Labor Day weekend at the cottage

Honeymoon

Sunday, August 5

We received many wonderful, thoughtful gifts at our wedding. Then there was Todd and Andrea's gift. When they found out we were leaving early Sunday morning for our honeymoon, they strongly suggested we open their gift because "she was hungry". And here she is, the newest addition to our family:

T'andrea "Bitey" Leja, the pregnant hamster

Several hours later we were in San Francisco. From there we had about a 180 mile drive along Highway 1 to get to the resort in Big Sur. Although the address of the resort we stayed in is Big Sur, it was actually about 10 miles south of Lucia. Big Sur generally refers to the coastline from the Carmel in the north down to Cambria in the south.

Airline food really isn't what it used to be, so we stopped for some authentic California cuisine.

Here we are at Pebble Beach State Park. Not to be confused with the golf course much further down the highway.

Is this thing on?

Big waves

Farther down the coast, just north of Monterey, the weather cleared and we stopped at a strawberry farm.

Carolyn showing off her Ohio roots

Yum.

Cows go on vacation, too.

Just south of Monterey we stopped at the other Pebble Beach.


After passing the Monterey Peninsula, the coast pretty much looks like this for about 90 miles. It is mostly state parks with a few private residences and hotels spread between them.

Stopping to enjoy the scenery before the light fades

We finally made it to Treebones Resort after dark.

Yurt sweet yurt

Monday, August 6

We got a better view of the place in the daylight.

Like a donkey eating a waffle

View from the deck where we had breakfast.

Pool & hot tub

Main Lodge

View from our yurt

We took a guided tour the first day to get a feel for the area. Our guide took us and another family to three state parks along the coast. The first one (name?) had been used as a source of timber in the 1800's and was later used by moonshiners during prohibition.

Cove where ships were loaded with timber and moonshine. The post is what is left of the loading mechanism.

Carolyn contemplating life as a bootlegger.

Tunnel through which cargo was hauled to the ships. Notice the dry scrub vegetation - this is the south-facing side.

And on the north side of the tunnel, a redwood forest.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Note the sweet Steve Irwin style shorts

This beach was created after road crews pushed debris from a landslide into the ocean several miles up the coast in 1982.

Lime Kiln State Park


We stopped for a gourmet lunch.

Ross, our tour guide, is on the left. The rest of the people are the family of the woman in the dumb white hat. She spent the entire day comparing California to where she was from in Connecticut.

Big tree.

In the late 1800s, limestone was mined here for use as a building material in San Francisco. Before it was shipped, the lime was heated in giant redwood-fired kilns to burn off impurities.

Big kiln with little tree growing out of it.

Carolyn fording a raging river. She is an extreme athlete.

Not to be outdone, Chris free-climbed this massive stone face.

Nature

Carolyn looking inside a tree to see if anyone left any presents for her.

Waterfall. The flow is low because it is dry season. Notice how it is built out away from the original rock face. Lime dissolves in the water and is redeposited on the waterfall, pushing it outward.

Aww.

Tuesday, August 7


We decided to go out on our own and explore a bit.

First stop.

Doesn't look like much of a beach, why are we here?

More extreme athleticism.

Hmm, those rocks look green, like jade almost.

The jade hunter.

Carolyn was upset that she had to carry a backpack full of rocks.

Sand Dollar Beach

Second stop.

"I don't see any sand dollars."

Pretty sure this isn't one.

Chris used his engineering skills to build this massive monument.


Carolyn was very impressed.

Andrew Molera State Park


Carolyn picked out an 8 mile hike to try.

Chris standing in front of the largest poison oak bush he's ever seen.

We made it to the top!