We drove through Fort Hunter Liggett on our way to the coast.
An obstacle course.
The signs for the fishing derby were guiding our way, but unfortunately we had to go the other way at this intersection.
Small bridge.
This tree is all the way over the road.
So is this one. I wonder if any tall trucks drive on this road.
30mph is so slow.
But the road is fairly narrow and curvy.
Especially once you start going up into the mountains.
The road followed this stream.
There's a campground out here pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
Going down the mountain I used engine braking.
This is a gorgeous place to camp, although I'm not sure that camping is allowed here.
Great view.
Some poppies.
Ogii.
Us.
A little waterfall on the way.
Ogii checking it out.
After being in the mountains, now we can see the coast.
Pretty narrow, winding road.
That house has a great view.
And we reached highway 1.
We'll have to check out the sea otters some time.
The highway is still closed to the south from the mudslides over a year ago.
I guess a lot of people don't know about the road closure and come down from the north, which was just recently opened a few months ago, and rather than going all the way back up to Monterey, where they just came from, they decide to take Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (the road we took to get here) back to highway 101 to the east.
It was a pretty drive, but it's quite a pain, considering how small and winding it is, so we decided to go up through Monterey on the way back instead.
And we're here.
It's quite a long ways to come for sushi.
Apparently you can take this road back northeast and it meets up with the winding road we took.
Except that road was at least paved; this is just dirt.
And impassible in wet weather. I don't think we'll try it in the Prius.
A gate.
The main lodge.
It's nice inside.
Lots of tables and a fireplace.
This bird got inside.
So an employee caught it.
And put it outside.
A video of her catching the bird.
A map of the resort.
We dropped off our bags at our yurt. Or ger, if you prefer that word.
The inside.
A pool and hot tub by the main lodge.
Time for dinner. The hard cider is a bit expensive but let's try it.
Gorgeous view while dining.
Us together.
Great food.
Dessert.
Time for a kiss.
OK, for real this time.
Kind of overhearing these two's discussion, it sounded like one of them might have been the owner of the place.
They had some games you could play.
The pool in the other direction.
These flowers were right by the outside dining counter and hummingbirds loved them.
A video of some hummingbirds.
A stone bench beneath the main lodge. It was nice and warm.
Watching the sun set.
Between some flowers.
They had a special sushi dinner here.
Pretty view.
They have 16 yurts to rent out, and most of them are booked months in advance.
Back inside ours is a lunch-to-go order form and a list of suggested nearby hikes.
A spider inside. That's good luck.
Us inside.
Ogii ready for bed.
You can open the top if it gets too warm.
Each yurt had it's own little water heater for the sink.
The bathrooms were nice.
With a few showers.
Pictures of local sights.
These fish are in a pool right outside our yurt.
I think they're annoyed we didn't have any food for them.
Ogii on a bench swing.
Me on a bench in front of our yurt.
Some more.
They had some non-yurt structures as well. This was called the nest and was fairly open to the elements. I think I'd only stay here if it was quite warm outside.
The autonomous tent is farther away and more remote for more privacy.
A garden.
You can walk around inside.
Lots of plants.
Flowers, too.
Some huge fruits.
My favorite part of the garden: a fake snake.
On the other side of the garden are a few areas where people can put up tents.
Nice view from these chairs.
A yurt across a mini bridge.
The twig hut.
It's hard to see, but there's a rabbit under these bushes.
This is an interesting hanging couch thing.
Nice and relaxing.
They start at $2,000.
The owner's lodge has big windows for a great view.
The chair frames look like natural sticks.
Lots of articles and awards.
That's good to remember.
Breakfast time.
Cool sink in the bathroom.
A little variety store.
Ogii petting a kitty.
Yoga in the morning.
Stretching.
Neat structure for yoga.
Nap time after a hard yoga workout.
The parking lot was full last night; it seems most people leave during the day for hikes and such.
Maybe we can hike out to the water from here.
Uh oh, that looks like the poison oak picture. I think we'll avoid this trail.
