National Steinbeck Center, Salinas, CA

Dave and I reluctantly left Pismo Beach on Tuesday, March 6.  We thoroughly enjoyed our two-month stay.  Now it's on to Monterey and Dave's once-in-a-lifetime chance to play three of the best golf courses in the world at Pebble Beach.  While he is golfing with his friends who drove down from home, I am free to explore the Monterey area. 

Our home base for four nights is the Monterey Fairgrounds, a centrally-located RV park.  The $36/night  price is a bargain in this high-priced area.  Our site is not very spacious, but it meets our needs.  Friendly Canadians are parked on either side of us and a golf course is behind us.

Yesterday I spent three hours at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, Ca.  That's John Steinbeck, of course, the prolific author of such books as The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, and many others, including one of his later books, Travels With Charlie. 

National Steinbeck Center

Looking from the Steinbeck Center down a street of Oldtown in Salinas.

If you are interested in John Steinbeck and his books, the museum is worth the entrance fee of $9.50.  I had the place pretty much to myself.  Many of Steinbeck's books were made into movies, and the museum played clips from most of them.  Each of his books was featured in a display that depicted scenes and quotes from the book. 

In addition, other Steinbeck memorabilia caught my eye.  Here's a life-sized Steinbeck crossword puzzle.

John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962.  Other American authors are listed in this plaque.  The museum opened in 1998, so if others won after 1993, they are not listed here.

Many RVers have read Steinbeck's Travels With Charley.  His travels are depicted on this map.

Can you relate to Steinbeck's reasons for this journey?

Steinbeck was born in 1902.   During his lifetime, he wrote 27 books.  He died in 1968.

Now I've given myself the task to re-read some of those Steinbeck books that I read many years ago!