Monterey Bay December 2014

There was rain during the start of the week, and offshore weather provided very confused trains of waves with spray popping up all over the place.

Collisions of different wave groups made for interesting results.

Everyone was bundled up, but the shore was popular when the sun was shining.

The visitors - us...

The fire pit has been doubled and enhanced over the past year.

We enjoyed some Dungeness Crab Louie and Sand Dab sandwich at the Sandbar Bar and Grill on the Monterey commercial pier

It went well with Kali Hart Chardonnay - a very good Talbott's wine.

Kids were enjoying the playground at the resort when it wasn't raining.

I have my doubts about the owl keeping other birds away from the restaurants on the wharf.

Grace, an owner of Loulou's griddle in the middle on the pier proudly showed her enthusiasm for horses and roping cattle on her truck.

The veterinarian in Pacific Grove proudly displays the types of treatments available. Online reviews indicate she's very successful helping animals that have not experienced improvement elsewhere...

One task during this stay was to evaluate Apple computing products, with a goal of experiencing a more supportive user interaction experience. Here I'm evaluating some of my photos online using the new iMac 5k computer. This system sold itself in a few minutes of interaction.

We were also looking for a more positive computing experience compared with our laptop computers, and Janet liked this MacBook Pro. We're hoping for the best.

The lady at the Pacific Grove Visitors Center gave us a handout that told of a free dinner available at Mando's Restaurant that night. We made a point of looking it up. The food was good, healthy fare, and it was, indeed, free. An opportunity to make a donation was provided. The other diners were from around the area, and a local police officer chatted with several table groups. It was a friendly place and clientele.

A suggestion from the PG visitors center for breakfast was Holly's Lighthouse Cafe. As we were driving down the main street nearing the Cafe, we saw a large group of kids - all in red - walking down the sidewalk toward the Cafe. As we parked and came closer we found they were inside, serenading those inside with Christmas carols.

Holly's is pleasant inside, not too large, with varied diners from locals stopping in to a family with a man in dress Naval Aviator uniform - getting ready to go to a local institute graduation.

An informative menu provides lots of options, augmented by offerings on the blackboard. We were intrigued by the ollalieberry pie...

We ordered one slice - delicious - then we ordered another slice to take with us for later. Then we asked what a reasonable shelf life was for such an extraordinary pie - 2 days - and we ordered a whole pie to take to Cory and Erin's, to be picked up a few days later.

It pays to keep an eye on the message boards - they offer rewards!

The PG Visitors Center also suggested visiting the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, so we drove west to the parking area and walked in. We found one photographer with a big 500mm lens keeping an eye on the masses of butterflies in a couple of trees, then, further on, we found some docents and volunteers monitoring the butterflies and answering questions.

I wandered down the path and found a bush that was apparently of great interest to the butterflies.

When the butterflies are awake and take to flight, they need to find a source of food right away.

Several flower clusters were hosting visiting Monarchs.

The docents also have put together an information display about the butterflies.

They talked about how they had been tagging the butterflies with tiny stickers indicating they had been in Pacific Grove.

A number of butterflies in Santa Cruz were observed to have Pacific Grove tags on them, showing that the butterflies don't limit themselves to one destination.

These are clusters of butterflies attached to trees in the Sanctuary.

In Monterey, we saw an interesting sign for Mrs. Delish's Cupcake Boutique.

We found they had cupcakes (small and large) with a variety of fillings and icings, salads, and pot pies in many flavors.

The next day we went to Loulou's on the commercial pier in Monterey. This is toasting a sourdough loaf becoming a bowl for clam chowder.

Janet got this soup and salad combo.

I got the fish and chips, with salad swapped for chips plus some chowder. The breading on the fish was so incredibly light it didn't get in the way of enjoyment.

Benito the chef, on the left, and his very capable helper, made every stay at Loulou's interesting and informative. Sitting at the counter gave us the best access.

Benito told us that they would be serving abalone sliders over the weekend, and gave us a set of commercially raised abalone shells. We had previously visited the abalone farming operation further down the pier.

We spent a lot of time in Carmel Valley Village while we were in the area. We have some favorite wineries in the area, and the people were very interesting.

This is Summer (Google refugee) and Cowboy Pete at the Parsonage Winery tasting room.

Cowboy Pete drives a tractor/wagon rig to take wine tasters among several of the wineries and restaurants in Carmel Valley Village. We learned more about that later. Here he's noting advice about good places to eat in the area.

We also met Aussie Rob, a working cowhand on a ranch in the valley and a roping instructor at Cowgirl Winery tasting room.

When we showed an interest in Cowgirl Winery, Cowboy Pete gave us a ride over there. Aussie Rob was already holding court.

This a fun place, with bocce ball courts, a space to practice roping, and other fun features.

Here's Aussie Rob was demonstrating roping technique in the roping pen. The target steer was kinda slow...