27 July 2016

I realise that I had forgotten to tell you about the chipmunk!

Yesterday, as we were walking from our beautiful cabin to the main part of the hotel, we saw a little chipmunk, laying on the path, quite dead. Poor little fella had either been hit by one of the golf carts, or had taken an ill judged leap from one building to another and not made it.

Being animal lovers, we decided that he'd be best laid to rest in a flower bed, so we attempted to pick up up on some leaves, with shouts of 'don't touch him' and put him on some soil next to the path, covered by a leaf. I then said goodbye to him, and stroked his tiny little body (I know, cardinal sin). Oh my word, he was SO soft. Almost like touching nothing. So, there, I've touched a chipmunk (let's gloss over that it was dead).

After breakfast, we promised Oli that he could try the indoor pool. What a find! A huge pool, heated and empty of people. Oliver and Andrew spent an hour having some fun and I loaded up the car, ready for the next long drive.

There is really very very little to see on the drive, just field after field, and the fog was really thick in places.

The Andrew blessed us with a trip to Walmart. Now I absolutely love Walmart. My American friends think this is crazy, as it's like the poor persons Asda, but I love it.

You can literally buy anything there that you need, and some things you didn't even know you needed. It was a little but like supermarket sweep, as I could feel Andrew getting anxious about moving on and not shopping. So we bought some stationery (another love) and Oreos in yummy flavours (mint and Cinnamon (not together)), and we were back in the car. An itch scratched.

The fields have started to change from barren yellow to green. Trees of nuts and avocados line the route as we are around 3 hours in.

We finally reached Santa Cruz, five hours of driving (nice one Andrew). It's like Brighton, without the drunks and women swearing at their children. We kicked off our shoes, stepped onto the warm soft sand, and looked along the coastline. The Pacific Ocean. Hello - we've been so looking forward to seeing you. We had a paddle in the ocean (freezing) and then spent some time eyeing up the rides on the shore-front.

We had a quick walk along the boardwalk, and then back in the car, so another hour to our motel in Monterey.

After the Hilton in San Francisco (thanks to cousin Sarah for the super rate) and the beautiful Tenaya lodge, there was a little bit of 'oh' as we stepped into the room straight out of Psycho. It's a bit bleak, but it's cheap and a bed, and it's fun. It's how I thought a roadtrip motel should look. The strange lonely man who works in the tiny office that is spotless; the tired looking rooms that have seen all sorts, and a chain on the door. Perfect.

We took the small drive into the bay 'Old Fisherman's Wharf' (we seem to have lost the ability to walk anywhere) and grabbed some calamari, shrimps and chips for dinner. It's really tiring being in the car all day, so back to the room and the land of nod.

Fire update: The Soberanes Fire in Big Sur/Carmel Hills continues to rage. It's only 10% contained at the time of writing, and there have luckily been no deaths of injuries. 20 homes have been destroyed, but 2000 are threatened. The state parks in that area are closed (including Julia Pfeiffer which is where McWay falls is - part of our itinerary). Obviously we are concerned for the safety of the residents of California, but a feeling of dread is starting to creep in that they'll close Highway 1, and the main part of this trip will have to be cancelled. Remain positive...