Mon. 10/10:After the wineries with Corey and Whitney on Saturday, we kept heading north. Ended up in a creepy little motel in Santa Maria that was hilariously dirty and scary. We brought in our pillows and sleeping bags from the camper, unwilling to come in contact with their "linens". Instead of extra toilet paper under the bathroom sink, I found some guy's laundry, so we supplied our own TP, too. Couldn't get out of there quick enough on Sunday morning. Drove up to Cambria, a place we love. The campground is called San Simeon Creek. The beach is tranquil and gorgeous; we spent hours just staring out at the delicious blue and listening to the waves. Jack actually did nothing for the longest time. I napped on the beach. Jack collected beautiful stones and took a great picture of them with some eucalyptus leaves.
This morning we left Cambria and saw the elephant seals, which is a high point.
I love those guys. Galumph galumph. But so incredibly graceful in the water. Lots of teenagers and young adults this time; last November when we were here there were lots of huge males fighting and such. Then up through Big Sur; no need to stop there this time. Then to the amazing Point Lobos. I'd never been, and why I don't know, having spent so much time in the area. Wow. It was hard to leave but we're on the way to see Lissa so we had to. The trails through the poison oak bring you to view after endless view of amazing shoreline and birds. I am absolutely in love with pelicans so I was in heaven; there are hundreds (thousands?) there, soaring everywhere. The weather was sunny and clear, warm in the sun and cool in the shade; really perfect. Several deer in the forest. We're having a fabulous time. We are in love, grateful to have this time, basically jubilant that we both love this so much. On the list of things that don't upset us: gas is $2.69 to $ 3.09/gallon, the refrigerator is freezing everything, its gasket keeps launching itself on to the floor, we sleep with our heads lower than our feet sometimes, the camper is really small and tosses everything as we drive, often we have a substantial walk to the bathroom or to the woods. I am missing my washer and dryer but not psycho about it yet. The state park showers have meant I'm clean at least, if my clothes aren't. Everywhere we go there are mountain lion warning signs but alas they are teasing us. Should I put a raw steak on the hood of the truck?Jack got oysters today, from the crabby fishmongers in Carmel. He also got a newspaper which I thought was for reading but no, it was for catching the oyster juice. He had all 3 of those oysters eaten within an hour or so; every stop we made, first an oyster had to be eaten. He's also obsessed with fresh artichokes so that's on the agenda asap too.We love our meals made in this little play kitchen. We're livin large with two plastic coffee cups, a couple of bowls and spoons and forks. The propane works better than our natural gas range at home. Adios amigos, from Sunset Beach campground near Santa Cruz CA.