Our Thanksgiving  Trip To Big Sur - 2001
For Thanksgiving this year, Ken and I decided to get away from it all. So we rented a lovely silver convertible Mustang; though we never put the top down because it was a.) too chilly b.) too rainy and c.) we didn't want to have to figure out how to get the top up and down. (Mostly c.) The drive from San Francisco to Big Sur, primarily along Highway 1, takes a little over three hours, but there's lot of stuff to do and see along the way. The first thing we did was to drive through the 17 Mile Drive, which rests between Monterey and Carmel.
Here, we got our first spectacular views of the Califonia Coast and the turbulent and rocky waters. We had a nice lunch at the Pebble Beach Gold Club and were awed by the legendary Lone Cyrpus Tree, which is nearly 250 years old and stands out on a rocky ledge over the bay. From here, we drove through the lovely town of Carmel and then back down Highway 1 and a few miles to the Point Lobos State Reserve. Every curve we made we were rewarded with one scenic view after the other. We stayed for an hour and returned for a longer visit on the fourth day of our vacation, as we were eager to get to Big Sur and to our cabin.
We stayed at a wonderful place: The Big Sur Campground And Cabins, which is the first set of campgrounds as you enter Big Sur. Our cabin was rustic, comfortable and just what we needed for a long weekend. We had a bayview window overlooking a rushing river and we were situated right in the middle of a redwood forest grove. We were also fortunate enough to be closeby a general store and the Big Sur River Inn, where we ate a couple of our meals and took pee breaks.
During our 3 nights and four days, we saw the Point Sur Lighthouse, A Carmelite Monestary, A Catholic Mission, the famous Bixby Bridge and many strange and exotic animals. All enjoyed posing with us. We also visited the Monterey Bay Acquarium in beautiful Monterey. Here, Ken almost got eaten by a clam, but we still managed to have a super time. Again, the animals enjoyed posing with us and for us.
But the most serene and beautiful places we visited were the state parks. We hiked alongside a river in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, and saw a waterfall. We hiked again alongside a river in the Andrew Molera State Park, and had lunch on a cliff overlooking a stunningly beautiful bay and beach. And we finished our journey back at the Point Lobos State Reserve, where we were lucky enough to see countless sea lions, many otters, hundreds of birds and two nervous deer. And Kenny saved the life of a stranded and overturned starfish. What a truly magical Thanksgiving we had. (And no turkeys were killed along the way.)
Some local signage (oh and Kenny).
Some of the strange and exotic animals we encountered along the way.
A beautiful, though somewhat overcast, sunset.
Your handsome tourguides.