I’ve got a lot to catch up on. I am still going to try to be brief, but you all know by now how that goes. We stayed on the top of the mountain another night. It was a lazy day of catch up and rest. A couple of small hikes but mostly just hanging out, cooking and resting. Monday morning we rolled back down the twisty winding road to Escondido as of course by now we needed a grocery store to pick up all the things we had forgotten the last time. After a while we were on the road to the coast and the beginning of our tour of the PCH, the Pacific Coast Highway. The official PCH is Route 1, but it mixes with the 101 frequently and Siri has her own ideas about how we should proceed.
Leaving Escondido behind, we loved this campsite view.
We drove back past Oceanside one more time and on up the road toward Los Angeles. Our original plan was to skirt LA as much as we could, but figured that would take us to Nevada so we decided just to drive right into town. Searching for the PCH we found ourselves in Santa Monica, right at the head of the pier. Some say this is the real beginning of the PCH but we drove a bit of it in San Diego and up to Oceanside. We stopped and looked down at the water from up above and realized that the road down below was the one we were looking for, regardless of what Siri said, and found our way down the 'California Incline' to Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway. And the tour began.
Famous Santa Monica Pier
What a wonderful drive Route 1 provides. Sure there is some stop and go, and some construction here and there, but it is awesome to drive with the water always present right there on your left. We went through several small towns that could be sets for movies we have watched. We stopped in Malibu to see what we could see and moved on, up the coast through Oxnard and on to Ventura.
Looking down on the California Incline and Route 1 - the Pacific Coast Highway, in Santa Monica
We set up camp at the Emma Wood State Beach. Right on the beach. The smell and sound of the surf is so soothing and relaxing. We could see the Channel Islands off shore and some oil rigs out there as well. Carol found some of the most unusual rocks that had developed holes in them for tumbling in the surf. So now we are carrying home a large rock in one of the cabinets. Another spectacular sunset and a great evening 'at home'.
Emma Wood State Beach, home for the night
The following morning we headed north once again. A few miles up Route 1 we found Santa Barbara, home of the rich and famous, and a wonderful town to explore. We found a great parking lot right on the beach that accommodated us larger vehicles just fine. We walked a few miles exploring. The Pier was very interesting, with nice little shops and restaurants and such. It also has spectacular views of the town, the mountains and lot of boats in the harbor. Harper and I found an ice cream shop while Carol was poking around in a store nearby. I ordered one scoop of vanilla for Harper while we waited...to my surprise one scoop in a cup for the dog in Santa Barbara is $7.50! Oh well we both enjoyed it. The ice cream wasn't as good as the Blue Bell we had back in Texas, and that was $1.00 a scoop. Carol found a few souvenirs and the walk continued.
Happy couple on the Santa Barbara pier
Soon though we were back on the road again and we strayed from route one somehow and were on Route 154 through the mountains. This also was a surprisingly spectacular drive. California is just full of surprises. We re-attached to the PCH about 35 miles later.
Along Route 154
We stopped in Santa Maria, where we thought we saw a great mission, which turned out to be a hospital, but we discovered that Santa Maria is beautiful town and is in the heart of farmland. It is fun to discover these things as we drive around. We arrived at our campground a short time later, Morro Bay. Morro Bay turned out to be such a surprise.
What a great beach at Morro Bay
I had chosen this place long ago, on a cold evening in April - it looked nice. It is amazing. The beach is spectacular and terminated at a huge rock - the 'Rock of Gibraltar of the West' they say. It is huge! The surf here is great as well. We walked into town and found another Mexican restaurant and had a delicious supper, and they let us bring Harper in. It is rare that she is alone for more that a few minutes, we never leave her behind
Harper likes Mexican food too, must be the Chihuahua blood
We walked back and hiked a bit of the beach. Harper loves to frolic in the sand. I lost two straight games of cribbage. Carol and I watched a bit of TV and then turned in early. The next morning we were back on the road after a nice long walk on the beach, and after gathering a bag full of sand dollars, we headed north again on Route 1. We were heading toward Big Sur and Monterey. Now this drive is not for the faint of heart. Carol was reading that this is the single most dangerous road in California!
Along the PCH
We had a great time. The road hugs the coast here for the 130+ miles from Morro Bay to Monterey. It has twists and turn, ups and downs with sheer drop offs without barriers and many many blind corners - it was fun. I think though that Carol may have had less fun...she doesn't like looking at those drop offs, and has no great affection for heights. We listened to music while we drove, culminating with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album...perfect!
Lots of twists and turns
We stopped several times, hiking down to the beach, finding a gift shop or just a scenic overlook. The first place we stopped was a place filled with elephant seals! A couple of elephant seals arrived here in the early 1990's and today there are over 15,000 of them.. I guess they like it here.
Elephant Seal Beach!
We arrived in Monterey later afternoon, drove through town a couple of different directions and the found the fairgrounds, which has an RV park as well. We stopped by the main gate which looked closed and was trying to figure out just where the rv park was when they called us. A guy named Ray, called to see when we would be arriving. I told him we were sitting by the main gate, he gave me directions and three minutes later we were in the office chatting with him. Life should always be this easy. This fairgrounds is a bit special to me. Back in 1967, the 'Summer of Love' I attended the Monterey International Pop Festival here. For those who don't know, this was the first great outdoor rock festival. Everyone was here from Janis Joplin to Jimmy Hendrix, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who and even Tommy Smothers - and so many more - three days of concert. Now that was quite a time. .. but a story for another day. We are now camped within sight of the very same stage.
Below is a gallery of images from the past few days.
