I haven't been blogging much about the food yet, especially breakfasts, so it is time to play a little catch-up (see what I did there? "catch-up"?). Our first breakfast was of course, after the balloon ride. Our second was at Gillwoods in Napa, in the "city centre", which is a pedestrian mall sort of area, very nice to stroll around in. 
On our second morning in Napa, when we left the motel, we discovered that hundreds of old cars had been driven in and parked all over the downtown, in what was one of many local cars shows that they seem to have in California. Some of the cars were really old, from the 30s but many were also from the 60s and everything in between, with the newest I think being something from the 70s. I am not a gear head. You'll have to look at Peter's pix to see for yourself. 
I thought it was nice that many of the locals brought their dogs to walk around too. 
Gillwoods had the usual breakfast fare and I had two sides - fruit and an English muffin - as I am still watching what I eat in the way of avoiding too much fat and other things. Now that I think of it, I don't think we had any really outstanding (or maybe I should say "unusual") breakfasts while we were there but maybe that was our choice of restaurants.
On our last night in Napa, we decided to go to Zuzu's for a small plates/tapas kind of meal. I remember we had the Sonoma coast lamb chops with Moroccan BBQ glaze and the Albondigas - Niman ranch pork meatballs with PX and piquillo pepper sauce (I don't know what PX is, sorry). And I know we had some other, equally delicious things but nothing looks familiar on the menu we took with us. They support local producers, hence the reference to the ranches and locations of the meat. As usual, we chose a California wine to go with the meal. And as usual, it was good.
We planned to leave the next morning to drive down the coast and end up on the Monterey peninsula. That morning, we had chosen to go to a restaurant within walking distance of the motel and on the river but when we got there at 7:30 am, which was the opening time as written on the door, we found out it didn't open until 8. We talked to someone hosing off the patio and she said they keep meaning to change the sign on the door. So we went for coffee up the street at a coffee place that was open early, and did some people watching of the locals. 
When we went over to breakfast at the appointed hour, we were the second ones in and the breakfast was fine but again, not outstanding. But it was nice to sit outside and enjoy the early sun.
We set the GPS and were off, with Muir Woods National Park as our first destination, on the way to Monterey. Someone had told us it was a must-see and we had not seen any of the giant redwoods AND it was on the way. You don't realize how hilly California is until you are driving hairpin turns and braking down 30 degree slopes and staring down into the abyss from the passenger seat, all the way up and then down the mountains, to get into Muir Woods. It was certainly worth the trip but if you are a nervous driver, I would suggest you let someone else do the driving. 
When we got there, (this was a Sunday morning), the place was packed with tourists and their cars. The first parking lot was full and we crawled over to the "overflow" lots and they were full and then we looked at the parking-on-the-shoulder option offered by the park as a last resort. We gave up and crawled back to the first lot, which still had a large "Full" sign blocking the entrance. We decided to see if maybe someone had already left and our karma was strong that day, as we were just pulling in as someone was leaving and we got a perfect parking spot. 
We then showed up at the park office to pay our entrance fee and discovered it was "free parks day" (or something like that) and we didn't have to pay for anything! Life is good. 
Except for some loud tourists (most people seemed to speak in hushed and reverent tones as we were), it was beautiful. There are several hiking trails in the park and we chose the one that would take about an hour. 
On the way out, we saw yet another deer. I know they are not exotic wild life and we have them up here too, but it is always fun and even a little thrilling to see any wild animals, especially large ones like deer. This one looked right at all the tourists staring at it and nonchalantly continued its way up the stream bed where it had been wandering. 
Then we were off and climbing out of the valley and back onto highway one, heading for the Golden Gate bridge. We thought traffic might not be so bad in the middle of the day on a Sunday and it wasn't. It's a toll bridge and so you have to pay when you get off but they make that pretty easy too. 
By the time we got to Monterey, it was getting to be late afternoon and we chose a motel based on the recommendation in the Lonely Planet guide we had bought before going on the trip. This guide was very thorough and proved to be accurate with everything we used it for and never let us down. It suggested we stay in Pacific Grove, which is right between the much more expensive Monterey and Carmel and they suggested three motels and we chose the Beachcomber Inn.
It also said there was a so-so fish restaurant next to it but we ate there anyway and it was just fine. The Fishwife turned out to be very busy, with many locals eating there. They had a nice selection of different seafood meals and they were cooked well and tasty. AND we had the California wines to go with them. 
The motel is right on the coast and almost on the beach, so we went for a cool walk on the shore. Even after Bodega Bay, I was still surprised at how much cooler it is on the coast. We had brought clothes for a very hot holiday and so I doubled up on t-shirts and wore a jacket and the one cotton scarf I had brought "just in case". The wind whipped in from the ocean and the birds ran in the surf. There were a few hardy souls in wet suits surfing.
A few people walked their dogs on the beach and we came across a seal carcass that had been washed up. On the way back, in the gloaming, we saw the mother and young deer that we had seen stumble across the road on our way out, and they were grazing on the municipal golf course that is one of at least five golf courses there, including Pebble Beach.
I got sand in my shoes and I think some sand flea bites on my ankles but it was lovely.
I was not however, at all tempted to dip my toes in the Pacific, as I had announced I would before I got there.
Don’t forget – we’ll be putting up whole slide shows of pix at Flickr soon. The pix above are merely representative of a bigger and better show to come.
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