Today is Paul’s day so we get to go on a road trip!  The four of us load up in the car with an ice chest full of lunch stuff and off we go to Big Sur and to his favorite beach (actually the only beach he is willing to step onto)!  Heading down Hwy 101 just before Prunedale traffic stops and isn’t moving very much.  Paul inputs into his GPS a route around and off we go towards San Juan Bautista and through the hills on a road that is barely paved.  It is amazing how quickly you are nowhere when you step off the main routes.  We end up in Salinas and continue to Monterey.

When we get to Monterey the wind is blowing pretty well and the further south we go the windy it is.  The drive was beautiful but it was hard to stop and enjoy so we drove until we get to the right turn that is not marked, just past Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and make our turn onto the 2 mile trail down the canyon to the parking area for one of the most beautiful beaches we have found so far!  Pfeiffer Beach  Paul loves this beach because of the way the rocks are formed right at the beach level and this rock with a hole that is usually filled with crashing waves.

We arrive at the entrance and there is a sign posted before you pay- Yes it is windy on the beach and there are NO REFUNDS!  We drove all the way here, how bad could it be?  We pay our $5 and proceed to the parking area.  We ate our picnic in the car and then we bundled up as best as we could and hit the trail to the beach.

 

It was so windy that I think I have sand implanted into any exposed skin.  You could hardly walk it was so windy.  Paul and the girls too refuge against a rock as there was a little wind protection there.   Check this out to see just how windy it is!

Click to to watch a video of how windy it was – Not for the Queasy!

We only stayed 15 minutes on the beach and everyone was ready to get back to the safety of the car.  Another great place we like to stop is the Rivers Inn right at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and enjoy the river.  The river is more of a creek through here and a very nice place to sit, enjoy a drink and read a book.  Paul found a used newspaper and sat in the creek and read the local real estate listings.

 Stephanie couldn’t find a chair in the water so she had to sit all by herself!  Actually she looked quite comfortable and I am not sure she wasn’t dozing by the time we were ready to leave!

On our way back to Monterey, the girls and I took a nap.  Monterey is always beautiful and today was not an exception. 

We made a stop at the beach right across the road from the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course for one last picture of the coastline and then we headed to Moss Landing for some more of the wonderful clam chowder from Phil’s Fish Market.

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