Day 21: along Highway No. 1 to Monterey

Today I will only write a short report, as it is already late and we want to leave early tomorrow and the photos are not so breathtakingly beautiful.

After a hearty breakfast, we left San Francisco via Highway Number 1. The route from San Francisco to Monterey is said to not be really worth it, but we decided to drive it at the beginning to get a first impression. It was still foggy and there was no trace of the bright blue sky, but that's how this route was described. We already found some pretty views, made some photo stops, and eventually decided to take the freeway at Santa Cruz (after crossing the whole city). So we arrived in Monterey at 3 p.m. and were able to check in at our motel.

By the way, finding a room in Monterey was an absolute ordeal because even the smallest shack cost at least 300 euros per night. Our current hotel was even supposed to cost 750 euros. That's why I booked the room through a tour operator and it was still within a reasonable price range, although still expensive! Since it was supposed to serve as a stopover so that we can continue on Highway No. 1 the next day, that's how it was. Monterey was absolutely crowded today and it was also a struggle to find a parking space. After we found one, we walked to Fishermans Wharf and found it quite nice. There were many seafood restaurants and small whale watching stalls. Despite the exorbitant prices, we decided to have dinner at a seafood restaurant because we were hungry. I still remember last year in Scotland, we stayed at a hotel on a hill where we had to drive down for 30 minutes. The prices at that hotel were also very extravagant, but the food was really good and exceptional. In Monterey, however, the seafood pasta was not worth 30 dollars, Uli had a 'fish platter' (which couldn't be compared to our fish platter in Scotland) and at least had some vegetables on her plate. Well, after that, I wasn't hungry anymore, all good! We had a great view of the harbor and a seagull outside the window was watching us the whole time. She didn't seem to notice that there was a window pane between us.

Monterey seems to be for well-off people, but I didn't have the ultimate desire to belong here. It lacked flair for this category. But everything was fine for our 3 hours!

Afterwards, we walked around Monterey a bit more and decided to return to the car in order to drive the 17 Mile Drive before sunset, as it will be closed tomorrow due to a car race. On the way to the parking lot, we heard the sounds of sea lions, but didn't see any of them at first. Upon closer inspection, we saw the lazy creatures lying on rocks in the water - all alone on individual rocks - crazy! But now we had to hurry because we only had 1.5 hours until sunset. The entrance fee for this 17 Mile Drive is 10 dollars. This area is home to golf courses, houses, clubhouses, and everything that has a lot of money. We made a few stops before the sun set. I took pictures of the famous Birds Rock, Lonely Cypress, and the Ghost Tree. Here too, I found that it was not necessarily worth the 10 dollars, but you only know that once you have seen it with your own eyes. Now I finally saw the Lonely Cypress, yippee!

When it was 8 p.m. and the sun set, we slowly went to the hotel. Tomorrow we don't want to leave too late because tomorrow's section is supposed to be the most beautiful section of Highway Number 1 and of course we also want to see Carmel. Now we will charge our batteries and end the day!