17-Mile Drive

A little play time

The morning was a little blustery, almost like a fall day with a threat of rain. What was I thinking when I brought only my thin Minnesota Vikings jacket, the freebie from Sports Illustrated? It turned out to be enough as the day warmed a little and we decided on 17-Mile Drive as our main activity. We were tempted to wait for sun but the forecast wasn't promising so we set off toward Carmel in mid-morning.

Rocks and surf

We entered by the Hwy 1 gate, one of five places to start the drive. At only $10, this has to be one of the best bargains around. The evergreen s forest is fragrant and inviting, and Monterey Bay is often glimpsed through the mature pines, not only at designated stops. There were fewer visitors yesterday than I'd expected, so it was easier to find parking spots, an unexpected benefit of the threat of inclement weather.

My favorite stops are right on the coast, where gulls beg for handouts and the seabirds roost on the rocks. Sea lions bark loudly and frolic in the surf. The famous lone cypress stands above the roaring water below, far from the the cameras clicking behind the chain link fence.

We passed the gated estates with massive homes barely visible from the road. The opulence contrasts sharply with the living conditions of people we saw working in the fields only the day before and I thought to myself that I wouldn't want to live here. There is, of course, absolutely no chance of a future move to this playground of the rich and famous, and brooding over disparities of wealth distribution will have to wait for another day. I took hundreds of pictures, and selected a few of them for the California Facebook album.

The famous "lone dypress"