[Tynor] Today we left Grace’s house and headed toward Big Sur state park. On the way, we stopped at Monterey Bay Aquarium to look at some fish. First we went to the “Close to the Shore” section. We saw a kelp forest and this cool device that dumps water over this clear passage that you can walk through. On the Deep Seas section, they have a cool place where you can look at a lot of jellies floating inside of the wall. They also had a GIANT tank that had all sorts of salt water fish.[Stacia] – Packed up this a.m. and left Palo Alto, heading south on 101 toward Gilroy. It was funny to travel the same path we’d taken so recently, on our visit to Gilroy Gardens with the Fongs. As usual, it took much longer to pack up than I expected and the kids were ready for lunch practically as soon as we got on the road. But part of that is just the boredom of driving; they did have a good breakfast in the late morning. I thought we’d find a Mickey D’s in Gilroy, but nothing was visible from the freeway and before I knew it, we were out of town and on to…basically nothing for miles. Whoops! Fortunately at the turnoff to the coast there are plenty of fast food places and we stopped at a McD’s there. I’ve been getting plain hamburger Happy Meals for Cory, hoping that the bun doesn’t have any dairy in it. I get him the apple slices (which he likes as well as or better than the fries) without the caramel dip (has milk in it anyway) and chocolate milk (which I have), and he is thrilled to get a toy with his meal, just like Niall does (sigh).
In Monterey, we found the aquarium easily enough but there isn’t any parking for RVs or trailers close by. I’d seen a sign for oversize parking as we drove in, so we circled back and parked there, then hiked along a really nice walking/riding trail to the aquarium. It goes along the water where there’s a park (we saw otters there on the way back!), and then just above the touristy area, behind the gift shops, ice cream places, etc. The kids were game for the walk there, and only complained a little on the way back, so it worked out fine. I figured we could take the “trolley” bus that ran by pretty regularly if push came to shove and we just couldn’t drag ourselves back after toodling around the whole aquarium.I love the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’d been there several times when I lived in California (lo,
these many years ago), and they’ve added several cool features since then. The kids liked the kelp forest big tank well enough in the Ocean’s Edge area, though it didn’t fascinate them (as it does me). We moved pretty quickly on to the touch pool zone, where they found a big splash-over/wave exhibit that everyone loved. Outside, you can see the “wave” come crashing down over a glass half-dome and watch the fish and plants respond. Inside, the “wave” crashes on the glass right over your head! And then you have an inside view at the sealife. Cory and Niall especially loved waiting for the wave, then watching the churned up water and bubbles, and then anticipating the next one. We probably could have spent the whole visit just doing that!
But after awhile, Niall spied the nearby touch pools, and we migrated over there. The boys got to see, touch and learn about seastars, kelp, abalone, and more. The big stingray in another touch pool wasn’t cooperating (maybe he was touched-out for the day), so we just watched him swim at the far side of his pool. Inside the “coastal aviary” area, we watched little birds nesting in the sand, and Cory especially
was fascinated by the simulated wave that came up on a little beach. Not that he hasn’t seen lots of real beach waves by now; but I think he liked the gentler motion of this wave and the predictability of it. After more exploring, we took a graham crackers (and bathroom) break near the otters (which we couldn’t see because there were people 5-deep at the windows). As we sat there, the otter feeding session began and we could see some it on the TV monitors. Not nearly as engaging as viewing it in person, but mildly entertaining while we were taking a break anyway. A stop in the kids’ gift shop was a complete circus,
until Niall and Cory (sentenced to his stroller by then!) saw a penguins movie playing at one end of the store. Whew – caught a lucky break there. Sometimes just being able to look at a couple of postcards or a sunhat without constantly watching that a little someone isn’t wreaking complete havoc is a welcome luxury! Tynor bravely agreed to watch the two little guys while I nipped over the grownups' gift shop (the sunhats were all too small for me in the kids' shop – no surprise ;-). He reported later that Cory howled regularly while I was gone, despite the movie. Oh, well. Sometimes them's the breaks. 
We hadn’t seen any of the upstairs of the aquarium yet, and I knew the jellies would be a cool sight (having picked up several postcards of them :-), so although we were all getting pretty tired, we headed upstairs on the escalator (that was enticing to tired 3 and 6 year olds, at least) for a quick look-see. The jellies were indeed very cool – glowing almost like neon in their dark pools in the dark room. Next door, the outer bay exhibit - another huge tank like the kelp forest – drew us in, especially for Niall. He loved seeing the sea turtles, the hammerhead sharks, and a reallllly big fish (no clue what it was), among other sea critters in the murky depths. Cory was past caring much about any of it by then – sigh. He wandered back and forth in front of the other awestruck viewers, looking at the plaques on the floor and pushing his way past people (including his aggravated brother). 
After that, we were done! I was done, at any rate. But overall, we had a great visit, given the afternoon timing and the driving to get there. We walked back successfully, with only a little “My legs are killing me!” complaining. Well, it helped that Cory got to ride, thanks to the umbrella stroller I tucked in the car anticipating days at Legoland. We caught sight of some cavorting otters at the little park just south of the RV parking 
where we’d left the van and tent trailer, so stopped there for a short break before getting back in the car for the drive down Big Sur to our next campground.Cory said the cutest thing: “Look, the waves are making chocolate!” I guess he meant all the sand swirled around as the waves crashed onto the beach. He commented about that at a number of other beaches that we passed as well. Fortunately, he never tried to sample the waves though!
The trip to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park was another round of tight corners, winding roads, climbing and descending, catching glimpses of gorgeous white rocks and sea-green water, with huge kelp beds along the way. Once again, little time to stop and smell the roses (or rather, take in the scenery) because we needed to get to our campsite, set up, have dinner, and get to bed…before the next day of driving. Do you sense a trend here? It’s all been a lot tighter schedule-wise than I anticipated when I was mapping out driving times and campgrounds planning this trip. Most days are supposed to be around 5 hours on the road, but with the time it takes to pack up, we don’t get going until 11 or later. Then we need to stop for lunch, and more stops later for bathroom and stretch breaks, gas fill-ups, etc. I wish we had more time to enjoy the sights and explore.
Apparently our karma for loud campsite neighbors followed us to California, unfortunately. Diagonally across from us here, a big family was hooting and hollering late into the night, playing some kind of board game that evoked shrieks of laughter, yelling, and general carrying on. Sigh. Not that I begrudge them their fun times - but could they have started earlier and tucked everyone into their sleeping bags at a
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