The Grand Tour...Day 7 Monterey onto LA

charly77 · 10 Mar 17, 10:51 PM

Everyone was wide awake at 6am, I was awake from 4.30… We caught up on messages, emails and social media before heading down for breakfast.

After we checked out we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf to park up as we had whale watching booked in. It wasn’t a great morning weather wise, very cloudy, misty and overcast. This was our only opportunity to do this so I had everything crossed that they didn’t cancel our tour. Luckily they didn’t cancel…phew! We were offered top floor seating at $10 each but we didn’t take them up as we were more than happy sitting at the lower deck. We had all taken a sea sickness tablet with breakfast as I didn’t want to chance anything.

The crossing was smooth but very long, we saw some seals, brown pelicans, albatross and cormorants along the way but the visibility was very poor. The marine biologist was very informative but there wasn’t much for us to see which was a real shame. After about 2 hours we eventually got to witness the reason we wanted to go on this trip…HUMPBACKS! At first we saw about 5 but more started to arrive then some blue whales popped up, they are huge but so graceful, beautiful creatures to observe. It was amazing, the only downfall was the visibility for taking photos, I know we have our internal memories but a photo or two would have been good too.

As it had taken us so long to get to the whales we only had about 10 minutes of viewing time before having to head back to shore. I will add here that many people were quite ill during the cruise so missed out on the significant bits. I’m not sure if we would have been affected if we hadn’t taken motion sickness tablets but I’m glad we took some to prevent it.

We purchased some hot drinks on the boat and had a little nap on the return leg

We were back in just over an hour, so a three hour plus trip for 10 minutes of whale watching…glad we experienced the whales but not sure I’d pay all that money out again for the same experience. I would recommend the company as they did exactly what they said they would and they have no control over the weather.

Once off the boat we drove up to Cannery Row, this time we parked up and had a wander, it was here that I saw a ‘Five and Dime’ shop so Bryan Adams was right! We grabbed some lunch in Starbucks, not very exciting but cheap and quick. We then left to start our journey towards LA, having a stopover at Santa Maria. There was currently wildfires so we were unsure of our route but decided to go with it and see.

Unfortunately they had closed all state parks so we were unable to gain access to any. We completely understood though it was frustrating as a big part of our trip was to cover PCH however when you hear of people losing their lives and homes it put our travel plans into perspective. We stopped for scenic photos as often as we could, some viewing points were inundated with emergency service trucks so we bypassed those.

We had a good leg stretch at a café about half way down and here we grabbed a drink, it was very expensive. Next door was a fuel station where they were charging $6.50 a gallon! So glad we filled up before.

We continued on our journey and we stopped at Piedras Blancas the elephant seal rookery, think we smelt it before we saw it, haha! They were huge, and smelly.

We then stopped off at Pismo Beach, we had wanted to stay here but it was quite expensive and we literally wanted a bed for the night. It was beautiful to see and wished we had factored in some time but hey as I said before there is always next time!

We eventually got to Santa Maria, checked in had a shower then headed out to Olive Garden, the Olive Garden! It didn’t disappoint, I had my first mojito of the holiday which was lovely.

A very nice meal, reminded us as to why we love this restaurant. From here we went back to the hotel and did some laundry…yeah! We know how to live. We watched Everest whilst doing the washing which we had downloaded before we left the UK, it was actually a nice, chilled evening.

Steps today; 11,181
Floors climbed; 8
*Tip of the day… Take sea sickness tablets, even if you think you don’t need them!*

**tocpe321** · 11 Mar 17, 12:00 AM

Loving your trip report. Great pics of coast and food. I do enjoy a Mojito.

abiknox · 13 Mar 17, 03:44 PM

Oooh wonderful day again, your whale watching experience was exactly the same as ours.

Olive Garden... drool!

charly77 · 13 Mar 17, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by tocpe321

Loving your trip report. Great pics of coast and food. I do enjoy a Mojito.

Originally Posted by abiknox

Oooh wonderful day again, your whale watching experience was exactly the same as ours.

Olive Garden... drool!

Thank you for all your lovely replies.

Melbatb · 14 Mar 17, 05:36 AM

How lovely to see the whales.

Dinner looks yummy!

Thanks for writing your report!

Jake71 · 22 Mar 17, 10:12 AM

Sounds like another good day, I couldn't do 3 hours on a boat even though I'd love to see the whales.

**WileyCoyote** · 14 Apr 17, 01:00 PM

thats a shame about the visibility on the boat trip - still and incredible experience though
We stayed in Pismo, it was really foggy so we didnt really get to appreciate it - looks nicer in your pic !
Love the seals, just so many of them
Dinner looks yum.

k4ti3-x · 17 Apr 17, 04:16 PM

Shame it was so short but at least you got to see a good few whales. Love Olive garden I would go just for the salad and bread!

hross42877 · 22 Apr 17, 02:12 PM

Great read!

10 Mar 17, 10:51 PM	#1
	10 Mar 17, 10:51 PM charly77 Very Serious Dibber
charly77 Very Serious Dibber Join Date: Feb 08	The Grand Tour...Day 7 Monterey onto LA Everyone was wide awake at 6am, I was awake from 4.30… We caught up on messages, emails and social media before heading down for breakfast. After we checked out we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf to park up as we had whale watching booked in. It wasn’t a great morning weather wise, very cloudy, misty and overcast. This was our only opportunity to do this so I had everything crossed that they didn’t cancel our tour. Luckily they didn’t cancel…phew! We were offered top floor seating at $10 each but we didn’t take them up as we were more than happy sitting at the lower deck. We had all taken a sea sickness tablet with breakfast as I didn’t want to chance anything. The crossing was smooth but very long, we saw some seals, brown pelicans, albatross and cormorants along the way but the visibility was very poor. The marine biologist was very informative but there wasn’t much for us to see which was a real shame. After about 2 hours we eventually got to witness the reason we wanted to go on this trip…HUMPBACKS! At first we saw about 5 but more started to arrive then some blue whales popped up, they are huge but so graceful, beautiful creatures to observe. It was amazing, the only downfall was the visibility for taking photos, I know we have our internal memories but a photo or two would have been good too. As it had taken us so long to get to the whales we only had about 10 minutes of viewing time before having to head back to shore. I will add here that many people were quite ill during the cruise so missed out on the significant bits. I’m not sure if we would have been affected if we hadn’t taken motion sickness tablets but I’m glad we took some to prevent it. We purchased some hot drinks on the boat and had a little nap on the return leg We were back in just over an hour, so a three hour plus trip for 10 minutes of whale watching…glad we experienced the whales but not sure I’d pay all that money out again for the same experience. I would recommend the company as they did exactly what they said they would and they have no control over the weather. Once off the boat we drove up to Cannery Row, this time we parked up and had a wander, it was here that I saw a ‘Five and Dime’ shop so Bryan Adams was right! We grabbed some lunch in Starbucks, not very exciting but cheap and quick. We then left to start our journey towards LA, having a stopover at Santa Maria. There was currently wildfires so we were unsure of our route but decided to go with it and see. Unfortunately they had closed all state parks so we were unable to gain access to any. We completely understood though it was frustrating as a big part of our trip was to cover PCH however when you hear of people losing their lives and homes it put our travel plans into perspective. We stopped for scenic photos as often as we could, some viewing points were inundated with emergency service trucks so we bypassed those. We had a good leg stretch at a café about half way down and here we grabbed a drink, it was very expensive. Next door was a fuel station where they were charging $6.50 a gallon! So glad we filled up before. We continued on our journey and we stopped at Piedras Blancas the elephant seal rookery, think we smelt it before we saw it, haha! They were huge, and smelly. We then stopped off at Pismo Beach, we had wanted to stay here but it was quite expensive and we literally wanted a bed for the night. It was beautiful to see and wished we had factored in some time but hey as I said before there is always next time! We eventually got to Santa Maria, checked in had a shower then headed out to Olive Garden, the Olive Garden! It didn’t disappoint, I had my first mojito of the holiday which was lovely. A very nice meal, reminded us as to why we love this restaurant. From here we went back to the hotel and did some laundry…yeah! We know how to live. We watched Everest whilst doing the washing which we had downloaded before we left the UK, it was actually a nice, chilled evening. Steps today; 11,181 Floors climbed; 8 *Tip of the day… Take sea sickness tablets, even if you think you don’t need them!* __________________ Whistle-stop Tour Of Copenhagen Feb 2017 The Grand Tour (West to East trip) 2016 The 'Bombshell' Trip to NYC @ Christmas 2014 Trip report, Our first time to WDW Sept/Oct '08; Edited at 11:27 PM.

11 Mar 17, 12:00 AM	#2
	11 Mar 17, 12:00 AM tocpe321 VIP Dibber ✓Premium Member
tocpe321 VIP Dibber Join Date: Apr 12	Loving your trip report. Great pics of coast and food. I do enjoy a Mojito. __________________ tocpe

22 Apr 17, 02:12 PM	#9
	22 Apr 17, 02:12 PM hross42877 Imagineer
hross42877 Imagineer Join Date: Jul 09	Great read! __________________ Holiday Inn I-Drive (Honeymoon!) Oct2003 /Quality Inn Plaza Feb 2005 Sheraton Studio City International Drive Oct 2010/2012/2013 Animal Kingdom Kidani Village Oct 2014/2016/2018/2023 Atlantis Palm Dubai? 2024