While we were planning our Highway one round-trip itinerary, we quickly realized that spending the night in Carmel by the sea was not going to work for our budget. It is a lovely town but the hotel rates are steep if you are a budget traveler. However, just fifteen minutes down the highway, the city of Monterrey has significantly reduced rates and within a short drive of Carmel that we did not feel like we missed out choosing to camp out in Monterrey for the evening. After spending the morning driving from Santa Barbara to Carmel and exploring all that Carmel has to offer - including the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, we were very tired. The cross-country flights to Los Angeles a few days before, daily hotel changes and the drive was starting to take a toll. By the time checked into our accommodation in Monterrey, I was almost ready to pull the plug on the rest of the road trip.

We called it a night early. Surely our road trip blues will be cured by a good night's rest. Not quite. We planned to start out early the next day. Our itinerary included stops in Santa Cruz; Half Moon Bay and San Fransico. However, we were still a lot tired. What we should have done was sleep in or start our day early to avoid traffic etc. Instead, our FOMO (fear of missing out) would not let us leave Monterrey without exploring. We found a happy comprise with Asilomar beach. 

We found a parking spot for the car and headed down the footpath. As soon as we arrived I knew I wanted to shoot here. It was supposed to be a relaxing morning, but the site before us needed to be captured. I ran back to the car to grab my camera.

It was expectedly quiet as we made our way past some joggers, and a few folks walking their dogs. We stopped every few feet to admire the beautiful beach and watch as waves caught into the perfectly imperfect rock formation. A lady was camped in the gazebo about midway down the footpath having her morning coffee while watching the waves. A little bit further down - another lady was painting the scenery in beautiful watercolor. It seemed surreal.

The quiet and peace of the morning was just what the doctor ordered. We found a spot to camp out and caught up on our reading for a few hours before the reality of our road trip schedules set in.  Before leaving Monterey, we had breakfast at first awakening diner (diners breakfast is the best).  This place served up an excellent meal. I highly recommend it if you are in these part