San Francisco Vacation - Part 3

Yes, we took lots of pictures on our trip, hence the multiple postings. I promise, there is only one more post after this one, and it should be shorter than the rest.

Anyway, after spending 3 days in the city, we picked up a rental car that morning, a sporty PT Cruiser I might add, and headed south. Our travel plans included us driving Highway 1, to Monterey, stopping at the Aquarium, and completing our travels on the 17 mile drive which is around the Pebble Beach area.

We loved the drive along Highway 1. I must admit, the "beaches" aren't all that pretty, meaning they don't have the white sand we have on the gulf coast, but if you look past the sand, the water, rocks, and cliffs are beautiful.

We found this lighthouse stop along out way. It was right along the highway, and also served as a hostel to other travellers, mostly people on mountain bikes travelling the area. You have to be a pretty serious and dedicated bike rider to endure some of the steep hills/mountains! We stuck to our automobile!

About 2 - 3 hours south, and we made multiple stops along the way, was the city of Monterey. It was a relatively small town, but had a very cute downtown area. We made a visit to the Aquarium, and followed up with another great meal on the water. One thing I've failed to mention is that we ate some delicious food on our trip. We really enjoyed the fresh seafood and delicious restaurants we visited throughout our entire trip.

These were some massive jelly fish species, and Chris took some great pictures.
This is the downtown shopping area of Monterey. Such a cute area.
Here is Chris at one of the many stops along the 17 mile drive. It is a loop through the area which surrounds many golf courses, particularly Pebble Beach. I was informed along the way, that Chris was very familiar with these courses, as he played them as a kid on his PlayStation, or some other gaming station. I must admit, driving along this section of the trip was a big highlight, but the best is yet to come...

One of the greens at the course.


This picture is for my dad. We managed to find wildlife on our trip.

This is the Lone Cypress, which is a trademark to the Pebble Beach Golf Course. This cypress tree is growing out on this cliff, but I'm assuming the golf course, or some other group built the stone wall you see. The tree is also wrapped in a cable or two, to help keep it's shape. Please don't quote me on the reasons. These are my best guesses, but feel free to do a little research if you choose!

This is The Lodge at Pebble Beach. It is open to the public, so we helped ourselves to a view!

The beautiful 18th green at Pebble Beach. Yes, that is the Pacific ocean that it boarders.
Here is the back of The Lodge. We did enjoy a little time up on the balcony, watching the tournament that was going on.

So this picture captures my favorite story of the trip. We finished our touring for the day, and were headed back on the main highway, rather than the coast line. We missed one of our exits, which wasn't the first time that day I had navigated us in the wrong place, but non the less, we were still headed north, back to SF. Here is my version of the conversation that followed:

Me: We are coming upon Cupertino, and we can get back on our route there.

Chris: You know what's in Cupertino, right?

Me: Yep, it's the headquarters of Apple.

Chris: Try plugging in "1 Infinite Loop", and see if the GPS finds it.

Me: (after typing it in my trusty iPhone, and it dropping a pin) You've got to be kidding me, you know the address of Apple Headquarters off the top of your head?

Yes, my husband knew off hand the address of his favorite manufacturer. He is a faithful shopper of Apple products, and we proudly support them with multiple products in our home. So, I couldn't take his dream away from him, so we made our way through Silicon Valley, which was surprisingly small, but since we are both in IT, it was pretty cool to see many of the companies we are familiar with. We drove through the Apple campus, and Chris has marked this landmark off his list of places to see!

We loved our drive south, but the next post will be our trek north. Stay tuned...