18 August-4 September: After having just visited Lowry and family in Colorado, we now spent a couple of weeks with Abby and her family in Monterey. These visits were the two cornerstones around which we planned this year’s 2.5-month trip with Vagabond. We had not met our third granddaughter, Saia, in person until she was nearly a year old, because of Covid-19 travel restrictions. With Abby and her husband, Payam, both working full time, we were only too happy to spend lots of time with Saia. We had flown out for a visit in late April and early May after getting vaccinated, and now we could appreciate how much Saia had blossomed in just over three months since we had last seen her. She was now walking confidently and even trying her first few words. Generally cheerful and independent in her play, she had definite ideas of what she wanted and wasn’t bashful in trying to make her wants known. We usually took her on walks with the stroller or back carrier at least once a day, often to the nearby San Carlos beach or the Coast Guard pier where the sea lions congregate noisily. Twice we took her to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Some days when Saia was in day care, the two of us ventured out to explore various local attractions. Our outings included a couple of art galleries, Pinnacles National Park, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, the museum at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. One weekend the five of us visited Abby’s cousin Teresa and her family on their organic farm in Pescadero. Teresa and Mike took us for walks around their farm and Saia had fun playing with her second cousins Charlie and Ellie. On a beautiful sunny day on the following weekend, we went kayaking. Payam and Paul paddled from San Carlos Beach to Lovers Point Beach and Abby and Amy paddled back, while the two not in the kayak stayed at the beach with Saia.
