Road Tripping
“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” – Henry David Thoreau
Jelly fish at the Monterey Aquarium. — Photo by Jean Gowen
Monterey
When we walked into the Fireside Lodge, our Monterey home for the next two nights, the first words out of Jean’s mouth were: “I wonder how many pornographic movies have been filmed in this room?” I wasn’t sure where that thought came from, but it did make me laugh – and check to make sure the sheets were clean.
The Fireside Lodge.
As for its name, our room, which appeared to have once been an efficiency apartment, did have a fireplace, but we would have had to pay extra to use it. Otherwise, it only cost us $188 per night, which wasn’t too bad seeing as it was pet-friendly and we were in Monterey. The lodge was conveniently located about halfway from Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row and was away from heavy traffic, with one of our nearest neighbors being a liquor store.
Across the street was a narrow tree-lined stretch of grass where we were told we “must” walk our dogs. This area also held a picnic table, where both mornings when I walked the dogs, sat a grizzled, homeless-looking man at the table using a computer. I said “Hi” the first morning, but he ignored me, as I did him the second day,
Our room at the Fireside Lodge.
Day 5: The first order of business when we woke up the next morning was coffee. Jean Googled a Starbucks on her phone, and once we had its address, just a little over a mile away, I took off to get the coffee. I didn’t return for over an hour. The coffee shop was located on a Navy base and the entry gate where my GPS led me was blocked. I then used it to locate another nearby coffee shop. I found it, ordered our coffee, a latte for me and a flat white for Jean., and then promptly got lost on the way back to the lodge – despite my GPS. I got to see a good bit of Monterey, a bonus for getting lost before I finally found the lodge again. Thankfully the coffee was still hot.
The second order of business was to leave our canine companions at a doggie day-care so Jean and I could visit the Monterey Aquarium and Cannery Row. It was our one scheduled outing without our canine companions for the trip.
The day’s sight-seeing was splendid, especially the aquarium, but we were both eager to retrieve our animals at the end it.
I expected Scamp, who is still a rambunctious puppy, to have earned a bad report card from his caretakers. Nope. They had nothing but praise for him, noting as soon as we walked in the door that he had played well with all the other dogs, made special friends with a few, and had been fun to watch. Dusty had also been good, but more aloof, they said.
Finally, all tired out, Scamp makes himself comfortable in the back seat of the car. — Photo by Jean Gowen
When they brought the dogs out, Dusty jumped, pranced and danced with unconcealed joy to see her owner, Jean. Scamp hadn’t wanted to leave his new friends and acted as if I had never left him. I think my feeling were hurt.
We then located a beach, where Jean let Dusty run while I kept Scamp on a leash while walking for a bit beside the water. The tide was coming in and the waves were strong, I enjoyed letting them run over my bare feet, but Scamp tried to avoid them.
Once back at our lodging, we had hamburgers delivered by Uber and sat outside our room to eat. I also had a Jack and Coke, which went well with the expensive, but tasty burgers.
It was a great day!
Bean Pat: Short hikes https://juliejourneys.com Ideal for old broads like me, even if I’m just taking an armchair walk.
Pat Bean is a retired journalist who lives in Tucson. She is a wondering-wanderer, avid reader, Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder, Story Circle Network board member, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon, enthusiastic birder and is always searching for life’s silver lining. She can be reached at patbean@msn.com
Pat Bean's blog 
Leave a Reply