Hi Everyone and welcome back to our very popular California Expedition Series. Let's get right to it!
Day 8 - Leaving Calistoga and Arriving at Carmel Valley
So this was our last morning at the Hacienda. Carmel Valley was about a 3 hour drive away, and I think our check-in time was at 3 pm, so we hung around the house in the morning and partook in one of our favorite activities of the trip...bird watching. Every day, birds came to visit this bubbling fountain next to the porch to drink and cool off.
We also saw some other visitors - quail, who were very skittish and did not come to the fountain - and Glenn even saw a young buck one morning.
Anyway, I had brought my SuperZoom camera on the trip, but hadn't used it much - most of the pics you've seen have been taken on our iPhones. So, on our last morning, I decided to get some close-ups of the birds.
I think I mentioned before that we had some very talkative ravens that were always around (we called them Internet, Wi-fi and Dial-up). Here are some pics of our pal, Internet. You can tell he is chatting to me throughout the photoshoot. So intelligent!
Throughout the trip, we saw lots of hummingbirds, but every time I tried to take a picture, they were gone before I could even reach for my camera. I told Glenn that I would never be able to get a picture of one.
But on this very special morning, a miracle happened. I kept trying to get pics of the hummingbirds and failing, and then this one little guy decided to spend like 5 minutes taking a bath in the fountain. And so, I took 100,000 pictures of him. (He was tiny - like less than an inch tall.) So here is my special surprise. And lucky for you, I narrowed this down to 10 pics.
I love all the water droplets in the air too! |
"I'm clean and ready for my close-up!" |
Victory! EEEEEEEE! So exciting! Without the SuperZoom I just saw a dark little blur.
Ok. Thanks for humoring me.
Anyway, then we packed up and headed to Carmel Valley Ranch, which was beautiful. Here is the lobby and restaurant area...
And then our accomodations were in a seperate set of buildings up on the bluffs.
This was off our balcony.
And this was the hillside behind us.
After checking in, we walked back to the restaurant for dinner.
The Ranch has a golf course, it's own vineyards, a lavender garden, hiking trails, a big beehive area (they make their own honey), a corral for a bunch of animals (they make their own goat's milk cheese as well), a pool, spa, and much more.You'll see some of these things later in the blog, such as the golf course and vineyards below.
There were a bunch of woodpeckers hanging out there too. (Back to my phone)
Got this guy mid-jump |
I should also mention that it got quite chilly in the evenings here - it was probably 15 - 20 degrees colder here than in the Napa Valley.
When we got back to the room, Glenn had arranged for a treat - chocolate-covered strawberries, Prosecco, and MORE roses!
All in all, an amazing day!
Day 9 - The Ranch and Monterey
The morning of Day 9, we walked around the ranch...as you can see, it's gorgeous.
Then we walked up to the corals to see their menagerie of animals, where I pet a lot of noses. Of course, there were many turkeys along the way.
Scratch my nose! |
Hello! |
Here's a video - turn on the sound for the full experience.
After our morning walk, we went to Monterey. We started at Cannery Row, which was kinda meh and cold, but then found the Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf which was much nicer...(it kinda had a boardwalk feel) and the day warmed up around lunch time. We found a place with a great gluten free pizza there.
It was there we spotted some sea critters.
We went to dinner in Carmel but it was once again very cold and damp - Carmel is a cute little town but we didn't really stick around. Came back to the ranch and had complementary s'mores at their fire pit.
Ok - that feels like enough for now. I'll do one last installment to finish out our trip in Big Sur. Stay tuned! Love you!
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