Palo Corona, part 3

Palo Corona, part 2

Palo Corona

I had heard about the relatively new Palo Corona Regional Park and was a little bit familiar with the land from my work, so experiencing the park for the first time was meaningful. Beyond that, it proved to be magical. A decommissioned golf course led to a Carmel River crossing that led to a decommissioned cattle ranch that remains a pristine, mist-shrouded sea of green with surreal oversized oak groves. It's a great achievement of land conservation and public open space.

C.U. Sushi

One of the better sushi spots of the trip was C.U. Sushi at the Crossroads in Carmel.

Pacific Thai revisited

Mrs. was struck by the incongruity of these figurines at a Thai restaurant. She may have been on to something, since the food didn't strike us as especially authentic this time.

Topo-Chico gone wild

Topo-Chico is a venerated company that has been bottling in Monterrey, Mexico since 1895. It was bought by Coco-Cola in 2017. They bought it because it was a good product whose popularity was increasing in the U.S. Not surprisingly they are already taking this brand on a wild ride with blueberry, tangerine and mint flavors as well as hard seltzer. In other words they're already messing with a good thing, the way corporate America is wont to do. I may prefer the original product. (Above display seen in Andronico's in Monterey, CA).

famous sea wall revisited

It wasn't hard to revisit this sea wall on a regular basis. It is simply the back side of Lovers Point. When I posted the above photo on Instagram, people seemed to like it.

"Casa Verde" beach

Although technically part of Del Monte Beach, it was easier to refer to this place as "Casa Verde" beach - that being the name of the street that leads to it.

Toro Park hike

We went for a hike in Toro Park and it looked a lot like this. Unlike coastal Monterey Bay, it was HOT. Or rather, it was nice in the shade but a touch brutal in the open sun.

pig traps

There was one thing different at our wedding site. I noticed this huge cage and signs (above) and worried that perhaps a dangerous mountain lion was on the loose. We saw similar cages in other parts of the park (below). Turns out that the wild pig problem in Monterey County - which has long been a problem - has reached epic proportions, wreaking havoc on parks and agriculture. It's a sad situation with no good solution since the pigs, who never asked to be brought to California, are breeding exponentially.

ye olde wedding site

Nine years later, it's all still there...

wild turkeys of Toro Park

I've always liked the wild turkeys of Toro Park so imagine our delight when we arrived at our wedding site and saw some passing through. They're hard to photograph though since they're always on the move and probably don't care whether humans get a good look at them, let alone photograph them. Save that for the telephoto lens club.

"Target" beach

The famous trail in Sand City behind the shopping center with Target - the one that leads to the beach - it was easy just to start calling it "Target" beach. In actuality this is probably part of the California Coastal Trail, although research suggests it is a separate trail known as the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail. Further research leads to even more confusion, so just forget about it and enjoy the trail.

Sweet Elena's round 2

Due to the windshield molding popping out on the freeway, we were directed to an auto glass specialist that happened to be located right next to Sweet Elena's Bakery in Seaside. There wasn't much to do while the car was being worked on besides enjoying some good coffee and quiche.

a busy boundary

Speaking of signs, this one is much easier to photograph on foot. At the boundary of Monterey and Pacific Grove, there is a concentration of traffic combined with a confusion of roadways, which can some times lead to trouble (see below, which I saw one day on foot).

vegan Mexican?

The vegan Mexican restaurant we ate at once a long time ago, but it was too peculiar to go back. That being said, I'm glad that someone is working on this innovative new frontier. Plus it's a nice sign.

Monterey Youth Hostel

The Monterey Youth Hostel looking good. It wasn't far from where we stayed. Evidently during the pandemic it was closed and spruced up, probably deep cleaned and perhaps even renovated. 

staple

Sometimes you have to go to Target to track down this food staple.

Sweet Elena's Bakery revisited

Another place we had been to back in the day. Located in Seaside, there are a few rough edges but plenty of soul, good coffee and carefully crafted baked goods.