From Atlantic to Pacific

Friday, Mar 8

We finally made it to the Pacific Ocean!  It was nice to see the left coast.  We have completed the journey across the continent.  We left Front Street in Beaufort in late January and have meandered across America, seeing impressive sights and experiencing new adventures.  Now we will head East.

In the past few days, we have decided that we will take our motorhome back East.  It had originally been our intention to leave it in Albuquerque at least one - maybe two - more years.  I still want to experience the Northwest of the country, but this can only be accomplished in the summer.  And our summers back in North Carolina are too precious for us to take off for the West.

We also want to go to Dylan Lantz's graduation in Ohio in late May, and to see Cole and Amy's new baby.  There is also the chance we may go to Jill and Tony's in Maine in conjunction with the trip to Ohio.

The thought of undertaking these journeys in a car and staying in motels just doesn't appeal.  It will be much more pleasurable in our home on wheels.

So we will meander back East over the next few weeks, taking in the sights as we do so.  We will probably leave the motorhome at the mountain house in Spruce Pine, and leave from there in May for Ohio.  

We had no schedule today.  I went to the local Y for some much needed exercise.  After I returned and had breakfast, we decided to head West to the ocean which is only 30 miles or so away.  I just want to be able to say that I had made it to the Pacific.

We finally made it to the Pacific Ocean

As we got closer to the ocean, we decided to head South and see what we could discover.

We stopped at seafood restaurant, Sea Harvest, and had a great fresh seafood lunch while enjoying a great view of the ocean and local harbor.  At the restaurant, we were able to buy fresh local crab, which we picked up on our way back later in the afternoon.  We haven't had any fresh seafood for a long time, and this was a real treat.

Seals completely cover the docks near the restaurant.  It's surprising that they don't sink the docks with their weight

After lunch, we ended up on the Monterrey Peninsula.  We followed the signs to "Cannery Row", parked the car and enjoyed walking around the tourist shops.

A painting on the footings of an old building on the waterfront of Monterey

A chilly Mimi

We finished up with a drive along the scenic oceanfront road on the peninsula and really enjoyed seeing big water again.  It was a windy, cool day and we ventured out of the car at some of the overlooks for a few minutes.

This ended up being a fun day.  It has been one of the few on this trip that we haven't had something in mind to do and could explore.