Monterey, California

I love visiting Monterey. Not only is it a cute town with plenty of great hiking and farm fresh produce nearby, I get to spend time with two of my closest friends (and their dog!).

 

Pinnacles National Park was beautiful with a fantastic trail that took us high up to a gorgeous view of the California landscape.

 

We hiked through a couple of caves along the way.

 

We found a pair of juvenile turkey vultures preening on a rock.

 

I came upon a garter snake sunning itself on the trail. We were surprised it hadn't moved away before we were upon it, but as long as we stayed still, the snake didn't bother to move.

 

Over the course of the day, we also saw deer, lizards, squirrels, and this stellar blue jay.

 

The pine cones are so ridiculously enormous, they dwarf Mini Bear!

 

Another perk of visiting my friends is getting my own behind the scenes tour of Monterey Bay Aquarium, where they both work.

 

I saw the sea otters being fed and also got to visit two otters not presently on exhibit. There was a small window just above the water line on the tank and when I put my hand in the window as instructed, an otter came up and slapped my hand. My first sea otter high five!

 

Outside, a seal lay lazily on a rock while sea otters in the kelp forest peered at kayakers. Just that morning, two juvenile and three adult orca whales were spotted passing through the bay! I missed the whales by a couple of hours, so now I've missed orca sightings in two continents!

 

I checked out the psychedelic jellyfish exhibit.

 

From the top of the aquarium's impressive one million gallon tank, I got to watch hammerhead sharks and the odd looking mola fish (pictured) being fed.

 

Today I learned that a group of sea otters is called a raft and a group of sharks is fittingly called a shiver. I watched a short presentation about how wildlife have inspired inventors and learned that one of the designers of Japan's famous bullet trains was a bird enthusiast and, after watching the kingfisher bird dive silently into the water to fish, he modeled the front of the bullet train off of the kingfisher's beak so that the train would be quiet when emerging from tunnels.

 

The rest of my too brief time in Monterey was spent with my friends watching movies, taking the dog for walks, eating well, and catching up. As usual, my visit in Monterey has gone by far too fast!