Our first leg of the trip was driving up Hwy 1 from Los Angeles to Monterey, a drive which hugs the dramatic Pacific coast the majority of the way.
The one thing you can’t experience through the pictures is the smell. The cold ocean air moving over the wildflowers and grass creates a sweet aroma that rivals desert rain for my favorite olfactory experience.
Also pictures really don’t give the full sense of the severity of the drop offs.
Here is Laura on some “pig trails” we found down to the ocean.
McWay Falls
Bixby Bridge
Elephant Seals
Which we dubbed “Giant Fish smelling, Fart sounding, Slug Dogs” which is pretty self explanatory.
This is one of two very small cliff-hugging dirt roads we found.
The Salinas Valley
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Laura watching some Jelly fish (which look flat in this pic due to the glass).
The Sea Otters are worth the price of admission.
Our first leg of the trip was driving up Hwy 1 from Los Angeles to Monterey, a drive which hugs the dramatic Pacific coast the majority of the way. 
The one thing you can’t experience through the pictures is the smell. The cold ocean air moving over the wildflowers and grass creates a sweet aroma that rivals desert rain for my favorite olfactory experience.
Also pictures really don’t give the full sense of the severity of the drop offs. 
Here is Laura on some “pig trails” we found down to the ocean.
McWay Falls
Bixby Bridge
Elephant Seals
Which we dubbed “Giant Fish smelling, Fart sounding, Slug Dogs” which is pretty self explanatory.
This is one of two very small cliff-hugging dirt roads we found.
The Salinas Valley
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Laura watching some Jelly fish (which look flat in this pic due to the glass).
The Sea Otters are worth the price of admission. 
1 comment:
I know just the smell you're talking about, and I had almost the exact same thought about it. It reminded me a little bit of the smells of sage and alfalfa after a heavy rain, but sweeter and sharper, and it was heavenly. I spent an absurd amount of time trying to figure out which plant(s) made the largest contribution so that I could press some and bring it home, but I never figured it out.
It occurs to me that one of the longer stretches of beach you didn't get to drive was exactly the one I spent a whole weekend exploring. We should mind-meld, for the continuity! :)
Seriously, though, we should get together and swap ocean stories. I had such an amazing time, and it sounds like you guys did, too.
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