After a pizza cook-off at the Muckers on Friday night, Saturday dawned gloriously and un-Monterey-ishly with hot sunshine and blue skies. Amanda has been going on and on about Point Lobos State Reserve ever since she moved down, and we decided to go for a short hike and lunch there. She did not oversell it! The place is amazing, and Jack was so overcome by the beauty that he stripped off and jumped into the Pacific. Proof below.
As you might expect, a hike with the Murnanes turned swiftly into wine tasting at Heller Estate winery. The place is 100% organic, so there's no excuse not to drink. When we eventually got back into town there was hardly any time left to steal Claire for a trip to the shops ("Shopping! Shopping!" she shouted, continually, from the back of the car) and get ready for the reason we were down there: the annual Christmas ornament gift exchange...
Point Lobos, Monterey - turned out nice!
A sea lion takes it easy in the shallows.
The famous Monterey pines. Possibly. They don't look much like their Wikipedia page.
Gourmet lunch by the sea.
Jack, currently studying to be a naval oceanographer, assesses the waters...
...and decides he needs a closer look.
Mid-flight.
Touchdown!
Returning to land, he reported a water density of 1.027g/cm3, a salinity of 35ppt, and a temperature of "^&*@ freezing".
In case you miss it.
Amanda and Hannah, who didn't stop talking the whole weekend. Amanda is still heavily leveraging the Cal/Haas brand.
Rude to drive past without popping in.
If Jack had drunk these before his dip, maybe he'd have stripped all the way down.
Some other local customers, on a trip up from Carmel.
Hannah does her modern mother impersonation.
