Wow Karen, your pictures are amazing! I am so sorry that we didn't get a chance to meet up, but I feel like I was there with this post. It is so neat to see my "home" from the eyes of a visitor. Right now it is 9am and it is still really foggy. I am heading down to San Juan this afternoon for my brothers wedding rehearsal and tomorrow for the wedding. They are getting married at El Adobe which is a restaurant within walking distance of the mission. Hoping to get there a little early so I can hit the antique mall before going in to the rehearsal. Glad you had a nice trip and made it home safely!

concerning "double digit" low temps I was there in 1990 when I believe that the low was around 9!!! that said, the coastal land near-coastal area is mostly USDA 9a and fairly mild most of the time as far as winters go---but my place gets some white frost on the ground most every year so "zone 9" is not a magic charm against cold weather by any means. FWIW, the biggest cordyline australis in bandon that I'm aware of is probably about 25' tall (coos bay/north bend plants are about the same size). the big "champion" douglas fir your are referring to are actually several miles inland around coquille and myrtle point generally in protected ravines that are moister in the dry summers and protected to some degree from wind storms. no doubt there were also big trees closer to the coast once upon a time but they likely got cut down rather quickly when the logging business came in the latter part of the 19'th century. a great book about the various champion trees of many species is "forest giants of the pacific coast" by Robert Van Pelt (he also has a good book on the various champion trees of Washington state as well). the "giants' book is beautifully illustrated so it's great just to look at as well as read through.

Washingtonia palms are a weedy mess and harbor rats. There's a petite version of Metrosideros called 'Springfire'. Very nice small tree. The flowers attract hummingbirds. Arbutus unedo is a fine small tree but it does drop ornamental fruit that can make quite a mess. A Manzanita (Arctostaphylos) would be similar without the fruit. They develop a gorgeous smooth dark red trunk. The tiny flowers attract hummingbirds. Podocarpus are gorgeous trees but they do get enormous eventually. Eriobotrya deflexa is a nice clean smallish evergreen tree. Avoid E. japonica as the fruit makes a mess.

I just realized there is a scheduled shuttle from San Jose airport to Monterey, which makes it feasible without a car rental. I really adore the Monterey area. I've been to a number of conferences at Asilomar Conference Grounds in adjacent Pacific Grove. It has a large campus with multiple buildings, a central social hall, and a central dining hall. It is separated from Asilomar State Beach by sand dunes that have a boardwalk. There are always deer and great birdwatching. The beach is not great for swimming, but is popular with surfers and for tidepooling. It's outside Monterey Bay on a promontory, so it is usually a bit cold and windy, so not a great beach for laying out. Lover's Point at the other end of Pacific Grove inside Monterey Bay has a sheltered cove that is better for swimming. Pacific Grove is a cute town with some really great restaurants (Passionfish and Red House are favorites). Monterey has a world-class aquarium, Cannery Row, an a state historic park.