I've had a wonderful birthday weekend with my son and his family. We took our time driving here--about 6 hours. Route 101 travels close to the coast for the first half of the trip and some stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Then it turns inland and travels through farmland. Here's a link to a map of our route: Piru to Moss Landing, CA. We saw fields of strawberries just starting to ripen, cabbage, celery, broccoli and artichokes. I'd always thought of California as a movie and tourist kind of a place, but it's actually the #1 agricultural state in the U.S. Castroville, one of the last towns we passed through before we got to Moss Landing, is the artichoke capital of the world. The picture of the artichoke field is courtesy of the Pezzini Farms website. Check it out! The restaurants in the area advertise deep fried artichokes. I'll have to try that sometime.
Moss Landing is a cute little town on Monterey Bay (see the link to the map). It has a small downtown with a couple of antique shops and restaurants.
It's a real, working fishing village. One of the last in California. 
We can walk to the beach from our KOA campground, which is on Elkhorn Slough (pronounced "slew"). Elkhorn Slough Reserve is on the Pacific Fly Way, where over 350 bird species have been reported. We took a half-day kayak trip that was one of the neatest things I've every done! Mark and Austin paddled one kayak and Hudson and I did the other. Everywhere you looked there were birds, harbor seals, sea lions and sea otters. The sea otters are absolutely adorable. You just want to hug them! (I'm sure they smell awful, but you get the idea!) The kayak concessionaire told us that we should paddle like heck if they swam toward us, because they'll climb right up onto the kayaks!I'm going to close this blog for now and finish up later. I have some more photos on the camera that I didn't download yet. So stay tuned!
6 comments:
Hi Joyce & Wiley,
We may not be able to do all the traveling we'd like to, but we get to see exciting places through your eyes.
Thanks very much.
Love those sea otters. I never knew how to make artichokes. I ate them once but wasn't overly enthusiastic about eating them leaf by leaf. Wonder what all the fuss is about over them???
Hi Gary and Carol--Nice to hear from you on the blog. (Gary and Carol were fellow Workampers in Muskegon, MI. This is the first time they've commented on my blog, but they've been following it.)
I like artichokes, but you're right, Julie, they're a lot of trouble for a little pleasure! I think it's the butter you dip each leaf in that makes them palatable.
Hey, Tom and Mark,
I just wonder when I'll get to meet you guys again. Do you still remember when one of my daughters, Christina, accompanied you and your mother to Florida? Christina was rooting around in the glove compartment one day and she found a gadget in there that she'd never seen before. Before you all could tell her not to "open" it, she had sprayed herself with mace! I'll tell you what -- she has never forgotten that trip and when we have family get-togethers, the story is often repeated. Other stories get told, too. Remember sightseeing in D.C. and especially swimming together (my four daughters and me) at your grandparent's pool? We all have fond memories of those times in our lives. Be sure to let me know if you get to Florida sometime. I'd love to meet you and your families. Julie
Good grief--I'd forgotten about the mace!
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