Ah, a good night's sleep in a quiet hotel with TERRIFIC Wi-Fi and a wonderful breakfast! Thank you Hampton Inn Bakersfield AGAIN. After our lovely breakfast, we headed west at about 8:10 a.m. We drove up CA 5 through the San Joaquin Valley which is cram packed with lovely fruits, vegetables and nuts growing all over the place. We saw cauliflowers being picked and packed right there in the field. I wish I could have gotten a photo, but traffic was moving at a quick pace.
One of the things that caught my eye was the fact that there are dozens of double bin trucks carrying nothing but plum tomatoes. I tried to catch a shot:
Please ignore the splatter of bug juices on the windshield. It just couldn't be helped. I'll bet we passed over 20 of these types of trucks. There was one double bin truck full of garlic and the aroma was wonderful. Also, just one double bin truck of onions. The makings of a terrific marinara sauce, if you ask me.
The California Aqueduct is a system of streams, rivers and canals that runs from the Sierra Nevada Mountains down to Southern California delivering much-needed irrigation in this dry land. It's quite amazing as you can see it from time to time from The Five. This is one of the many pumping stations along the way:
Once we got onto the Monterey Peninsula, the temperatures plummeted to the low 60s. We drove over to Lover's Point in Pacific Grove to our favorite little dive but the flag wasn't up [the only indication this surfer/hot dog griller is working] so we'll have to try again to get our hot dog fix.
We drove along the coast and stopped a few times just to drink in the beauty and coolness. This is a shot from Lover's Point toward Monterey:
We walked around Carmel a little so Jay could get his coffee and cinnamon crispies at the Carmel Coffee Company. Stopped at the local grocery store for a few items and then off to The Tickle Pink. We checked in but not into our usual Room 10. We're a day early so we're in Room 11 tonight and then back home to Room 10 tomorrow. That's been our room for 18 years.
We met Bob and Jan at the Wine Hour on the Deck as we've done for years. The interesting thing this year was that one table away from us was a couple from McKinney - Rick and Dina, and another table away was a couple from Fort Worth. First timers and lovely folks. After a couple of hours of chatting and sharing tips about the area, we parted ways. Bob and Jan and Jay and I went into town to Sea Harvest and had some tremendous fresh seafood. Bob's been coming here for over 30 years; Jan for over 20; and Jay and I for 18 to the Tickle Pink, but 23 to Carmel. Bob and Jan live in Austin and we're bound and determined to get together between our visits to Carmel. Here are Bob and Jan:
They're good folks and great fun to be with.
Plans for Tuesday include the Concours on the Avenue in Carmel and other car-related fun stuff [for Jay].
So that's it for today. It's always great to be here.
2 comments:
I'm glad you found a good hotel Sunday night, and I'm sure your hotel last night was the best! That marinara sauce idea sounded great. Maybe I'lll make some today. Enjoy...
Visiting Carmel this past June, I was amazed at the tremendous amount of fresh seafood on display at Sea Harvest. Dined there for lunch directly as a result of Sharon's recommendation from a past visit! I had wonderful calamari - fried, an indulgence - and "red" chowder. Honestly, I think it was my first red chowder, the difference simply being some added tomato paste, I'd guess. So good! June's abundance of gorgeous multi-colored roses around the shopping area were inspiring to this Texas guy.
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