I just posted this at work and it seems like not everyone knows this.

You can take the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose or LA in the other direction, to the Monterey Bay aquarium. On Amtrak.com, simply put Monterey Bay Aquarium as your destination and when you arrive in Salinas station at 12:20pm (daily), there will be a bus that waits for you and picks you up to send you to the doors of the Aquarium by 1:30pm (usually takes just 20min)

For a true car-free experience, book a hotel room in New Monterey near the Aquarium, like the Clement Intercontinental, Monterey Plaza, or Wave Street Inn or anything on that side of the tunnel (including Pacific Grove). You can walk / bike the coastal trail.

Rent a bike from Work Horse bicycles downtown.

If you bring your own bike on the train (check in without boxing!) you can put it on MST city bus no 20, the bus station is 5 min ride away. Wait at and have a taco at Tacos Don Beto next door. There is a small outdoor area for Covid cautious folks.

I’m in a meeting that started with, ‘the otter has been named’

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973852/monterey-bay-aquarium-new-otter-name-poll-results

It's a chilly 45 f in #Monterey #California this morning under a mostly clear sky. It feels like summer is on the way which will bring a thick marine clouds layer and fog.

It is a cold (46f) mostly clear morning here in #Monterey #California. No weather of note is in the forecast for the foreseeable future. I wonder how long until fog season starts?

April 2, 2025, 6 p.m. Transportation Agency for Monterey County Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting in Salinas. Public welcome to attend, in person or via Zoom or phone.

https://bikemonterey.org/monthly-meetings-tamc-bicycle-pedestrian-facilities-advisory-committee-public-welcome.html

It’s a good day when I can walk to the back deck and listen to some crashing waves

Oh wow I didn't know about this. There's a style of scuba diving called hookah diving where they leave the oxygen tank outside the fish tank so the diver can get in a small tank to clean it

https://youtu.be/rI2M2DXUoGA?t=139

A day in the life of a dive officer at Monterey Bay Aquarium

https://youtu.be/rI2M2DXUoGA

It's hella windy in #Monterey #California right now. Trash cans are blowing around and the house is shaking from the wind.

Monterey news: NEW OTTER STATUE

https://csumb.edu/news/news-listing/2025/q1/new-otter-statue-to-be-unveiled-april-17-/

Volunteers needed for WHALEFEST

https://patch.com/california/santacruz/volunteers-needed-15th-annual-whalefest-monterey

I’m very glad I live with a Filipino and a Japanese person whenever I’m in Monterey, coz that means there is always rice without me having to cook it, at all times.

Every time I’m on a call with someone at work who lives locally, they ask me for my restaurant recs.

Happily, I have them.

Vote to name our new resident otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium!

https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/stories/name-our-new-otter-poll

While biking the coastal trail Sunday eve, we met Salinas residents David, a teacher, and his daughter, Priscilla, home on spring break from her CalPoly classes.

Among the topics we touched on was April 10-13 Sea Otter Classic, which we think of as one big bike party! Who it’s for, how to get free admission, and history of #SeaOtterClassic: https://bikemonterey.org/april-10-13-sea-otter-classic-2025.html

Hello from my office

My perfect Monterey breakfast is (at my home): a gimbap I got from the Korean store (made by an auntie at the back of the shop, not Trader Joe’s), soy sauce, wasabi, coffee.

It is still 70f in the house after yesterday's warm weather in #Monterey #California. Outside it's 60f. I suspect today will be hot, too. Do I need to get the portable AC unit out of the garage already?!

The air smells dry outside although the finished is still about 50% where the sensor sits on the patio.

Maybe we'll get fog rolling in a bit later today to cool things off

After work socials

On our ride last eve to Cannery Row, we met Rhiana. She’s a former resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, now a resident of Seaside, California.