Ode to Monterey ...

I spent the past week on Cannery Row in Monterey Bay with my agent Janet Grant and the Books & Such Literary Agency. Unbelievably beautiful area! If you ever get the chance to visit, stay at the Monterey Hotel and Spa. Expensive, so save up, because it's worth it! My room overlooked the bay and I heard waves crashing and sea lions barking all night long. (I miss it!)

This is the view from the fitness center one early morning. Look at that pink sky! Don't give me any credit--I just sat on a recumbent bike and pedaled rather slowly, trying to wake up. Loved watching otters frolic and the day awaken.

The agents of Books & Such did a marvelous job getting us going each morning with a devotional, some learnin' sessions, then free time in the afternoons. On Wednesday, I joined a group of writers to tour the Steinbeck Museum in nearby Salinas.

This is a photo of Linda Kozar, co-author of Babes with a Beatitude (with Danielle Woody), and me at lunch on our hotel's bay front patio. Linda also toured Steinbeck country. Often tours like ours are rushed, but not this one. Loved soaking it all in. Felt quite writerly :) After the museum, we stopped by the house where Steinbeck was born, and Dale Cramer also gave us a narrated tour of Cannery Row ~ the inspiration behind the famous book. Haven't read it yet (but it's on my list) ... have you?

My husband Dan drove up on Thursday and we stayed in the area through the weekend, a belated 20th anniversary trip. Stop by again this week for more on what we saw on the beautiful central coast! Cheers ~ Julie