Clint Eastwood

Carmel is a town with no street lights, I wonder if Clint Eastwood got rid of them when he was the mayor? 

The shops are all very upmarket as are the houses and don't ask how many Bentleys I saw.   At the bottom of the town is a beautiful long beach with the whitest sand where pelicans watch the seals playing in the surf.

We met some old friends on the beach, Ross & Kerry Adams who live here in Monterey.  Ross is a good old Cornish boy from up St Austell way while Kerry is home grown US. After a walk along the beach with their dog we had lunch at the Hogs Breath pub and although he owns it, Clint Eastwood didn't make an appearance, the lunch was rather tasty though and dog friendly!

We stayed on a ranch which had a terraced camp site up the side of a hill, the view down the Carmel Valley was cool. Always bear aware we put all food in the van at night but something was scratching around outside the tent in the darkness. The site owner said probably not a bear, more likely a packrat, like a rat but bigger!  On the second night Mr Packrat was on patrol for titbits when he squealed once followed by the sound of something running through the grass. Site owner said not to worry, that would be a cougar getting his dinner!  On a nocturnal toilet mission, Lyn startled something big in the dark by the van, probably the cougar..............

On an entrance slip road to the freeway there were three guys hitching and all holding cardboard placards, the first simply said San Fransisco. The second said Travelling and broke but the third said I just like holding cardboard.  Make us chuckle, didn't pick them up either.