Big Sur!
It's one of the most beautiful places I've been I think. yup.

Andrew Molera State Park, Bluffs/Ridge Trail Loop
Very beautiful, not very developed, and not many people:)
"That's the way uh huh uh huh I like it..."

Pink Sand!
This was at a secluded beach off the trail on a spur called the Spring trail.
We had lunch in a little drift wood bench in a protected cove right before the trail got to the beach- peaceful bubbling spring, chirping birds, graceful butterflies...

Pink Sand in my teeth!

Shadow Monsters on the metamorphic sedimentary swirly rocks.

Top of the ridge with super- skydiving-power winds that almost blew us into the ocean...
almost.

Big Sur Coast line on the way to Julia Pfeiffer State Park (about 10 miles past our turn off for the Pine Ridge Trail in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park)
a happy little accident as Bob Ross would say:)Pine Ridge Trail up to Sykes Hot Springs.
10 miles in and back, we spent two nights backpacking with great spots sleeping next to the big sur river

poison oak is everywhere! beware.

The Trail is alush meandering through canyons and around mountains with towering redwoods shooting up beside you on the trail and mountainesque views the whole time! The West is the best! (The East is the least...for more on this you can refer to the AT blog from last summer...) PCT is for me- I need the mountain views and rivers and lakes and hot springs please!!

Me in our cozy spot with our tarp tent- easy, light and quick. We use trees or hiking poles to pitch the tarp, then have a smaller net tent that goes underneath to keep the bugs out... There weren't many mosquitos, but I did get my very first tick this trip, how exciting. It was in my back of all places, those little guys are sneaky and tiny. Thanks to Jimmy and Marylyn, a cute older couple that let us borrow the tweezers, and to Glenn for pulling it out...Just for the books, if you ever get a tick, the match on the butt is not a good strategy, it just kills the tick, then you can't get the head out. I don't think peanut butter is effective either, according to the tick pamphlet we got at the ranger station it's best to just pull em straight out with some tweezers. Again thank you Jimmy and Marlyn. I think I might just put some tweezers in the first aid kit now.

Here are some haikus we wrote by the river:

Campfires and campers
bodies in a circle sit
Brothers and sisters

pot coated w/food
smells like good things are cooking
even when they're not

River oh river
always whispering words of peace
stay with us tonight

golden branches soar
ripples dance their way down stream
ancient giants watch

Dusk fills the valley
shapes and voids become sharper
such a peaceful time

illumination
heat creeps up from underneath
blue flames dance upward

calm, peaceful and wise
flowing down the mountain side
clear syrup of life

The lucsious trailThe lucious river valley! I love mountains!

Monterey Bay at Asilomar State Park
We went tide pooling here and without much luck realized we could see all the best of the best at the aquarium...Monterey Bay Aquarium
This is an amazing place.

Jelly Fish- these are amazing to watch, especially the tiny baby ones.

Sea anenomes!

Sea Otters- this is the big new exhibit right now, we got to see them during feeding time, then watched them play in the Bay during dinner at El Torritos right on the ocean front.

Coral, lots of different kinds: brain coral, velvet coral, staghorn coral, spiny coral or something like that...Lots of these reefs are dying over the world because of pollution and raising ocean temperatures..sad they're so beautiful.

The kelp tank.. Kelp can grow 1.5 feet a day and 75 feet tall- they must have the moving ocean to grow and thrive, so they have a way to simultate the ocean tides to keep this exhibit alive and well.

The aquarium is really impressive, we also saw sharks and rays and touch pools and interprative displays...they integrate their mission of conservation into their facilities and programs too: the toilets have low flush handles (you pull up for liquid waste and it doesn't use as much water) have signs on the paper towels that say: towels=trees, they encourage you to recycle plastic bags (they look like jelly fish and fish eat them, making them feel full, but giving them no nutrients) and give out Sea Watch guides to let you know what fish is the most appropriate to eat in order to save the ocean environments: check it out here and help keep the oceans healthy: http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx
What a cool place.
Yay for our oceans! It is a totally different world under there...