Aulani Waves and Disneyland Days: An Ohana Adventure - Day 1 Pastries, Parrots and the Pacific Coast

[bambikate]

Introduction and Index

Day 1 - Pastries, Parrots and the Pacific Coast
Collecting our convertible Mustang, Parker Lusseau Pastries, Monterey, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, Bixby Bridge, Big Sur River Inn, Nepenthe, Pfeiffer Beach, In N Out Burger.

Andy, Izzy and I woke up at 3am, Immy woke up at 4am. We stayed in bed for a while and then got ready.

We left the room at around 6am and got straight onto the blue air train.





Within 20 minutes we we were at the Car hire cebtre and the Avis desk was completely empty. Picking up the car couldn’t have been easier: we handed over our paperwork, showed our drivers licenses and paid a security deposit and then she said "OK, you’ve got a Silver Mustang convertible, just go through those doors into the car park and it’s parked bay X38!" The made up argument in my head when she told us we had been given a Chrysler PT Cruiser wasn’t required, so I needn’t have worried!

We found our car easily and then took a few minutes checking the car over and learning the buttons.

What a beauty!



We got settled into our respective seats, briefly considering having the roof down straight away but we decided to wait until we weren’t in a built up area where we would be stopped at lots of traffic lights. We showed our Drivers licences at the barrier on the way out and they checked we picked up the right car and off we went!

We made our way to the Pacific Coast Highway and tried the roof down for a bit but it was still a bit overcast and chilly so it went back up. The views were gorgeous and we had so much fun listening to the playlist we had prepared specifically for this day.



We drove all the way to Monterey and parked near Parker Lusseau pastries and walked over to the bakery. We had done quite a bit of research and this place had great reviews so we were excited to try it.





We spent $52.94 in total and this was for 2 almond croissants a pesto and pepper quiche, a strawberry and rhubarb crumble tart, a fruit croissant and 2 lattes.









We also met this lovely parrot outside who was someone’s pet they had brought with them!



We wanted to get a drink for the girls as they didn’t like anything there and after about 10 minutes we managed to find a Starbucks, the traffic was very heavy as there was a car show on. While in Starbucks getting a dragonfruit frappe and a cookie, we also picked up a California Starbucks mug to add to our growing collection! Our total came to $24 including the mug.

We parked just outside the Hotel Pacific where we stayed 5 years earlier.

We then set off towards Point Lobos Reserve, which took 20 minutes. This was another place we chose after doing some Youtube research and loving the look of the walking trails and stunning scenery. Entry is free, you just have to pay $10 to park. Immy ate her pesto quiche in the car and we all tried a bit and it was 10/10 delicious.



We lucked out and got the last space in the closest car park then started walking on the South trail. We stopped at a bench to eat our breakfast and finish our drinks and took in all the beautiful scenery.





A little visitor



After breakfast, we continued the trail and the sun finally came out. It was stunning here and we were also lucky enough to see a sea lion.



We continued the walk, taking in all the sights. Three of the trails here are wheelchair / stroller accessible, which we thought was great.















We strolled back after a lovely walk to get the car. We were doing a whistle stop tour today but all agreed we would love to spend the day here trying all the trails. We tried the shortest one but from what I understand there are even prettier routes.

When we got back to the car we gave our space to a nice lady who had been struggling to park and put our roof down to finally enjoy some top-down time!

I can honestly say I don’t think we will ever forget that feeling of driving in a Mustang convertible, with our favourite music blasting, sun shining, looking at the beautiful scenery - it was exactly as we hoped it would be and we all felt so happy.

After about twenty minutes, we had a short stop at Bixby Bridge to get some photos.



Then got back on the road again to drive down another 20 minutes to Big Sur River Inn.

Another YouTube find for us and a place we must’ve literally driven past on our 2018 trip. With so many options, this won us over because of the chairs in the river and it just felt like the most laid back, unique stop off for a light lunch.

As we literally had about 14 precious hours with our convertible to explore, I had planned this day within an inch of its life, working out all the stops and roughly how long each drive would take and how long we could realistically stay in each place without feeling rushed and building in some contingency time.

We pulled in to the car park and walked towards the onsite store. There is a restaurant here too and you (I believe) can order food from here and take it down in a cooler to the river or just eat inside or outside at the restaurant but we chose the little takeaway counter inside the general store. You can also stay here and there is a pool for residents or you can buy a day pass.