California – here we are! First stop was, of all places, Susanville. For real! This was a great town, in a valley, surrounded by mountains (pretty big town too). We took the dogs to Susanville Ranch Park to walk the trails. This was our starting point to travel California Route 49, through the Gold country. Route 49 to Coloma, where gold was first discovered, passed through some very cool small towns. However, the roads were narrow, twisting, with many hairpin turns. White knuckle time again. We found a great campground in Coloma it was situated in a canyon right on the American River. The only access to the campground was by crossing the Coloma Bridge, very narrow, and less than a foot clearance in height. We were lucky this was the only campground in the area where satellite dishes would work. Of course, with the Georgia/Kentucky game the next day, a working satellite dish was a MUST. On game day, we started a batch of chili in the crock pot, and took a short ride though the country side before the game. The weather was great and the scenery very pretty. Georgia won too, so all was well.
Our next adventure was the drive down the California coast from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. There were many places to stop along the way, some really beautiful, and some not so enticing. Garrapata State Park was one spot OFF our list. Garrapata means “tick” in Spanish, obvious why we avoided that place. The coastal cliffs along the northern part of the route were amazing, with beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. We plugged up our iPod, got the music going, and sang along as we took in all the scenery. You could not ask for more. Good thing our windows were closed….. Scary though, when we passed a tow truck that had just lifted a totally mangled car up from the bottom of one cliff. Just above San Simeon was the elephant seal habitat. They return every fall for mating. There were thousands of them there squawking away, very fascinating watching them. They sure liked to sun bathe!
At the end of our coastal drive we ended up at Pismo State Beach at the recommendation of a fellow camper in Coloma. Nice campground close to the beach. But not the place we wanted to be. That evening, while walking the dogs, we heard people banging on the picnic tables a few campsites over. Thought the campers were playing music and stopped by to see what they were doing definitely not playing music. They had just returned from abalone fishing and were pounding their catch to tenderize it. We talked to them for quite a bit of time, very interesting stories about catching the “snail” like creatures. An hour later they showed up at our camper with some fried abalone. The flavor was great, but they were tough as rubber. Threw them in the trash. Guess the pounding did not go on long enough. But a very nice gesture – really nice people. Before they went back to their camper, they warned us about homeless people that come into the campground between 1am and 5am and steal whatever you have outside. We thought they were crazy in such a nice area. So….before going to bed that night, we went out and brought in our satellite dish and portable grill. Crazy to have to do this, but sad at the same time.
We split in the morning and drove up to Morro Bay. Before leaving Pismo Beach we visited the Monarch Butterfly grove, largest in the United States. Totally amazing. The Monarch butterflies migrate here for the winter, with the majority arriving Nov and Dec. Still there were thousands here, all hanging from branches in the eucalyptus trees. It must be fascinating when the population of them is at its highest.
Our campground in Morro Bay was right on the beach. Perfect! We could have stayed here for weeks. The coastal town was very unique with many restaurants, shops, and parks along the waterfront. They even have a giant chess board with hand carved chess pieces 2-3 feet tall. Morro Bay is noted for its 576 foot “Rock” in the harbor, giving it the designation as “The Gibraltar of the Pacific”. When you come right up upon the rock as you walk along the beach, the size is astounding. Walked along the beach with Honey for hours searching for sand dollars. Found many of them, but it is so hard to find them totally intact. Either they have cracked as they traveled to shore, OR the birds poked a hole in their shell to remove the insides. Still fun to look for them. We wanted sea food for lunch, headed to the waterfront for fish and chips at Giovanni’s as it had great reviews. Boy was it our lucky day! Customer Appreciation Day all day – half price fish and chips and clam chowder. So fish and chips $4.99 and clam chowder $1.99. The portions were HUGE - a bargain. Delicious too! We sat on the patio with all the sea gulls – what an experience to say the least. They swooped down and grabbed one of our pieces of fish when we went to get some extra napkins. Crazy birds……
Time to start heading back east. Bummer :(
Next stop, southern Utah.
