Monterey -- Report 5 Pacific Grove

Pacific Grove, which sets on the point of Monterey Peninsula, had its annual Good Old Days celebration this past weekend, so we went. Things started with a parade -- an entertaining collection of small-town Americana -- and the festivities also featured many arts, crafts, and food booths, plus music on multiple stages. Weather was great. I was having camera trouble -- didn't realize at first that the memory chip was full -- so I don't have the pictures I thought I would.

This group called themselves the balloon band, or boys. They had large inflated donuts around their waists, then were draped in white and carried mops. Inspired. Look like sugar bowls or salt shakers. They had appeared in big-time parades like the Indy 500. Brought to mind some parade way back in our travels that had a folding lawn-chair precision drill team. They were a big hit. And a hoot.

After lunch and some Susie jewelry-shopping through the booths, we drove and walked along the coast for a while. Gorgeous carpet of flowers along the way.

Pacific Grove is the former home of friend Pat Young, of Bastrop, TX, formerly Cedar Crest. She and Wayne met and wed in Pacific Grove. Not long ago they celebrated their 50th anniversary by coming back to PG, as they stayed here. She'd told us about the wonderful B&B they stayed in, so we called Pat and got the address and drove by. Definitely a classy looking place. I think the tilt in the first picture has something to do with the San Andreas Fault -- not my fault.

PG has lots of nice well-preserved houses and inviting shops and restaurants, so we'll be back. Various folks had recommended that we live in PG while we're here and we can see why.

This is an antique shop down town.

Sunday afternoon I took a bike ride that ended up heading down the coastal trail toward Monterey -- a trail that will eventually take you to the PG coastal scene above. However, my front gear shift wasn't shifting. I had stopped and was trying to diagnose the problem and another cyclist stopped and helped out. He actually had tools, but after a futile attempt to tighten the cable we discovered that the cable was broken. Fortunately, though, he knew that we were just across the highway from an REI and they would have bike mechanics on duty. They did and within an hour I was on the way and soon back home.

Then on Monday, in a continuing burst of fitness-focus, I decided to try the bus connection to Monterey. That required a half-hour walk to the bus stop, then a half-hour bus trip to the campus. Not bad at all. Then, when I came back to Marina, Susie had walked over to meet me at the bus stop and we walked back to the Dunes. Very cold wind blowing off the bay -- balmy weather gone for a while. Anyhow, the bus will be a good option (only $1 for seniors!) and make the car more available for Susie. Moreover, she kindly says she will drive me to the bus stop whenever I want her to. What a deal!

Well, that's about all the excitement there is here for now.

Oh, incidentally we're going to San Francisco (I should say The City) the 24th of April and will stay most of the weekend. If anybody has any do-not-miss recommendations, pls. let us know. We enjoy hearing from you, so keep in touch.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob