17 Mile Drive

 Part of the ongoing journey towards Carmel-by-the-sea involved going along the 17 Mile Drive, which runs mainly down the coastline.

We stopped in a few place on the way for photograph opportunities.

The first was a rock with all the seals sunbathing on it.  The rock was quite large, and covered with seals.

The shoreline along the coast is quite rocky in places.

Here, you can see the waves breaking over the rocks on a pretty-much deserted beach.

This well-known tree is growing on top of a rock.  It's the only tree on the rock, but sadly you cannot visit it, as the authorities had to build a wall around it after some people tried to damage it a few years ago.

It looks most strange just sitting there on its own, though.

 The next stop on the drive was the championship golf course at Pebble Beach.

We were able to walk around the open areas of the clubhouse and see the clock and the garden areas.

If there had been more time here, we could have had an afternoon coffee and cake and sat in the lounge area, overlooking the 18th green of the championship course, but with not much time, we had to settle for photos instead.

The whole 17 Mile Drive area is strictly a daytime-only place.  It closes at 6pm and visitors must have left by then, so that the residents, some of whom are famous (I'd never heard of most of them, but there were some pop musicians that I'd heard of) can sit outside on their balconies and terraces and enjoy the sunset over the Pacific Ocean without being disturbed.