Tom's Visit

Left on Wednesday for Monterey and stayed at Laguna Seca Raceway Campground.  Whenever we want to spend some time in this part of California, we always stay here because it has nice views, is clean and the only thing that might be a drawback is if you want peace and quiet.   The racetrack can get quite noisy but it's fun to watch the cars go round and round.

Mike's son, Tom, was out here from New Orleans visiting family for the new year with his wife, Patti.  On Wednesday night they took us to dinner to a restaurant we'd never been to before: Chart House at Cannery Row.  There's a very nice salad bar but I couldn't resist the temptation of their Herb Crusted Salmon with mashed potatoes.  The salmon was buttery tender and delicious and I was glad that I chose it.

Yesterday morning Tom picked us up in his rental car and the three of us went to breakfast in Pacific Grove to one of our favorites for breakfast, Toastie's Cafe.  Patti decided to spend the day shopping with her mother so she was unable to join us.

Afterward we drove to Jack's Peak for a some hiking.

Everything is so dry because of the drought we're having here in California.  I'm afraid Jack's Peak was quite dry and a lot of plants were either dead or dormant.

A lovely view.

There were nature stops along the way and Tom read each station's tag to us.  It would have been even more interesting had there been some greenery and perhaps some flowers.

A little snack stowed away in a tree.

An interesting branch growth.

On the road again, this time for another little hike in Point Lobos.

Beautiful coastal cypress tree.