Covid-19: An outing to nearby Moss Landing

With the shelter-in-place orders, we are strictly speaking allowed to venture anywhere within our county, but not outside. And Monterey County is huge.

Today we headed a little ways up the coast, to Moss Landing (pop. 204 as of 2010), which, founded in the 1860s, was once a major whaling port, with fishing and canneries soon to follow. Today the fishing is almost gone (and the whaling and canneries long gone), the harbor now home to pleasure boats, whale-watching ships, and research vessels affiliated with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

The reason we went to Moss Landing was to plan a new "Adventure Lab," a little tour affiliated with geocaching. We need to find up to five distinct, walkable, interesting locales that we can bring visitors to, give them a bit of the story of the place, and ask a question for them to answer. At the end of the tour, they get . . . congratulations! I've done one of these Adventure Labs, and I think that was the extent of the reward. But the one I did was along Cannery Row, and I learned a heap of new information—even better than a congrats.

Here are a few photos we took to help us plan the next steps. It was a fun outing. I enjoy Moss Landing. (Though I was surprised at how busy it was today: so many people, at the fish market buying takeout, on the beach, out fishing, just walking. More people, I think, than I've ever seen there. Many, but not all, wearing masks. We had ours on. I may be wanting to venture out of Monterey Peninsula proper, but I am still definitely taking precautions.)

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Main building

Research Vessel Rachel Carson

Research vessel Western Flyer

Phil's Fish Market (a touristy place with overpriced fish)

And on the back of this sign is . . . :

We may ask Adventure Lab adventurers to count the
number of eyes on this whimsical sign (19)

Moss Landing Boat Works

The squid is the proud symbol of the Boat Works

A different squid, on a boat-moving machine

Another question may be the place where
a gizmo on the boat hoist (see first picture above)
is made: Boise, Idaho

Moss Landing Power Plant (natural gas powered electricity)

This power plant, with its towering twin smokestacks,
is a distinctive landmark,
visible throughout Monterey Bay

But certainly visible throughout Moss Landing

There's the Boat Works squid again

Elkhorn Slough

The bridge there is Highway 1, and Elkhorn Slough proper
is beyond it—a tidal estuary that I love, and visit
far too seldom these days . . .

I took the above picture from here, which marks the
entrance to Moss Landing. Might ask how many castles
on this sign for the Adventure Lab—I guess that's the
symbol for the Corps of Engineers?

Miscellaneous shots

That's Moss Landing Marine Lab (the marine lab for the
California State University system) over there on the left

Shakespeare Society of America . . .
in Moss Landing? Go figure!

A couple of barn swallows hanging out

Ammonites

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Monterey County cases up 24 since yesterday, to 395; deaths remain steady at 8. (Though the county website I refer to recently reconfigured its stats, and it's telling me it's only up 2 since yesterday. I'll figure the site out. In any case, today's total: 395.)

Stay healthy. Wear your mask when you're out with other people. Try to have some fun!