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Susan and I took a two-night trip to the Monterey Peninsula, except not Monterey. It was 87 miles to Marina Dunes RV Resort, just north of Monterey, from our coastside home near San Francisco. Marina, California, is near Salinas and adjacent to the old Fort Ord military base.
Being a neurotic landscape photographer, I was on a mission to shoot Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, just south of Monterey. We also planned to visit Pt. Lobos State Natural Reserve in Carmel. I also visited my favorite bridge beside the Golden Gate–Bixby Bridge in Big Sur. Plus, we visited North Marina Beach and Marina State Beach, across the street from the RV park.
The RV site was around 30′ long and $150 per night, or by my calculations, $5 per foot! We would have used the fire ring, but my Jeep tire would have melted. It came to my attention that the nightly rate we paid was the same as the largest sites, so next time, I’ll tell them we’re in a 45-footer. I also checked the rates at a Carmel Valley RV park, and it showed $190-242 per night! California State Parks are your friend at $25-35 per night; just make sure you book a year in advance for summer travel.
Never mind the RV site cost, as I had to photograph the Point Pinos lighthouse! I left the RV park at around 6:00 pm, and as I drove south towards Pacific Grove, it got foggier and foggier. When I arrived, I was shocked to see a very high fence in front of the lighthouse. It showed visiting hours during the week of 1:00 pm -3:00 pm, except for Tuesday and Wednesday, the two days I was staying. I had seen pictures of the rear of the lighthouse facing the ocean.
I didn’t know that a golf course surrounded it, Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links, on three sides. This gem of a lighthouse was built in 1855, the oldest continuously operating on the California Coast, and I’m almost willing to bet $3 that the golf course wasn’t there 169 years ago. I could be wrong. Let’s recap: I had low fog, a high front fence with a locked gate, and a golf course teaming with golfers, plus signs telling me to stay out. I was ready to ask for a tee time but thought better. I walked all around the perimeter of the golf course, looking for unobstructed angles of the lighthouse. It was a long walk in the fog. I decided that I would wait for the days of golfing to end. It finally did at 8:00 pm, and the fog was lifting, and there were some high clouds and color to the west, just in time for the 8:09 sunset. I may or may not have entered the golf course to shoot my photos.
Marina State Beach had dunes that I wanted to check out for photos. But the dunes were roped off. I kept walking and walking down the beach, much like I had walked around the roped-off golf course. I was on the outside looking in once again! I know some areas were roped off to protect the endangered Snowy Plover nesting grounds, but ALL of the dunes? I did see a trailhead to the dunes further south next to Highway One, but I got lost trying to find it. Here’s what they should do: put the golf course on top of Marina Dunes!
Point Lobos is a California State Park Natural Reserve we had never been to, likely because I was always in a hurry to continue south to Big Sur. But then I found out renowned photographer Ansel Adams often hung out there. That was enough for me! We got there, and the parking lot was already full. They don’t allow RVs or dogs. So we parked the Jeep on Highway One and walked in. It’s worth the trip! It was once inhabited by the Ohlone people for around 2,500 years, and it occupied until near the end of the Carmel Mission era in the 1700s. Then, a granite quarry was operated to build the Old Monterey Jail, San Franciso Mint, and portions of Fort Point at the Golden Gate in San Francisco. A bit later, a whaling village was operated by the Carmel Whaling Company from 1862 to 1879. Some 50 movies were shot here in the early days of the film because studios thought it looked like the eastern seaboard. Point Lobos is now visited by more than one million annual visitors, with its 6.4-mile loop trail snaking through the forest and along the ocean bluffs. The ecological reserve was created in 1973 and is known to be one of the richest marine habitats in California.
The night before we were to leave, the fog held back, and the moon didn’t rise until after 10:00 pm, so I seized on the opportunity to shoot the Milky Way above the 280′ high, concrete-arched Bixby Bridge, a shot I had wanted to get for a while. There was some low, unformed fog/haze below the stars, which popped out of the sky nicely, ditto for satellites, some high clouds, and the Milky Way. Headlight beams glowed on the bridge, making for a scene reminiscent of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” It was quite a spectacle, albeit much darker in real life than these photos! This evening was the kind that makes some of the other “inconveniences” of being a neurotic landscape photographer worthwhile. The short drive back to my wife, dogs, and cozy LTV made it all the better!
Pacific Grove, nestled between neighbors Pebble Beach and Monterey, is home to a Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary and the lighthouse and was frequented by novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, writing of Point Pinos lighthouse keeper Allen Luce. Author John Steinbeck and marine biologist friend Ed Ricketts resided here for several years. The Asilomar Conference Grounds are located at the western edge of Pacific Grove. It has a quaint downtown with lots of restaurants, lots of beautiful old wooden homes, and, yes, a golf course.
We had a very nice dinner at the lovely Sanctuary Beach Resort, across the street from the RV Park, in their restaurant called Salt Wood. I couldn’t help but think the room rates couldn’t cost much more than our 30′ RV site! (Not quite, their rooms range from $489 to $847/night.) So that was our brief visit to the Monterey area, without actually going to Monterey.
Susan’s Sidebar:
Though this was a mere 2-night stay, Jeff said I nearly killed him! As a seasoned 25-year RVer, I made an amateur move: I left my fit flops in the bathroom, which Jeff tripped on, nearly causing him to fall backward into the shower. Then he pointed out I had four pairs of shoes strewn about our coach. So, by my calculations, that’s about 6′ per pair or one unhappy hubby. Anyway, Jeff survived not worse the wear or rather pair! My pro tip for future trips: go barefoot or walk lightly! Happy travels, and I hope we meet on the road someday…perhaps at a lighthouse.
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