Pajaro Dunes

Our Tahoe group decided to do something different this year. I think we have been going to Tahoe for over 25 years. But, this year we headed to Pajaro Dunes. It is between Santa Cruz and Monterey. This meant that the ladies could go shopping and have lunch in Carmel. We could bike the 17 mile drive, go to the aquarium, walk on the beach and get to know Elkhorn Slough. We had a beautiful house on the beach. This was a delightful change and I think we all loved it. Every year when we go on vacation, we figure out how long we have been married. We have collectively been married to the same people for 148 years. We also still love to vacation with each other. They are a wonderful group of people and it was such a lovely vacation. Here are some of the pictures to give you a visual.

Elkhorn Slough

We took a guided walk at Elkhorn Slough Reserve. It was fantastic. It was our own private tour and we had 2 guides for 8 of us. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend this tour.

I think I have had too many encounters with snakes this year. This one is just tiny and I didn't step on it, but it's my fourth snake this year. They just like me and I hate them. This was at Elkhorn Slough

Moss Landing

This was a raft of otters at Moss Landing. They are so cute. We saw more in the wild than we did at the aquarium. At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, they cover themselves in black hoods and don't talk when they feed the otters because they love to bond with people.

This otter has a clam in it's hand that it is eating. This guys spent a long time diving, getting a clam and eating. They are hungry little guys...... or girls.

This was a vegetable stand in Moss Landing. It just happend to be near a coffee shop that we seemed to stop at really often.
Quiet Life at Pajaro
Paula and Chet out on the patio.

This was taken from our lower deck.

Monterey Aquarium

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquaium. I hadn't been there since our kids were small. We took a behind the scenes tour and learned lots of interesting behind he scene details.

On the Beach by the house

We took lots of strolls on the beach. As you can see, we never turned our backs to the water. but, the tide was much higher on our walk back to the house than we thought it would be. We had to scramble up on the rocks to stay out of the water. Surprise!

Point Lobos

The next few pictures were taken at Point Lobos. We stopped at the Whaler's Museum and took a short hike.

OK, DB and Paula aren't a couple, but I really liked this picture of them.

We saw lots of blue herons. Also there were plenty of Great Egrets and Snow Egrets. Great place for birding.

Rocky Point Restaurant. Great food, perfect weather and a beautiful view. This isn't very far from Point Lobos.

Biking on the 17 Mile Drive.