Saturday, October 25, 2019
We had a long stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway we wanted to cover over the next couple of days. We decided to start north of where we were staying.
Our first stop was Natural Bridges State Beach.
This is all that is left of the natural bridges that used to be here…the rest has washed into the ocean.
Jeshuah and Jeremiah really wanted to climb it but couldn’t.
Come walk with me…
There are rocks off to the side that you can climb on and also view tide pools in the rocks.
Audrah wanted a “splash” video.
There are a bunch of tide pools in these rocks.
This is how they keep water in them.
Sea anemone and a couple of crabs.
A bunch of sea anemones.
Brothers helping Kyrah get over a scary jump in the rocks.
This is the water that was rushing up that crevice that she was scared to cross over.
Jeremiah getting across.
I like splash videos.
Then we walked into the woods to see the monarch butterflies that return here on their yearly migration.
Big trees out here!
The monarchs travel back to this eucalyptus grove every year. These particular returning butterflies are the 4th generation from the ones that left last year. Unbelievable!
Notice in the videos how they cluster…
Next, we stopped at Seacliffs State Beach. Nice thing about the state beach/parks here in CA is if you have paid to get into one, that receipt will get you into any other state beach/park on that same day. Since we had already paid admission to the Natural Bridge park, we got in Seacliffs for free.
This beach has a semi-sunken concrete ship at the end of the pier… here is the info about it from their website:
In 1910 a Norwegian civil engineer named Fougner thought of using concrete to build ships. It wasn’t until 1917, when wartime steel shortages required the use of cement for construction that Fougner’s idea was used. Three concrete ships were built. Two, the Peralta and the Palo Alto, were built at the U.S. Naval Shipyard in Oakland, California while the third, the Faith, was built in a shipyard in Redwood City, California. The Peralta and the Palo Alto were built for wartime use as tankers, however World War One ended before ship construction was finished — so they were never used.
The Palo Alto remained docked in Oakland until 1929, when the Cal-Nevada Company bought the ship with the idea of making her into an amusement and fishing ship. Her maiden voyage was made under tow to Seacliff State Beach. Once positioned at the beach, the sea cocks were opened and the Palo Alto settled to the ocean bottom. By the summer of 1930 a pier had been built leading to the ship, the ship was remodeled. A dance floor on the main deck was added, also a cafe in the superstructure was built, as was a fifty-four foot heated swimming pool, and a series of carnival type concessions were placed on the afterdeck. The Cal-Nevada Company went broke after two seasons — then the Palo Alto was stripped, leaving the ship and the pier to be used only for fishing.
Cliffs or bluffs across from the beach
As we drove to these various beaches we were amazed at how much farmland we were passing through. Lots of strawberries, brussel sprouts, broccoli, greenhouses etc.
Prepping to put in strawberries.
We stopped at a produce stand to get some kiwi, strawberries and grapes.
One more state beach on our way back to the motor home. Fort Ord Dunes State Beach. This was definitely a favorite…getting to climb dunes (my kids are climbers if you hadn’t noticed).
Walking to the beach through the dunes.
I cannot get over how turbulent the waves are here on the Pacific.
Notice how emerald green the seaweed looks on the beach.
Jed made it down without going face first into the dune.
We stayed for sunset.
It was a busy day. We really enjoyed the coast. More tomorrow!!