The next day, Day 2 , Sat. We set off early in the a.m. for a Drive down the coast to Monterey, via Santa Cruz. The time for the day was perfect. It turned into my favorite of the visit. We arrived at our first way point on time, however I was concerned about time, if I was on track. After some inquiring locally about my ETA, I felt more relaxed somewhat. The other problem is Lady Z is now getting car sick.

We stopped for a break and some breakfast for me, as they ate at home before leaving but there was nothing for me. We also picked up some hand warmers for sister. After all that, plus Loo breaks we were off again. Our next stop on the journey is a small town called Davenport. Sorry, no pictures I was focused. There at one time there was a interesting little gift shop which was now remodeled to enlarge the restaurant. That was my planned rest point and time check. We were on course and on time, with a little help from no traffic and speeding … a bit.

We made it to Monterey with about a hour to kill before our planned whale watching trip. The Kobe Crew had never done it before and were REALLY Looking forward to it. Lady Z and I did it before , but on a bigger boat. We were hoping this would be better since we could get closer to the whales when possible. We took a lunch break after checking in with the boat people. There were 4 of us…

Once we all loaded on the boat , which was a small group, we took off for open water. I was a bit concerned about getting sick. Not so much from the sea motion , which added to it, but the fumes of the diesel motor and the motion. It was only about 30 min out from shore when we had our first sightings.

It was near the end of the season, so it was unsure if we would have any sighting. We were lucky and had several.

Sort of spread out into small groupings. But we did spot some a couple fairly near. I got one photo I liked, I would have liked to have done better. It is nice though to have been given one.

I have another shot that is fairly good, lil sis has the same shot on her camera. That was weird seeing that.

The trip lasted about 3 hours. I was ready for it to end , I had gotten at least one good shot, and I was fighting not getting sick. So far I was just ok. I was floating on the edge of going down hill… but still under control. It was a fast, chilly ride outside the cabin on the way back to port. Fast and Chilly but, helping to me to center. Calming my center, when there was the turmoil of the elements and man made power on the other side.

Next on our plan after WW is to visit our friends the “Tokyo Delgation” . We were all going to hook up for dinner. We headed over to their home for the meeting and a drink. We were very please to find brother in law could find his peeble Beach golf something , via our friend. Great timeing as well as they had 30 minutes to make the store, which was near. perfect!! Brother- in-law is all smiles now…

We band up and head out for dinner, we are now SIX. We go by this small family owned Italian place. It is full but we wait just a short time while a table is cleared up and prepared. We drop by Cost Plus for a quick look around. To kill the wait time. Dinner was excellent. Not really heavy but good flavor and fresh tasting.

After dinner whilst waiting for a couple of deserts a call comes in from a friend of the TD’s . She is another Japanese connection from Osaka and her husband. We agree to met up at the lounge at the Hotel and check out this Jazz band. It was only a short drive over, we are now 8. The Kobe Crew, The Tokyo Delegation, The Osaka Connection, and the Zen Clan.

The band was excellent we hung out with wine and chatted for awhile, before we got the hint it was time to leave.

A whale of a day…