Friday, and Noga and I had to start heading back south towards Los Angeles. Since we arrived late, we drove back down to Monterey, and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Set on Monterey Point, the aquarium does a fine job of integrating the natural coast within it's exhibit halls. One of the more famous attractions here is the three-story Pacific kelp forest. Even more notable are the sea otters on exhibit. Three in total, they were rehabilitated and are kept at the aquarium since they cannot be re-introduced into the wild. These playful, adorable critters were definitely the most popular attraction. But, the rest of the aquarium is wonderful, as well. Monterey Bay Aquarium is dedicated to the preservation and research of the oceans, and shows this dedication in a fun, interactive manner. After the aquarium, we walked to Cannery Row and had a late lunch at Clawdaddy's while watching the marine mammals having their own lunch in the bay. A short drive past Laguna Seca, and we were back on Route 101, going South this time. From here, it's about a liesurely 6-hour drive to the Los Angeles Airport area, where we got a cheap motel room, and passed out for the night.
July 07:
Time to get the "Pimp-Mobile" back to the rental car agency (after putting about 1,236 miles on the odometer), and catch a shuttle to the airport for a flight to Philadelphia. From there, a hop to Providence. Then we collected our luggage and tried to remember where we parked our car in the vast, dark long-term-parking lot. Two hours later, we reached Amherst, MA and were ready to do it all over again.
page
(from left to right).