On our way to Monterey

  Last week at this time we were in Monterey.  We left on Sunday morning and actually did quite a bit of exploring before we even got there.

 

  This is Capitola.  Capitola is very near to Santa Cruz, both great beach towns.  We stopped here on our way to Monterey just to check it out.  The kids rode their bikes along a path above the beachfront while we watched surfers and paddleboarders just off shore.

 

Ava enjoyed the beach from up above.

 

  We could hear a lot of sea lions barking, but weren't sure where they were coming from until we walked a little further along the path.  There were a lot of them swimming around with their heads popping in and out of the water.  It appears they were feeding on a herring ball.  I was so fascinated by this!

 

  Then we realized there were dolphins out there too!  They were swimming with the sea lions trying to get the herring.  This was just so fun and amazing to see right from land.  Unfortunately, it was kind of stinky there too.  The carnage from the feeding was washing up on shore and it was pretty smelly.  The birds flying all around was not my favorite part either (you would have hated them, Cort!). 

 

 We drove into downtown Capitola and hit the beach again.  It took some coaxing to get this shot, but we did it!!

Otherwise you would have gotten this.  Well, I guess you got both anyway.  :)

  Something caused the birds to just take off all at once and they flew right over us.  Mike and I were pretty sure we got pooped on because we both screamed as we felt something wet drop on us.  Surprisingly and thankfully, there was no poop to speak of.  We figured the birds must have been wet.  Still incredibly gross.

 

  We only had about a 45 minute drive from Capitola to Monterey.  Since it was naptime we extended our drive past Monterey to 17-mile drive, Pebble Beach, and Carmel.  It was all gorgeous!  We finally got into Monterey around 3:30 pm and you will see those pictures tomorrow!!