Adventures with Kristen A! Part One

My friend Kristen from Florida is in town visiting for the week.  She got into town on Thursday night and is heading out late Saturday night.  Friday was a great start to the week as my other friend's Jim and his wife Trisha also came into town that afternoon.  Before they arrived though Kristen and I got to do some tide-pooling down at Lover's Point and saw a ton of inverts, some unfamiliar to both of us and a lot of birds; we even made friends with a very audacious cormorant!  Once Jim and Trisha arrived we all headed down to the aquarium to show them around and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it.  From the aquarium we headed to El Torito for happy hour to meet up with a bunch of people from town and another old friend, my friend Ashley that I used to work with in the Keys.

This was a great time with a large group of people and a great chance for everyone to meet up and make new friends.  Around 8:30 we headed back home where the girls stayed in and the boys went back out for the night.  Unfortunately the rest of this evening will be summed up to the fact that people in this town are friggin crazy!  But we survived the psycho Californian attack in what can only be compared to a really great episode of Jersey Shore (so I hear).

The next morning we got in the Focus and started off towards Pebble Beach via the 17-mile drive.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to embark on this journey; blue skies and sunshine while looking out at the clear blue ocean and calm seas.  This was my second time on this road but it was just as magnificent if not more this time.  We all took a lot of pictures, learned a few things, saw some whale spouts, and ended up on the beautiful greens of Pebble Beach.  The inside of the Lodge was spectacular with a view overlooking the water just behind the 18th green.  An absolutely perfect afternoon!

We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant in Carmel with easily the best pizza I've had here in California so far.  Post-feast Jim and Trisha had to head back north to San Francisco and eventually take a flight back to Boston.  Once they took off, around 3:00 Kristen and I headed out for some more tide-pooling and ended up exploring Asilomar State Beach.  This spot was even better than Lover's Point with a plethora of anemones and sea stars.  We also ventured out to a far point, a nice giant rock formation a bit off the coast only accessible by hopping from rock to rock in an effort to get to the top and back before the tide came in, forcing us to swim back!  Well we made it with ease, enjoyed the spectacular view and after a bunch of more pictures we headed back home.

A great start to the week!  Part 2 coming soon...