There were some surfers walking back along this rocky beach.
The hippiest couple you could imagine.
There are some really nice coves along the central coast of California.
Gorgeous view.
The people look tiny way down there.
Uh oh, the waves came up way farther than these people had planned and soaked their stuff.
Thought about climbing up this little path but since it's like a hundred foot drop into the ocean if I slip off, I decided against.
Some surfers coming down the path.
I wonder if this is a hike?
Guess not; just these seven steps.
With a tiny waterfall a few feet back.
Another neat cove.
Big trees. This also might be the best shot of the t-shirts Ogii got us. They say "3 years later, still a great pear."
Last gas station before the road closure.
Not getting through here. Although I wonder what it looks like past it.
This is a good time to do some construction on the place because they have so few tourists coming through.
Don't run out of gas here. $7.00 a gallon, ouch.
A little cafe there, too.
Nice and open.
There's no phone or internet access anywhere around here, so you have to leech off of wifi whenever you can find it. Apparently not here, though.
Nice lights.
Lunch time.
Unfortunately they were out of most of the desserts. They did have some pie, though. It's probably really rough on them with the highway closed; hopefully it opens up soon.
A lizard on a rock.
This 8-second clip perfectly exemplifies how 90% of things I do turn out: Ogii says, "Don't be stupid," I'm stupid, and Ogii says, "I told you to not be stupid," in an exasperated voice. Thanks for putting up with me, honey.
Ogii in a bunch of flowers.
Hanging out outside our yurt.
Napping in the zome thingy again.
Ogii's spit making root beer foam up again.
Time for a little chess.
Thinking hard.
I don't think your opponent is allowed to hold onto a piece when you want to promote a pawn to it. Let go of my new queen, honey.
Ogii got us some customized playing cards.
Playing her Mongolian card game.
Ha, I ate all of her five-card hand.
Then did it again.
Then made her take all of these.
I don't think she's happy about that. She still beat me, though.
Another wonderful dinner on the patio.
Steak this time.
Nice sunset over the pool.
Sunday morning and time to leave. We saw this little bunny on the way out.
Big Sur Coast Gallery and Cafe to the north of Treebones. The cafe is closed for remodeling, though.
Very cool stone structure.
This is where highway 1 was closed to the north from landslides. They've managed to get a one-lane road through.
Much better than nothing.
Ah, this is where the Esalen Institute is. I wanted to go here to watch meteor showers because they have an outdoor hot tub open to the public in the middle of the night, but lately it hasn't been open. Maybe in the future.
The most famous and picturesque waterfall on the California central coast: McWay Falls.
There was also a hike here. It said by the green gate.
But most of the cars were parked on the other side.
The trail on the inland side looked more promising, but it said it was closed.
Let's check it out anyway.
Ah, that's why it's closed. A giant tree fell across a bridge.
A park ranger was there to remove the tree.
First she chopped some bark off.
Then she started up a chainsaw for the real work.
Some cute flowers.
These plants had a foamy white discharge.
This was the hike on the other seaward side, around the green gate. That looks way too long right now.
Almost to Big Sur.
An awesome house with an awesome view.
Let's look it up.
Only $15 million, not too bad.
From the other side.
Ogii spotted another art gallery on the way.
This one has a little garden.
With lots of metal sculptures.
A very cool building.
Some useable art inside, including tables and chairs.
Big sculptures outside.
A neat rooftop patio.
Parts of the second floor were clear and you could see through to the first floor.
This table was one of our favorite pieces.
$6,500; not too bad compared to some of the other art.
More metal sculptures.
This metal lamp was $50,000.
The artist who made the table we liked.
The owners are a family of five artists.
Very neat place.
And you can't drive along highway 1 here without stopping...
... at Bixby Bridge.
There's more parking on the other side of the road.
And you can go even farther inland for a more distant view of the bridge.
Although most people just hike down here a bit for a selfie.
Or a shot of their dog.
The bridge.
Us with the bridge. And now back to home via Monterey.