IHO Big Sur

So, I still haven't posted the Pebble Beach/ Carmel pix. Frankly, there are so many it's overwhelming. I don't know where to start, therefore I avoid doing it at all. Now you know what kind of person I really am! Ha!

Anyway, we've been following the wildfires in California and were dismayed to learn how much of Big Sur has been threatened or has actually burned. We were *just* there. It was truly beautiful and a real highlight of our trip. In honor of Big Sur, I decided to at least get some of the pics from that day posted.

This is the Lone Cypress. It's pretty neat in person, but I hope you can get a sense from the picture. You may recognize it as the symbol for Pebble Beach. This is on 17 Mile Drive, which crosses the peninsula. You take it to Highway 1 to drive along the coast through Big Sur. It's definitely a landmark for the area and a cool piece of nature that man is actually working to preserve. The 2nd photo is a little blurb about the tree and the area in general. If you can't read it, click the picture and it should blow up to full screen.

These are just scenic photos of the drive along the coast to Big Sur. Really beautiful, as you can tell. The road winds and turns and there is little to nothing out there. Every once in a while you'll see a HUGE house on top of some scenic vista and wonder "who the heck lives there?" The fact that the sky was bluer than blue that day didn't hurt at all.

We intended on going to this wonderful, kinda fancy place for lunch. I can't remember the name but I sure remember we drove up some corkscrew of a road to get there. It's atop a peak and is supposed to have the most amazing view of the ocean. Again, it's fancy and we were going to enjoy the view with a bottle of wine and have a lingering lunch. So, we drive up this crazy twisting road, only to be stopped by a maintenance guy who asks if we plan on eating. We say "yes" and he informs us that they are doing work on this day and will not be open until 3 pm. A 3 pm lunch wasn't going to cut it so we moved on to Plan B.

Instead, we ended up at Big Sur River Inn, a casual place with a different kind of view- one of a quiet river and thick forest. We had beer instead of wine and a nice relaxing lunch on the beautiful patio. My camera batteries died as we hit the interior of the park, so I don't have any pics, but these are courtesy of Google Images for your viewing pleasure!

Big Sur River Inn from the front

They have these chairs down in the river and you can eat your lunch or take drinks down and sit with your feet in the water. It's pretty sweet.

This is a grassy area between the deck and the river. Clearly these were taken in fall so this isn't exactly what it looked like, but you get the idea. And, no, I have no idea who that lady is but it was the best pic I could find looking up at the deck of the Inn.