Pebble Beach Trip Part Two - Grab That Slimy Stuff Before You Float Away

Alrighty then!  Part two of the Pebble Beach trip.  

On Saturday we had an ocean kayaking trip all set up.  I had never kayaked before but The Queen Of Hearts has river kayaked.  I figured that since I have canoed and white water rafted, I would be good.  And I was!  It was a little scary at first given that the guide kept saying things like "Looks like some waves today", and "I love the waves but if it looks like too much for you we can reschedule" and 

"Holy Shit look at those waves!  I bet you ten bucks only half of us survive!"  

Okay, maybe not the last one, but whatever, it's my story.  

So we all got loaded up into kayaks and were pushed unceremoniously into the heaving ocean.  It was amazing.  It was easier than I thought it would be and the views were amazing.  We saw sea otters, harbor seals, pelicans and enough kelp to, well, do whatever you do with kelp for a lifetime.  Let me just say a few things about kelp.  I considered myself "kelp neutral" before our kayaking adventure.  Here are a few things I learned about kelp.

1.  Kelp is slimy.

2. Kelp is what you use when you want to anchor yourself while ocean kayaking.

3.  Tiny little centipede like bugs live on kelp.

4.  Kelp is slimy.

Did I mention that it was slimy?  And had bugs on it?  

I didn't bring my Nikon out on the water, for obvious reasons, but our guide Bob brought a camera and emailed me some photos.  

This is me thinking "Smile and don't die.  Smile and don't die."

And here's the Queen Of Hearts doing her "I'm the Queen of the World" thing.

I can't say enough about the entire experience and if you are in the area, I recommend the company we went with.  You can see their website here.

After the kayaking adventure we were beat. So we went back to the room, rested up, then went down to Carmel for a little shopping and dinner.  On the way we passed the lone cypress tree, the logo for the resorts and a recognizable icon along 17-mile drive.  

We did a little shopping, had dinner here (I can still taste the gnocchi) and stopped by Carmel beach before driving back up to the resort.  The beach did not disappoint.

So that's day two of the trip down.  Stay tuned for the third installment.