Day 8 - Monterey

I went out to Monterey aquarium as soon as it opened, and as soon as I got in I promptly became a little kid again. I was bouncing around with such excitement. The new wing of the aquarium is just awsome - the outer bay exhibition has this HUGE acrylic glass and a whole school of tuna that are just mesmerizing.

I watched them feed the tuna...and felt hungry myself, and being chinese, I was itching for some sushi :)

So yeah, I ate some sushi that night....including tuna, and it was good :)

Anyhow, I was in there for over 4 hours - longer than I was in the Getty. The giant Octopus (no flash photography, so no photos) was just AWSOME - and the one they got at Monterey is GI-NORMOUS. It has like a 6 feet reach and it was actually active and moving around - I swore it was studying me as much as I was studying it, and I actually saw it change color AND texture as it tries to blend into the background rocks. Just absolutely amazing.

Afterwards I decided to rent a bike and do the 17 miles drive. Going from Cannary Row to the drive it's actually more like 25 miles roundtrip....and little did I know a giant hill was involved. I don't think I have climbed anything larger than Summit in decades, and this hill was like 800 feet above sea level, and at the end I swore I saw a turtle pass me.

But the view along the ocean is so worth it. It really is one of the most scenic roads in america. Along the way I saw the famous lone cypress tree.
The shoreline was so beautiful that I took my time...until I realize the rental shop was going to close by 5 pm and it was pm and I only went about 6 or 7 miles - so I basically booked it as soon as it went inland and up that crappy hill. I haven't felt so out of breath in eons as I climbed the hill...so...as you can imagine, my ass was sore the next day.