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Foregoing breakfast in the cold Californian mist we stayed in the RV for eggs (boiled and fried have replaced revueltos style - there's no way we're trying to wash scrambled egg pans in the tiny sink.) Then we decided to head into Monterey and experience the beach later (when the sun had made an appearance).
Parking the RV in town wasn't a problem as they have special areas in car parks, then we walked into town to do a little retail. Monterey is a charming town, pedestrianised, clean and friendly. Our ultimate goal was the aquarium, but before that we walked along the old Fishermans wharf which is very touristy, offering whale watching tours (quite fancied it but no time), but was most notable for being offered the best clam chowder at every opportunity, every other shop was a restaurant. We chose one which amazingly sold the best clam chowder in a bread bun - 4 of us tucked in and Finn ate fish and chips. We reckon it was the best clam chowder!
Suitably replenished, we headed off on the 20 minute walk to the aquarium along the coast road, then along Cannery row. Some great shops and restaurants, shame we were on a bit of a mission to get there. On arrival, it looked a pretty amazing place - many of the exhibits are large - at least large display walls, so as you can imagine it felt highly American! We did the best bit first - the huge underwater pool with BIG fish- sharks, tuna, rays. Very impressive, but hard to photograph. Next up was the jellyfish show - beautifully lit blue pools with orange and white jellyfish. Brilliant. Also hard to photograph! The rest of the aquarium was excellent but didn't match up to this initial view - although watching the sea otters playing was very entertaining. It was still good though, and we spent a happy 3 hours there. The touch pools were memorable, where you could stroke a starfish, and even the shop wasn't too horrendous! It made Birmingham's sea life look mediochre - so was well worth the visit.
We had hoped to be back in time for a) shopping along Cannery Row and b) barbecue before sunset and the beach back at the RV park. We failed on both counts, returning in twilight with the kids having eaten some fast junk or other! Still, we were all fairly happy and even managed to reverse the RV in correctly and hook up before retiring. BTW we're still waiting for the sun to come out and heat us up. It's COLD!
Day 4
Today we leave Monterey and head inland for sequoia. Before we leave, however, there is the important task of an outside breakfast and a run up the sand dunes. We felt it important to spend a little while on the beach before leaving, until I found out when you change the setting to 'RV' on the satnav it adds another 2 hours to the trip so stressed dad was escorting everyone off the beach military style! We unhooked and we were off, armed with a big pile of wood ready for a fire tonight, we've all been hankering after one!
Trip was largely uneventful, with lunch at Denny's in Los Banos (yes, that really is 'the toilets') and a journey that took us through the San Jaoquin valley which is the most fertile farming valley in the US - miles upon miles of citrus trees, cherries, and general big scale farming.
We drove straight past kaweah park resort, our destination, and stopped off for a refill shop where my card successfully knocked the power out! Sadly it remembered my total on reboot so my offer of 10 bucks for the lot was not well received.
This park was really nice - to me it represented the best combination of the previous 2 - in a large wooded area, riverside beach, volleyball court, swimming pool - but with full hook ups (yeah, now I'm an RV expert, I know all the lingo an' all) and level ground!
We were all hot after hooking up - especially with the excitement of the newly named poo pipe. Luckily it was brand new and clean, otherwise Finn's exploits with his arm down it may have required more thorough cleaning. So we dived into the very welcome pool. For once it was square and clear and deep so we even managed some lenths! Siena specifically asked me for a training set so she did a few lengths warming up and a few medleys. Secretly I think she felt quite good, it certainly looked smooth enough. Finn managed a few lengths too so we might not have lost too much ground (the adults might be a different story!)
One major downside, however, was the absence of a barbecue and fire pit next to the RV. Tsk, us with our pile of wood an' all. We had to trog over to the camping section to have our fire. By the time we got going it was late and we were a bit caught out by the speed of the sunset. Before we knew it it was dark and we were cooking the barbecue by torchlight. It also wasn't the best barbecue, and it took a while to cook. So it was really late, everyone a bit tired by the time we ate - after an abortive attempt to eat outside it was back to the truck - but at least we'd barbecued!!
It turns out some of the people at the park spend their entire summer there - and it was a motley collection of LA style gangs, large families, Hispanic girl crowds and their male counterparts, as well as all American holidaymakers. EL Monte RV, our rental company, was well represented and mostly comprised German and Dutch families (identifiable by their height and girth!).
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