So it was off to find a coffee shop to caffeinate for the day. Luckily there was any number of promising coffee shops near us (Thanks again Ange!)
Peete’s came through for us with a very nice coffee
Our car had not been stolen and was still parked in the garage, so it was time to pack up and move on.
But we still had to see a few icons of San Fran. Just a few streets from us was the famed curvy, flowered street.
To set the scene, this is what it looks like from base of the street.
It is distinctly different from the driver’s seat going down though.
Jen showed she was not afraid of a driving challenge though.
This photo probably depicts all the challenges faced by the driver… Tight curves, buildings close by, garden beds, and lots of tourists looking to see if you make a mistake.
Rel was getting a little inspired by what we could do with our driveway at home
The Golden Gate bridge was next to be seen… sort of. The only fog in San Fran that morning covered the bridge. Not a hint of fog to be seen anywhere else in the Bay area. It was just like we were told it would be!
John had given up on running over the Golden Gate bridge by this stage, and decided to get a photo of him running in the vicinity of the Golden Gate bridge instead.
John had in fact wondered why we had to leave San Fran so early. There were many things he could have squeezed in with a mid-morning departure.
The ruse was soon unveiled. There needed to be time for … shopping.
Ange, Jen and Rel decided to set an initial timeframe of 2 hours. John thought ‘what the …’
The girls were so concerned about running out of time, they sprinted for the shops leaving John in their wake.
This vending machine had convinced John that an M&M ice cream could ease his pain at being abandoned so brutally by the girls.
To make matters worse for John, it would not dispense anything after he had put his $3. But he did get $3.10 back in change.
He wondered how much extra change he would receive if he put more money in…
The there were those bears again
In 2 days the car had turned from a roomy vehicle to one where there were shopping bags everywhere.
John had decided that if you can’t beat them, join them and then raise the bar.
He’d found a cycling outlet shop and went hard. John was actually having a great time.
After only 3+ hours at this one centre, the girls realised there may be consequences to buying all this fantastic stuff - that is getting it home.
So they called a temporary truce to their feeding frenzy, and continued the trip to where we would be staying for the night.
It is also gave a chance for the credit cards to cool down as they had been getting pretty hot, and John was mainly to blame. The girls have created a shopping Frankenstein.
So it was off the Monterey.
Ange has done a great job in organising our accommodation. This was the first occasion that we needed to do do a little ‘self plumbing’ to get the toilet operational.
Poor Ange had stumbled across something ‘lurking beneath’ when she was getting the bathroom sorted. Flushing did not help, so the photo depicts plan B.
The photos of the plunger in use shall remain in John’s private collection, and are not for family viewing.
This place was pretty good, offered the important things like a good bed, quiet, and of course the standard expectation of free wi-fi.
The layout of this place was interesting. The front door opened to the the main bedroom, which opened to the second bedroom, which opened to the bathroom/toilet.
Just glad we are all good friends as it was pretty cosy.
After checking in, and getting the toilet working we went for a drive around the local area. This area is famed for many things, including the famed Pebble Beach golf courses. So Rel was very very exited about seeing this place.
We set our bearings and took off.
Rel loved the greens...
The closeness to the water (even if it was blowing a gale)
But was not sure about the rough
Rel snuck in to the clubhouse, and bought a few mementos
We continued our drive along the 17 mile drive taking in other parts of the golf courses and the coastline
Rel decide to sneak onto the golf course
Not having a set of clubs did not stop her from dreaming of that big Major victory
We stopped by Pebble Beach. John raced back to the table after firing off the self timer, but missed the table when he went to lean on it.
He got it right the next time though
We discovered why it really was called Pebble Beach
It was certainly a rugged coastline
Jen tried to outstare the piece of wood
The sun was getting low allowing for some fascinating scenery
We could not figure out why all these binoculars were here
So Rel investigated and found this rocky outcrop was covered in seals
The seals were easy to see in the binoculars, but difficult to capture with a setting sun
The drive rewarded us with some magnificent scenery
Though we spotted Lance.
And as the sun set we checked out the golf course for a final time
Then drove back to Monterey
Found what looked to be the SS Minnow
John loves a place that puts value on books
It was then time to find somewhere to eat. So where does one go for everything… the local 24 hour pharmacy of course.
We fed, shared a bottle of very nice Merlot, packed, and then the girl dropped like flies. John was ready to kick on, but obviously this shopping thing had taken its toll on his companions.
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