Today we went to Pinnacles National Park. We went on a hike through tight crevices in a cave with beautiful views. Pinnacles is also home to the California Condor. It is the newest national park, the 57th one. President Obama turned it from a national monument to a national park in 2012.
After that, we drove by all kinds of Dole fields where they were growing lettuce and many other kinds of plants like cauliflower, broccoli, pimentos and grapes. We also drove by a couple of factories where they cut up those plants to turn them into prepackaged salad. I thought that was cool because we don’t really see those types of crops being grown very often. The nickname for this area is the “Salad Bowl of the World”!
After that we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is the second largest aquarium in the United States. The first thing we saw was the kelp forest which looked just like a forest except there were tons of fish swimming around. My favorite part of the aquarium was when we got to touch animals in the touch pool. My favorite touch pool animal was the decorator crab which covered itself in plants for camouflage.
After the aquarium we went on a walk to the Coast Guard Station nearby. They had a large complex that was all fenced in but we got to go on the pier where they had 2 47′ Motor Lifeboats. These are deemed basically unsinkable and they can withstand waves of 20 feet, winds of 85 mph, and they can self-right themselves in less than 10 seconds if they are tipped over. That was pretty cool to see. (AT)
Road Schooling with the Tischers 
Can you imagine being upside down in a 47′ boat? The coast in the Monterrey,Carmel,Pebble Beach area is really mind boggling, for sure. The Del Monte company and others have been growning vegetables and fruit there for so long. Thanks for your observations Andy!
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