Monterey

Robby usually updates the blog, but this post is on me (Kyle). On September 20, Sophia, Grandpa Vocana, and I took a trip to California. We flew into San Jose and met Uncle Jeff, Karlee, Karson, and Kyler at a pizza place for some dinner.  It was nice to see them. We then drove to Monterey and checked into our hotel. The next morning we walked leisurely along the coast toward Fisherman's Wharf. We saw lots of sea lions and harbor seals.

 Later that day we drove up the peninsula to the Point Pinos Lighthouse. It was very interesting learning about the history of this very old, and still in-use, lighthouse. 

 After that we drove down to Carmel and we toured the Carmel Mission. It was a beautiful place with a very rich and important history for the people that settled the Monterey peninsula. 

 On the way back from Carmel we stopped at Asilomar Beach and Sophia had a blast playing in the water and sand. She looks like a little California girl with the bleach blonde hair and the sunglasses. 

 Tuesday morning we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We spent most of the day there because there is so much to see. Too many things that I didn't take enough pictures. We loved seeing the sea otters being fed and learning about the rescue efforts that the staff at the aquarium participate in to save so many marine animals. We learned about tide pools and got to touch some sea creatures. 

 I had to throw in a picture of our rental car. I booked an economy car but it was due for an oil change so they were going to upgrade me to a Buick. That car was due for an oil change also so they upgraded me again, this time to a 2015 Mercedes Benz C300. They twisted my arm a little and then I finally agreed. 

 After the aquarium we drove part of the 17-mile drive down to Pebble Beach and back. This was a very beautiful stretch of road with some impressive real estate. On the way down we stopped off at the beach again, this time at Seal Rock. The rock out in the water, as you can see by the photo below, is covered by harbor seals. The downside of this was that it was super stinky from all of the seal poo. I let Sophia take the camera and she got this shot and the one of her feet and seagull tracks in the sand. 

 Wednesday morning we said goodbye to Monterey and headed up the coast to Santa Cruz. There were harbor seals everywhere. Sophia enjoyed getting up close with the seals and loved chasing the seagulls and pigeons. 

 Just north of Santa Cruz we stopped at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and did a short hike among the majestic and breathtakingly tall redwood trees. It was hard to take good pictures of them because they are so tall and wide at the base. The tallest one in this park is 277 feet and 17 feet wide at the base. There was also one of the trees that is hollowed out at the base. This past summer they were able to get 86 people inside the hollowed out portion. 

From there we drove up to San Jose and stayed the night in a hotel there. We took a taxi to the airport (Grandpa & Sophia's first taxi ride ever) Thursday morning and then flew home. It was wonderful to be home with the family again. We had a great time together and it was nice having Grandpa Vocana come with us. It was a last-minute decision to have him come because we determined that Robby wouldn't be able to come so that she could stay home and take care of Liam. It would have been wonderful to have Robby with us, but looking back, it was clear that it was the best decision for Liam.  We saw some beautiful and educational things. It was a good trip.