Monterey day two

Tuesday, June 10th
We spent the day at the Monterey Aquarium before driving to southern California.  It was a great aquarium for the kids because there were plenty of touch tanks, activity centers, and things to climb on. 

 See the sign that says sardines?  The aquarium is on Cannery rd.  I learned that the street used to be a cannery for sardines...hence the name.

 These turtles remind me of Finding Nemo

 Mason was not having the photo op.

 Penguins are always my favorite.

I think I enjoyed the touch tanks as much as they did! 

 It's hard to see, but there's a yellowish cylinder like object in the middle of this octopus.  It looked a bit like a pulsing heart and kept pushing in and out of the cylinder.

 Steam punk octopus

 Even Mason liked the jellyfish exhibit

I think we wore them out...Can't see Meghan, but this is us leaving the aquarium on the way south.  I think the gang may have been asleep before we left the parking garage. 

Monterey day one

Monday, June 9th  
Whale Watching and 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach

So here's the deal.  I took Micayla (aged 11) on a whale watching tour today.  I was super excited because I have always wanted to see whales in the ocean.  It was on my bucket list.   My motion sickness kicked in like a bat out of hell.  Too much information I am sure, but there is something absolutely awful about throwing up over the back of a boat.  Thus, I did not get very many pictures and spent most of the FOUR HOUR trip thinking "I can just look at whales on the internet" and "Is Micayla ok at the front of the boat alone?"  For those of you that know me you know how much I love animals and conservation.  Normally I would love the fact that they were pulling Mylar balloons and other trash out of the ocean, but there was one point where I had the thought, "Let the animals die because I am going to die and be their food if we don't get back to shore now."
Here are the few pics I snapped at the beginning of the trip and the end of the trip:

 Sea lions sunning on the rocks

 These row boats are waiting for the Great American Boat Race to start.  They are racing to Hawaii and will take around three months to get there.

 Swimming sea lion

 Dolphins

 Dolphins

Can you spot the sea lion who has the right idea sunning himself on a rock?

 Just a few pics of the 17 mile drive...playing golf at Pebble Beach means golfing on a cliff-side I guess?  My ball would be in the ocean!

 A little blurry.

 Too bad Northern California water is so cold!  It looks swim worthy for sure.

Yosemite!

 Sunday, June 7th
Yosemite National Park, CA

 I got some great pictures on the tram tour.  I am posting a lot just in case you have not made it to Yosemite.  And if you have not been there, what are you waiting for?  I almost had to be pulled off a tree kicking and screaming because I wanted to stay so much.

 So there are people that climb these massive rocks.  Sometimes they don't even use rope.

 The day we were there we could see climbers that looked as tiny as birds.

 It can take days and they sleep on a portable ledge.  No thanks!

 On our way to Monterey there was a  town called "Los Banos"  Why?  That means bathrooms in Spanish.  In our exhaustion of driving after a full day in Yosemite and driving it sent us into a laughing fit until our stomachs hurt.

Camping!

d

Leaving Salt Lake City on Saturday, June 7th we saw a Morton salt factory...Brie's question: How do they clean the salt?

  Nope, that's not snow...that's salt!

It's crazy how much the salt looked like snow.

 Once we left Nevada I was very happy because
a.) we were out of a VERY boring drive
 and
b.) we were in trees!

 Playing at the campsite in the water that was June Lake.

 Our camp site was in California and about two hours from Yosemite.  It was gorgeous: water, trees, and nature.

 I was pretty darn impressed by the fire I made (with a little help from Brie).  All of the years of wood stoves as a child growing up in Flagstaff finally paid off.

 This is the "bear box."  You put all the food in here otherwise there are bears. 

 Brie put up the tent (with a little help from me).  Go us!

More playing in the water.