Saket Vora

11:00am

Back on the road towards Monterey. The instant oatmeal packets we lifted from the continental breakfast back in Kansas City was put to good use. We continue to stop for vistas, which grow increasingly more epic. One had a small trail that we took, and found ourselves in a field of wildflowers with the blue ocean and rugged coastline all around us. Simply phenomenal.

12:00pm

We completed the famous 17 Mile Drive (the road itself is called 17 Mile Drive) that goes by the Pebble Beach golf course and around an especially scenic peninsula just south of Monterey. Pebble Beach is an eye opening golf course, but we catch this area at low tide so the ocean was not so dramatic against the shore. The same held true for the rest of the drive. We arrive in Monterey and with some trouble finally park our van. We search for a bite to eat before meeting Naman’s aunt and his two young cousins at the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.

5:00pm

The aquarium’s industrial exterior betrays the quality and breadth of its exhibits. There is a million gallon tank, with ten foot long shark and two sunfish that look to be the size of a Mini cooper. One tank has enormous kelp forest; the aquarium was able to reproduce the swaying of the ocean that is needed to sustain a kelp forest. Apparently the Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first aquarium to successfully house a Great White Shark. There is a good mix of high level displays as well as exhibits directed at children.

But the star attraction were the sea otters. They have their own tank and we easily spent thirty minutes there, watching them swim and twirl effortlessly around, lie on their backs and play with their toys. When on their backs, the otters sometimes rub their faces, much like we do when rubbing our eyes. I learn that they do this to massage air bubbles into their fur, which helps keep it waterproof and slick. The highlight comes when the trainers arrive to feed the otters. They used to give the sea otters food with the shells still on, but the otters scratched up the glass after smacking the shells against it. They come up and jump and dive for the morsels of food. One otters who proved especially adept received a giant heap of food that she giddily clamored towards. After filling her mouth, she stuffed more of it into special pockets at her sides then dove back in the water, content. Adorable creatures.

8:00pm

We arrive at Naman’s uncle’s home southeast of proper San Jose. Directly behind their neighborhood the hills climb up, their grasses still tan and dotted with green trees. Naman’s uncle, Deepak, is in New Jersey closing on their old house, but his aunt Trupti is here with her two young children Ronak and Eshaa, ages 11 and 6, respectively. Naman has been out of the country every time they have visited Cary, so they are happy to meet. We go out to dinner at an authentic Indian restaurant in Mountain View where we happily get Gujurati thalis. A thali is a meal that features the full assortment of a typical Gujurati-style meal – it has roti (very thin wheat bread resembling a thin tortilla), three vegetable dishes, rice, dhal (a lentil soup), raita (a type of yogurt), and kheer (a sweet rice pudding). The dhal was mugh, something I haven’t had in over five months. I’m very satisfied.