Reseach

 

 I went up to the Monterey area on Sunday. I was to refresh my memory of the area for the next Yarn Retreat book and well, a nice place to go.  It was the weekend of the big golf thing at Pebble Beach, but it was ending just as we got there. 

This time of year is particularly beautiful because there's something about the water temperature and the air's temperature that makes it so there aren't clouds.  The sky was a crystal clear blue the whole time we were there with just a fluff of haze over the water.  I always have cloudy skies in the books since clouds and fog seem to go better with mysteries.

We've always driven before, but this time we flew.  I usually fly on American because I get some perks, but we took Southwest because we had a voucher  that covered one ticket and there were flights out of Burbank.  I love flying out of Burbank.  It is like stepping back in time and reminds me of how Midway Airport in Chicago was when I was a kid.  Just a single story rectangular building with a door to the tarmac.  No jetbridges to get on the plane.  Instead there's a metal ramp.

There was a slight snafu when the plan turned out to be broken and we returned to the gate.  But there was a flight leaving shortly afterwards and we got on it.  It was remarkable empty and I had a whole row to myself.  I usually sit on the aisle, but I moved to the window.  I hate it when people pull down the shades on planes and I can't understand why.  I never get tired of looking out the window.  It was fun because I was able to pick out the big rock in the water in Morro bay and the whole Monterey Peninsula from the air.

We flew to San Jose and got a rental car.  Then it was off to what we refer to as the big trees.  It's a park of giant redwoods.  The air smells of the trees and there is such a feeling peace.  We passed through Santa Cruz and then continued on around Monterey Bay with lots of open fields planted with something just beginning to grow.

During the three days we were up there, I got several chances to walk through Asilomar which is the model for Vista Del Mar.  It's always interesting to see how it really looks compared to how I imagine it.  It was unnervingly quiet because of the pandemic.  There's seemed to be few guests and certainly no group things.  The dining hall was closed, the social hall only open for guest registration and the cafe barely open for morning coffee.  Most of the people I encountered were like me, coming from somewhere else.  A lot of local people seem to walk their dogs through the ground to the beach.

The air felt fresh and a nice invigorating kind of cold.  The sand has a silky texture and is very light in color.  The water is so clear that the waves come in are a sea foam green instead of being cloudy.

We took a night walk through the grounds too.  It was deserted except for us.  Once we got on the boardwalk that goes through the sand toward the street and then the beach, it was even darker.  Because the sand is so light, it showed up in the dark and the bushes were just silhouettes.  The sky was sprinkled with more stars than I've seen in a long time.  I even saw the little dipper.  The ocean was like a black void except where the sliver of moon reflected on the water.  It was zip up your jacket cold but so beautiful that it was hard to leave.

We went to Point Lobos and I saw the spray of a whale going by. Watched the sunset on Carmel Beach. We spent hours on the 17-Mile Drive that has the Lone Cypress among other points of interest.  I had coffee at the Pebble Beach resort where the golf tournament had been.  They were still dismantling everything that had been built for the event.

Just before driving back to San Jose, we had dinner at the restaurant in a house that I modeled the Blue Door restaurant on.  I couldn't help but picture my characters there.

Tbe flight home was even less crowded.  22 passengers on a plane that held 127.  I had a window again and spent the short flight looking at all the lights.  It did refresh my images of the area in my mind and when I close my eyes I'm back there seeing it all.