happy to have brought my scarf with me, as it quickly doubled as a headwrap:

It's chilly!

The crew even made us coffee and passed around cookies!

As we headed back to port, the guides gave us a total count of the animals we'd seen that day - over 200 seals, 100 sea lions, and 50 otters!  They really did a great job spotting animals, keeping us involved in the tour, and sharing their expertise and knowledge.  If you have a chance to head up their way, be sure to book a tour - you won't regret it!

In the next blog, we finish out the trip to Monterey!

Later!

Amy