November 6, 2016
Here we are alive and well at my friend, Mary’s house, not too far from what used to be our home.
Tuesday, November 8 I take Joy to the vet. There are no major or new issues, but she needs some med refills, and we decide to try something new for her skin problems.
Dr Clark wants to hear about our adventures. He’s been very supportive of our full timing, even though our living quarters are small (long ago he reminded me that wolves live in dens), and the dogs are older. He feels like this lifestyle with the adventures and stimulation is healthy for them. I’ve told him that they take dips in every body of water we can sniff out and he applauds that. He feels this is a good life for them and that is reassuring to me….remember for me, it’s all about the dogs.
Joy and Shiloh many years ago…and much younger… on the same beach you will see below. The picture above is one of my all time favorite pictures of Joy.
Tuesday afternoon the dogs relax at Marys house while I make my way to the Farmers Market. Three blocks and then some, right in the middle of down town Monterey are blocked off every Tuesday afternoon, year round.
Fresh fruits and veggies are here in abundance, and there are plenty of organic choices.
Beautiful, aren’t they?
Of course you can also find hand made jewelry, soap, hats, shirts, pies, candied apples, popcorn, flowers, and dinner.
Colorful shirts!
Pretty bouquets.
There’s music on every block.
And a guy always brings his birds to town. oops. Not a good picture at the top!
Wednesday, November 9, we are invited to my friend Anne’s home. It’s ‘the day after…’ and we need to spend some time in the comfort of nature and experience some healing. We head for the beach…Joy and Shiloh’s favorite beach.
The surf is ginormous!
There is almost no beach to speak of, even though it’s low tide. I leave the dogs on their leashes (usually they run free here), because the waves are just too dangerous.
We all watch the huge waves pound Monterey Bay. Wow. That’s powerful stuff…just what we need today though.
There is a lady and her little girl out there. We watch them with concern, but they use common sense with the waves.
November does tend to bring heavy surf to Monterey Bay, and later I hear on the radio that there is a ‘high surf advisory’ in effect.
I’ll say!
In the background the land you see is the Monterey Peninsula.
It was good to have experienced this first hand even though when we leave my shoes are squishy wet and filled with sand and my jeans are salt water wet up to my knees. Joy is pretty much saturated too, and both fur kids are sandy and happy when we trudge back to JR. Anne manages to remain dry!
A great picture of Joy and Shiloh that Anne took.
Saturday I’ll be heading out to Big Sur with Jason and Mandy (my son and daughter-in-law), so be expecting some pictures soon, of my very favorite place ever!
Wandering Spirit 
Great photos as always!!! I’m sure you will enjoy some settled time with family and friends.
Hi Marsha, yes, for sure. Are you here yet?
Oh man! Do I ever miss the farmer’s markets in CA! Nothing compares to the beautiful abundance of produce you can get. Never been as far north as Monterrey but it’s on the bucket list for sure! I bet there’s some comfort that comes from being back at the “home place.” I’m not sure what I’d call my “home place.” Definitely not MD where I’ve lived for the last 20 years. I’ll be quite okay if I never come back here. Maybe CO where I was born and raised? I do plan on spending a good deal of my summer in CO next year. I think that will be the perfect start to my RV life. Beautiful pictures of the surf and the gorgeous colors of the farmer’s market. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Lori, sometimes you need to travel to figure out where your home place is. I would have thought mine was Michigan, where I lived fro, 1955 till 1987…but when I tried moving back there in 2006, I found out it was no longer home, and when I moved back to California in 2007, it felt like home, and before I never thought it was. I was as surprised as I could be.
Yes the farmers markets can be just fabulous here…the Monterey one is my favorite, but it’s because that’s the one I went to the most and got used to. The bag I carried out of there the other day probably weighed at least 15 pounds. 🍎🍇🍅🍆🙂
A summer in Colorado sounds wonderful! Are you counting the days yet?
I can hear and feel your sigh of contentment, no place like home, no place like our beloved California (I’m a native). Nothing like a good vet visit, either! Beautiful photos, enjoy your family and friends. I was looking forward to this post, and I’m not disappointed!
Hi Maureen, thank you for your good wishes. Yes that’s how I feel right now…like a big sign of relief. I need some stabilization….some grounding….some familiarity. It feels really good. Yes, yay for California! Glad you enjoyed the pictures!
Wonderful farmers’ market! And what a beach! Glad you kept them on leash though, wouldn’t want them to get into that surf! Enjoy your home time.
Hi Dawn, isn’t the beach something? And it’s almost always empty as far as you can see…if I were to see a dozen people while I’m out there I’d be very surprised. I think Anne and I saw a total of 4 people while we were out there on Wednesday.
Thank you, I’m enjoying! 😀
My heart is with you.
Linda, remembering you and I and Robin on a beach out here….that was fun. 🙂
my husband was a student at DLI in the mid 70’s. We lived on Alice for a year. I thought it was the most beautiful place on earth, but the coldest. I would love to go back some day.
Oh I hope you do come back sometime Jean! I’m sure you will find that it has changed a lot, but the costal areas don’t change much….the beaches….the ocean views….the wild, rocky, wind blown coast of Big Sur. It’s all as amazingly beautiful and magical as ever!
Yes, it tends to be cool here. Monterey was foggy and in the low 60’s today, but I love that. When winter comes it will be 50-60 generally. Summer brings more fog and 60-72, with an occasional heat wave that might bring it up into the 80’s for a few days but that usually only happens a couple times a year.
I’m looking to soak this up for the next month or so! 🙂
Beautiful pictures of the waves!! I just
Love the sound of the waves hitting the shore! Would Love to be at the market…fresh veggies! Yum!! I hope you can rejuvenate while at your “home place”.
Hi Sue, yes you know I think I’m doing just that…rejuvenating that is.
I LOVE the surf sounds….:-)
Enjoyed reading your blog. The dogs look happy.
Safe travels!
Cheryl, Tennessee
Hi Cheryl, I’m glad you enjoy it!
My life is all about trying to keep the dogs happy! :-)))