43 degrees at 7 AM this morning. Greg went for an early walk and saw only 1 other person.
Maybe, like Beth, others were reluctant to leave their warm beds.
We continue north on Route 1, along the coast till we see a sign for Point Lobos State Reserve, a gorgeous area! We stop first at Cypress Grove Trail and walk to the grove and nice views of the rocky coast.
Onward to Monterey Bay and the Aquarium which opened there in 1984. We arrive just in time for the penguin feeding.
Next is the Open Sea Feeding at a huge tank that replicates the open seas.
Next we watch a film called Mysteries of the Deep. There is a huge canyon - deeper than the Grand Canyon - just off the coast of Monterey and much of their research work takes place there. According to the film, we know more about the surface of the moon than the deep sea. MBARI is a research company which was founded by the founder of the aquarium.
This guy is feeding fish as well.
Lots of gorgeous tanks with jelly fish, sea urchins, and various fish.
At the tank pictured below you could hear a chorus of children's voices commenting on the "Nemo's" - oh, and a Dori too!
This guy was sunning himself near the aquarium grounds.
After the aquarium, we found a Jiffy Lube for a quick oil change. Nice folks. Then we opt to head for Pinnacles National Park. There has been a government shutdown and the status of National Parks is mixed - some open, some partially opened, some closed. Websites aren't being updated and no one answers the phone number we try, so it it hard to say what we will find....
We are inland now and agriculture is the name of the game here. Vineyards and other fields everywhere, cattle & sheep too, and all using irrigation. You can see why water is such a vital commodity here!
Pinnacles has two parts, east and west, each with its own entrance. We are at the eastern entrance because that is where their campground is located. When we finally get there, there is a "Park Closed" sign blocking our side of the road! As we come to a stop and ponder the next step, a car pulls up beside us and a lady asks if we have reservations to camp....we explain that the website was confusing and the person we called for reservations was not sure of the status. She tells us to follow her into the park and she will "see what she can do."
A few hours earlier we heard that Trump had signed something to get the government working again, so she tells us she will give us a campsite! There are about a dozen other campers all told. The campsites are half price ($18) with our pass and they have electrical hookups! A win-win all around for us! The campground is run by a 3rd party concessionaire, but we see no park rangers and that part of the visitor's center is closed.
We are at a higher altitude here, so we expect temps near freezing tonight, but with electric we can use our little space heater.
We walk to the Ben Bacon Ranch, an old homestead built in the 1890's. Lots of turkey in the fields there, as well as several groups of deer.
We are hoping to see a condor here - huge birds with 9' wingspan.
They were nearly extinct and Pinnacles is one of a few places where they are being released in hopes of re-population. Lots of turkey vultures, but no condors. Lots of red-headed woodpeckers, too. They bury acorns in the bark of huge oak trees.
Our supplies are a bit low, so we have soup and snacks for dinner. But the campground store has some items and we have ice cream bars for a great desert!
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