Moss Landing to Carmel, CA

2/18/05 - Painting Class near Monterey
Today we moved the coach over to the Moss Landing RV Park, where we had stayed in January. On the way we stopped for lunch in San Juan Bautista and had lunch at Jardines, which is a great place to eat. Not only is the food excellent, but it is very picturesque and there was even a colorful rooster looking for scraps on the patio.

Pepper Tree in San Juan Bautista

Before moving on we spent a little time exploring some of the very interesting shops and galleries in San Juan Bautista(Map). If you are ever in San Benito County, you could easily spend a day in San Juan Bautista, eating great Mexican food, exploring the San Juan Bautista Mission and checking out the town.

Moss Landing is a rather interesting little town, with a big marina and a power plant, about 30 miles north of Monterey, CA. My wife Dayadevi will be taking a painting class in Marina Dunes, which is about half way between Moss Landing (Map) and Monterey, for the next few days.

2/20/05 - Water Fowl in Marina Dunes
Yesterday morning after taking Dayadevi to her class I spent some time watching and photographing a large flock of water fowl, which included these Graylag Geese, Canadian Geese, Domestic Geese , Sea Gulls and Ducks of many varieties. It was great fun.

Monterey Bay

2/21/05 - Monterey and Pacific Grove
While my wife was in class today with Heather Redick (a fabulous tole painter from Canada), her companion Percy and I drove down to Monterey and Pacific Grove (Map) for a few hours. We had a great time getting to know one another and exploring the beautiful Monterey Bay. We even stopped to check out an old Ford Fairlane he was considering purchasing.

When we got back to the class I took some photos of the participants. You don't find very many men in these classes, so I was particularly interested in this couple who has been painting together for many years.

2/22/05 - Moss Landing and Carmel
This morning we stopped to check out some of the cool little shops in Moss Landing. Here is one of the many antique shops. This one was particularly unusual because it had a big plastic horse standing on the second floor balcony.

Carmel Sunset

Then we headed down to Carmel (Map) for the afternoon. Carmel by the Sea is a very beautiful, upper class community and tourist trap. We spent some time exploring the many shops, including two Thomas Kinkade galleries and then went down to the beach and watched the sunset.