Andrew Molera State Park

Here are some images of a trip down to Andrew Molera State Park. It is names for the gentleman who brought Artichokes to California in the early 20th century. This is also one of the few places where you can get your feet wet on the Big Sur Coast.

Let's head on down!

A stop most everyone has to make when on the Central Coast of California is Bixby Bridge. Here is the view from Bixby Bridge looking south.

A few more miles down Highway 1, one actually reaches Molera State Park. Originally, this property belonged to a man named Cooper who traded this property along Big Sur for the holdings of Andrew Molera in the Salinas Valley. It is the largest State Park on the Big Sur Coast, and one of the few places on Big Sur where you can get your feet wet, without a Kayak or Boat. We just simply went down to the beach and back. There is a fairly famous loop trail here that is nearly 9 miles in length that is simply gorgeous. However, we know three pregnant women right now who would kick our butts on this loop. We would be huffing and puffing, while they would be finished with the trail!

A foot bridge over the Big Sur River. This is taken down during the Winter as the River runs a bit too deep.

Looking up river.

Rock-strewn bottom of the river.

The trail to the beach is one mile each way, but it is well worth the walk.

This walk along the beach goes on for a bit, but during high tide, it is not possible to go too far as the tide goes all the way up to the cliffs.

Rocks and boulders all over the place.

Some people camp out on the beach, and even make these huts out of the driftwood and rocks. The Park Rangers tell you not to go into the huts as they are unstable, but some people really do sleep in them.

Here is an attempt to built a hut.

Still going! Looks more like a fence, though.

Rocks all over the place!

Gotta stand in the middle of the river if you can. She's on the Island! No Smoke Monster, though.

Hope you enjoyed a trip to Andrew Molera State Park!

Sunset And Venus Over Salinas, June 12th, 2010

Santa Cruz, June 2010

Here are some images of Santa Cruz from this past weekend. We parked by the Shrine of St. Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer. It is a peaceful place for some quiet prayer. Maybe pictures of that later.

Right across from the Shrine, there are a couple of stairs that go right down to the ocean. Just gotta climb over some rocks.

Here are some folks that are gonna do just that. Looks like a lot of fun!

There were not a lot of waves, as is typical during the summer, but here is one gentleman who caught a small wave towards the Boardwalk. Doesn't it look so easy and fun?! Just get into the water, wait for a wave, catch it, and then stand up on your board. Yeah, right!

Would have to find out for sure, but we believe that this is a memorial to surfers who have died in the area. Rest in Peace.

A brand new memorial to three Hawai'ian Princes, who in 1885, rode waves at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River on long redwood planks.

Looking out towards Natural Bridges State Park.

Seals on an outcropping, a boat, and Mount Toro south of Salinas. Roughly 40 miles apart in a straight line.

The foam on the surf made interesting patterns.

For some reason, the kids starting cheering for this one guy who was wearing a hat out on the surf. I guess it was the only guy they could readily identify. could not get a good photo, but he did catch one good wave out to the rocks. Way to go, hat-wearing surfer dude!

The rocks where some of the surfers were aiming for. Part of the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk can be seen in the background.

Carmel Highlands After Sunset

Dragged the entire family out to get some pictures of the Coast. Here is one of the Coast at the Carmel Highlands, just south of Monterey. The exposure was 5 seconds, one half hour after sunset last weekend.

Sunset Over Salinas Valley

Old Stage Road, outside of Salinas on 29, April 2010.

Pinnacles National Monument, March 2010

On the Road again! This time we went around to the East Entrance of Pinnacles National Monument.

Here, someone decides to be dramatic. Do I smell ham? Why the Drama? We are sad that some friends are not with us on this hike! We were told not to have fun on this hike by some friends who could not be with us, so here is everybody trying their best to cope.

Clouds over the Pinnacles on the Moses Springs Trail.

The Bear Gulch Caves are fully open, and if one is brave enough, you can go all the way through the caves. Towards the end, you do have to go on stepping stones through a creek that runs right in the middle of the cave. Water cascades through the caves to form a Creek downstream. here is the first Waterfall.

Further up, the waterfall is captured with a flash.

We then came out of the Cave, and went around to the Resevoir. The kids help to keep the mountain standing up.

Splashing in the Reservoir.

Climbers on the rocks near the Reservoir.

Water level last June was low enough that we sat on this spot and ate chips.

Water from the Reservoir coming down into the Cave.

Another view of the water from the reservoir going down into the Cave.

Kramer Sighting! Yosemite Edition

So we get back to our van which we had parked by the Cemetery in Yosemite, and what should we see? Could it be?

KRAMER SIGHTING!

Yeah, they had said they had moved, but maybe this was them.

Believability Rating: 60%. It was white and giant, and probably responsible for about one third of the Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. It did have Arizona plates, but that is pretty close to Florida, right? It was parked right next to us, and we had seen this van in Yosemite before. We were going to take a picture of the interior, because it looked like it was well used, BUT THERE WAS SOMEBODY ASLEEP INSIDE!!! So we did not take pictures of the inside. Besides, the person looked Filipino, and so far as we know, none of the Kramers are Filipino.

Not even remotely. Except possible one of the middle children.

Tune in again next time for another edition of KRAMER SIGHTING!

Planning Fail

Husband: "Hey, I got an idea."

Wife: "Oh yeah, what is it?"

H: "It's not supposed to rain this Saturday, or at least not until the evening. Wanna go make a one day trip to Yosemite? We could go visit the Valley and take a couple of short hikes."

W: "Sure. Let's go."

Dawn Over Big Sur: 2 September 2009

Here are some images of Big Sur on the California Coast at Dawn.

Dawn breaking out, with the Star Sirius in the middle of the clouds.

Bixby Bridge, looking towards the West.