What Good Is A Plan

...If you do what I do and don't stick to them.

Last weekend, I intended to dive full on into the Rogue Festival's opening weekend.  While well intended, what I really wanted (no, needed) some beach time, a getaway.  Within an hour of expressing this to Jeff, he had a motel room booked in Monterey and mapped out surprise activities for Sunday.

We hit the the road around nine in the morning Saturday and arrived in good time (and no stops!) at the Fisherman's Wharf just in time for lunch.  After sampling every restaurants' offering of clam chowder we settled on Isabella's and shared a couple entrées. After lunch we did some window shopping, bought some candy (loved the peanut butter cups weighing over a quarter pound!), checked out a craft fair, then made an exit to lounge on the beach in Carmel.

It was a good plan.  The vehicle battery disagreed.  Before we got to the beach, we had to head back to Monterey to a Napa Auto Parts to get the battery tested after numerous electrical system failures.  Fortunately, a replacement battery took care of the problem and we were off to Carmel again, where we spent the next two hours relaxing on the beach.

After Carmel, we made our way back to Monterey to check out a very cool playground and a neighboring cemetery before grabbing some pizza at a local pizza chain.  After dinner, we settled in for the night back at our motel room.

We left for our Sunday adventure around seven in the morning, stopping at the local Safeway for breakfast and lunch options.  The Safeway was epic with a manned, full-service sushi bar, a soup/salad bar, and a buffet entrée kitchen along with the usual bakery and deli sections.  Unlike the sunny day before, a light rain fell and Jeff had some concerns for our outdoor plans that day.  I wasn't worried, even not knowing what he had planned.

We cruised down the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping a few times to take in the spectacular views.

Then we pulled into Big Sur.  I'd been talking about going hiking there for months.  I was thrilled, and despite the rain, we had a really enjoyable hike along the Pfieffer Trail. The only downside was trying to keep my camera lens from getting spotty from the rain.

After the hike, we took a crazy mountain road into Los Padres National Forest, just south of Big Sur and ended up in a military training area and got lost in a restricted area near a fort.  Look!  I found where I left my tank!

Next to Fort Hunter Liggett was Mission San Antonio de Padua, the third mission in the series of California missions.  It's in the middle of nowhere in a restricted area no less, I'm not sure how anyone would know to find it.

After the mission, we made the long trek home along the 198 through the mountains, ending up in Coalinga before taking long, eventless farm roads to the 41.  We landed in Fresno at five in the evening, and before stopping at home, sat down for a curry with my parents.  After dinner, we made it home with enough time for a quick shower before catching the last destination on the well-meaning Rogue schedule I devised to help Lydia by passing out programs before the show.

Even though nothing went according to plan, we really do have the best adventures.