.. title: Trip to Santa Cruz, Carmel and Big Sur
.. slug: trip-to-santa-cruz-carmel-and-big-sur
.. date: 2015-08-10 23:07:25 UTC-07:00
.. tags: 
.. category: personal
.. link: 
.. description:  Short trip to central coast of california.
.. type: text

I planned for a family weekend trip to few coastal towns in California. My dad
was visiting us and before he returned back to India, I thought it was a good
idea to tour some nearby places. Plus, it was a welcome relief after all the
work of moving to the new home.

As my wife would say, something that I should avoid doing, it was last minute
plan. On wednesday, I went about planning for my leave at office and started
booking hotels. Hotels near tourist spots often get booked during weekends and I
had to pay my price of getting hold of something which was a bit away from
tourist spots, but in a beautiful small town called Salinas_.

Using wikipedia and google maps, I noted down the following places that will be
worth visiting.

* `Pegion Point Light House`_
* `Mystery Spot`_
* `Santa Cruz Broad Walk`_
* Piedras Blancas Light Station [cancelled]
* `Point Sur Light House`_
* `Monterey Aquarium`_
* `Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo`_
* `Bixby Creek Bridge`_
* Hearst Castle [cancelled]
* `Mt Madonna Hanuman Temple`_

We could make it most of them and I had to cancel a few because were very far
from the place we stayed.

I have visited Monetery twice earlier, I was enthusiastic to travel to the
peninsula again and take Siddhartha to Aquarium second time in row.

Santa Cruz beach has free concerts on Friday evenings and  we got a chance to
watch the live performance of of `Y and T`_

At Bigsur, we could be on time for a 02:00 pm tour of Point Sur light house.
It's trek lasting for 3 hours up to the light house led by a guide, who has a
good narrative on light houses in california, living in early 1900s in the light
house and current preservation efforts.

Next day, we visited Mission San Carlos at Carmel, which was one of the earliest
missions established in California by Junipero Sierra. These monuments provide a
window to peek at events back in time. I enjoy watching through it.

On Monday, on our way back to home, we made a trip to Hanuman Temple at Mount
Madonna, Watsonville. This is actually a Yoga retreat setup by folks and is
guided by an Indian guru by name Baba Ram Doss. The location of this Hindu
temple was excellent and at atmosphere was serene.

That was our last spot in the journey. All throughout, we tried different local
foods, and sometim food chains as it was easy choice. We planned a little,
executed mostly on our plans.

Here are some of our `Tour Photos`_.

.. _Pegion Point Light House: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_Point_Lighthouse
.. _Mystery Spot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Spot
.. _Salinas: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Salinas,_California
.. _Santa Cruz Broad Walk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_Beach_Boardwalk
.. _Point Sur Light House: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Sur_Lighthouse
.. _Monterey Aquarium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_Bay_Aquarium
.. _Bixby Creek Bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixby_Creek_Bridge
.. _Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Carlos_Borromeo_de_Carmelo
.. _Mt Madonna Hanuman Temple: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sankat-mochan-hanuman-temple-watsonville
.. _Tour Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/fMz7sEm8kT5pJy3t8
.. _Y and T: http://www.yandtrocks.com/