Day 40 – May 14

On the road by 9:00 our target was the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. The fog was hanging off shore while creating a high haze which intensified the colours of the plethora of roadside wild flowers that were in bloom. We made several stops to take pictures, switching which vehicle was in the lead frequently along this beautiful stretch of the #1 highway.

We passed through scenic Carmel (no signs of Clint Eastwood however) and at one point we joined Sean and Carla for a quick walk on the chilly beach. With the exception of the hills rising behind us and the foreign plant life we could have been standing on a beach in Nova Scotia – fleeces were the order of the day in the fog.

A Misty Morning

We arrived in Monterrey behind Jane and Ike who had found a parking lot however it wouldn’t take ‘oversized’ vehicles like ours or Sean and Carla’s but we were directed to a lot nearby that did and was also cheaper.

We walked down Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck’s novel, towards the museum which is partially housed in old cannery factory buildings. Right at the entry for the aquarium is a brief interpretation of Cannery Row which in its hey day was one of the central locations for processing and canning west coast fish. Looking at the labels of some of the cans on display I realized that in my youth these products used to travel the long distance to our dinner table in Halifax.

At first the museum was not overcrowded so we had ample opportunity to view the various displays. We had arrived as three divers entered one of the large vertical tanks. Two were cleaning the bottom while the third fed the various fish, ranging from bass to leopard sharks. While she fed them she was linked by a microphone in her dry suit to inside speakers so we could hear her commentary and ask her questions about the fish. A group of visiting school children sat mesmerized by the display.

One of the displays that stood out for me was the seashore birds. Separated from the outside by large windows these birds splash through artificial tidal pools, sand bars and beach grasses. At first I didn’t think they were real but as I approached the display I could get within a foot of them. Mostly rescue birds from some mishap, these birds have become acclimatized to human presence and go about their daily activities seemingly oblivious to the stream of human observers. It was a rare opportunity to see these normally skittish creatures up close.

Two other displays that we all were fascinated by were the jellies and the sea horses. The jelly fish display can only be described as magical. Suspended in large tanks of flowing water with a rich blue background the various species of jelly fish stood out in contrast, in all of their delicate detail. The delicacy of their construction and the grace of their slow propulsion movements were spell binding.

The ‘Jellies’

Our other favourite display was the seahorses. Animals like seahorses are almost mythical in their uniqueness and we see them so often as logos or on some other product it is if they don’t exist in real life so to see them up close was a real treat. There were a couple that were just fantastical. Especially the dragon seahorse. If someone showed you a drawing of one you would think it some illustration from a fantasy novel. These winged seahorses float through the tank and around the plant life like you might imagine the mythical dragons of Arthurian legend did. We pulled each other from tank to tank to share the new discoveries around each corner. The aquarium visit was a good day.

Fantastical

After a very unsatisfactory lunch of fish and chips – you would think a city known for its fish production could manage a decent meal of fish and chips – but sadly that was not the case we headed out towards Salinas where we stopped for gas and a reprovisioning. After Salinas were were headed for a State Park on the way to Yosemite. On the way we passed through some rolling, grass covered hills that were home to grazing cattle. It sounds like a simple scene but covered in the already yellowed grasses of this area and bathed in the golden light of the setting sun these gently rolling hills resembled mounds of yellow velvet that had been bunched together. With no pull off areas to stop it was torture to drive by and not be able to take a photograph.

Along the road there were signs warning of gusty winds and we did stop at one park that was so windy that, at the recommendation of the park ranger, we abandoned it in favour of another site further down the road. This site, the San Luis Reservoir State Park, was nestled in a valley amongst the grass covered hills at the edge of a large reservoir. What a coincidence that someone named San Luis Reservoir would have a park named after him right next to a reservoir – it’s funny how life works out sometimes. As we settled in to cook up hamburgers made from the grass fed beef raised on the Hearst Mansion ranch, we were treated to a lovely sunset.