July 20
We decided to leave Yosemite a day early to give us more time in Monterey, CA for Ethan’s birthday and to have more time to visit with Esther’s family who were all meeting us there.
Once again William discovered a potential problem with our camper. This time the hubs on one side were getting too hot. After adding some more grease to the wheel bearings, we proceeded slowly to Monterey. Rosa and Nicole followed behind us, keeping an eye on our wheels. After about 6 hours we pulled into Monterey Pines RV Campground, a facility run by the US Navy MWR.
July 21
Today is Ethan’s 11th birthday!
We all headed into Monterey, CA. Sea lions were sunbathing on rocks. We drove through famous Cannery Row and then along Ocean View Drive where we stopped to play on the rocky shore. We all had fun exploring the tidal pools, finding hermit crabs, crabs, barnacles, limpets, lots of sea anemones, and other strange creatures. Rosa liked carefully poking her finger in the center of the anemones and watching them curl up around her. Many kinds of kelp with interesting colors and textures were washed up among the rocks. Unfortunately, it was a dreary, cloudy morning with off and on sprinkles. Rosa called it misting. We circled back around to Fisherman’s Wharf where we all had lunch. Clam chowder was served in sourdough bread bowls. With the cool, damp weather it hit the spot. We spied a sea otter in the bay and a few more sea lions.
In the afternoon Tom and Esther’s brother Charlie met us at the campground. We hadn’t seen Charlie in over 5 years. We played some badminton and afterward celebrated Ehtan’s birthday with cake and ice cream.
We all drove north to Moss Landing to Phil’s Fishmarket, a world-famous seafood restaurant in a tiny town. After a delicious dinner, we walked out on the beach to see what people were so intently looking at. Sure enough, a few humpback whales were swimming by in the sunset. William managed to get a few pictures, even of some of the flukes.
We drove back to the campground to find the entrance gate locked, the fence topped with barbed wire. We had forgotten to take along the paper with the gate code. William tried to call the only number posted on the gate, the military police. No one answered. Rosa suggested someone walk along the outside of the fence and behind the campground in order to get another camper’s attention. She took off on that mission without the rest of us noticing. In the meantime another camper pulled behind us and let us in, sternly suggesting we not forget the code again. Then we realized we were one person short and picked Rosa up. Unseen she had slipped inside the open gate before it closed behind us.
Rosa, Tom, Charlie and Nicole headed back to their hotel room. We hoped to briefly get together again in the morning while we waited for the RV repair shop to check out our wheels.
July 22
In the early morning we took the camper to an RV repair shop in Salinas, CA. While they worked on the axles, we had breakfast at a nearby IHOP, then met Rosa, Tom, Charlie, and Nicole, and drove to Ft. Ord State Beach north of Monterey. This stretch of beach once belonged to the military. We walked among the tall dunes to the beach where the boys had a great time playing with the various kelp that had washed ashore. The weather was warm and sunny, a definite improvement over the misting dreariness of yesterday morning.
We said our goodbyes as everyone had to head home and we had to pick up our camper. By the time we were ready to hit the road again, it was 3pm, much too late to stick completely to our schedule…
The Davids' Cross-Country Trip 