Thursday, February 28, 2019, Final Week at Pismo Beach

Everyone seemed to think there was more rain this month than unusual (it was rare to have more than 24 hours pass without some precipitation) but we had plenty of exceptionally nice weather as well. Just about every time the sun was out we spent time rock hunting along the shoreline or exploring tide pools or just walking along the sandy beaches. Our month long stay felt more like a week and was over far too soon.

We made one short day trip north to Cambria to visit Moonstone Beach (no moonstones of any size to be found). Everything appeared as it was on our last visit (Oct/Nov 2013) so we enjoyed the drive without taking pictures.

We felt very lucky that the last 10 days of our stay at Pismo Beach coincided with Joani's Uncle Jim and Aunt Maggie's vacation in Pismo Beach.  We were able to spend time reminiscing and exchanging RV adventures and misadventures. (Most RVers enjoy both.)

This beach at South Palisades was my latest favorite. The tidepools were amazing...

...and the rock hunting was good low tide or high.

Care must be taken to spot the Sea Anemones when they were not submerged.  They closed up revealing their backside that was a mass of tiny rocks.

Without video, it is hard to picture that this scene was just vibrating with movement.

If you look closely, there are crab legs poking out of each shell.

This little guy was chowing down on the bulb of a seaweed.

The bright sunlight cast a glare on the water, so I attempted to use my body to block it.

It took a lot of willpower but I managed to only make one trip to the Old West Cinnamon Rolls bakery. Sure, I could have bought a box of 4 or 6 but I only had one. I bought it "to-go" so I could warm it up a little at a time before covering it with butter and cream cheese icing. If I included a picture it would only make you drool (you're welcome).  I don't know how the locals manage their temptation - or maybe they don't - there was often a line out the door along the sidewalk as we drove by.  

Pismo Beach is an interesting mix of old...

...and new.

One last walk along the boardwalk over the dunes.

There is so much in bloom in February!

I was unaware that eucalyptus trees flowered!

Do they not realize how cold that water is?!!

Pismo Beach remains one of our favorite tourist traps and we will absolutely be back again before our traveling days are through.

Friday, February 22, 2019, Weeks 2 and 3 at Pismo Beach

We made the short hike to the Monarch Butterfly Grove several times and this picture below was one of my favorites. The butterfly floated down for a closer look at who was taking his picture.

The low count was somewhat disappointing but the sunshine made the butterflies more active and much more colorful.

The beach access below Eldwayne Ocean Park, just a bit north of what we always referred to as Shell Beach, had very few visitors and a lot of interesting rocks. I found the critters in the tide pools to be more interesting

That yellow stucco house at the top of the access stairs with the fantastic ocean view could be yours for a cool $5.8 million.

If you wait a bit at many of the tide pools, they suddenly start to move. Nearly every shell in this pool was home to a Hermit Crab. I wonder why this one was sporting blue ankles.

My research tells me it is a blue band hermit crab making his home in a turban snail's abandoned abode.

The rock below was mostly buried but the quartz mixed in with the red and yellow rock caught our eye. When we finally cleared the sand away it was 9 by 7 by 6 inches and weighing in at 19 pounds. It might make a nice pair of bookends when it is cut and polished.

You just have to wonder why this one rock was so attractive to whatever created the pockets in its surface.

The "sand" on this beach consisted of stones and shells tumbled to about an eighth inch. The shiny and colorful bits collected in the pockets.

One of our neighbors drove in yesterday with his best friend in tow. Mandy, a very friendly Australian Shepard, rides in comfort in her custom trailer outfitted with manual and powered roof vents, sliding side windows, rear picture window and a hinged roof for easy access.

Looking out the front window we saw blue sky and sunshine so we decided to walk along the beach for a bit. The wind was in our faces on the way to the beach, so the ominous dark clouds inland seemed to be no threat.

At the beach, it was quite another story. The wind shifted and started blowing strongly out to sea bringing the inland clouds towards us.

The contrast in the sky was dramatic looking in one direction and then the other. We decided we had better head for home.

The view to the north toward Pismo Beach.

The view to the south toward Oceano Dunes.

The combination of precipitation, clouds and sunrays gave the sky some uniquely weird texture.

It was so strange to be pelted by sleet just before we got back. The little ice pellets bounced off of us keeping us dry - sure beat giant wet raindrops. In the first two weeks of our stay, we have experienced just about every kind of weather Pismo Beach had to offer.

It was not THAT cold. I was in shorts and flipflops, a bit chilly but nowhere near freezing.

Another first for our stay was the lightning and thunder. Sam was surprisingly mellow through it all but he was happy to get home.

We enjoyed a full rainbow on the way back to the coach.

The birds were hopful this would be a good spot to ride out the storm.

Joani's aunt and uncle (Maggie and Jim) made the trip over from Bakersfield this week and will stay in their Montana 5th wheel through the end of the month. We met them one night and gorged ourselves at the La Casita Mexican restaurant. I'm hopeful we will see them many more times before we have to leave.

Friday, February 8, 2019, First Week in Pismo Beach

OK, so technically we were in Grover Beach but the Pismo Beach City limits sign was just a few steps from our park and Joani's memories of family vacations were all in Pismo and it would just confuse things if we logged this stay as Grover Beach. In the picture below you can see we were a short walk to the dunes, the boardwalk, the ocean waves, and the Monarch Butterfly Grove.

Unfortunately, it was a very sad year for the butterflies. Wildfires damaged the milkweed along the migration routes so there were very few butterflies this year. Estimates ranged from several hundred to a few thousand. We had a difficult time spotting the clusters high up in the eucalyptus trees.

Hand-held at full zoom is not the way to go. I hope to do better next time.

David's camera did a much better job.

That's more rain out over the Pacific and it was headed for us. We felt a few drops before we were safely inside our coach.

The road to our south provided drivers with access to the beach. Every day brought hundreds of vehicles to the sand to cruise along the shoreline, set out a picnic or just sit and watch the waves and a sunset on the few days we were able to actually see the sun as it sank below the horizon.

We watched this guy romping in the surf for more than an hour as he worked his way up and down the beach. I'm sure he was having a blast but even with a wet suit on he had to be cold.

There was no doubt about the rain under the gray skies to our north this day.

When we did get to see the sunset it was spectacular!

Most "normal" people would go home on a day like this, but they would miss a magnificent sunset.

One morning the temperature was about 15 degrees below normal which resulted in a light coat of frost on our picnic table where Joani had been inspecting her collection of Sand Dollars.

On our last visit in 2013, these cliffs above Shell Beach were our favorite. We saw it this day at high tide so there was no chance to study tide pools

We keep a close watch on the tide charts because one minute there is a beach...

...and then the next it is gone.

I was thinking I could avoid the heavy surf but a sneaker wave drenched me to mid-calf as I was stepping off of the bottom of the stairway.

The north set of stairs at the end of Vista Del Mar Avenue is my new favorite beach. Abundant tide pools just north of the stairs.

Just beyond the trees is Avila Beach.

A short stroll to the south of the stairs takes you past some fascinating cliff walls...

...that show a turbulent past.

Then you reach even more tidepools in an area that shows the volcanic past of the area.

Back at Shell Beach another day with a low tide, we ventured along the beach and found several of the same sights we found when we last visited the area.

These are the rock faces that so fascinated me as a kid. This sandstone can be found all over the Pismo area.

The artistic nature of the stone is mesmerizing.

Sam and I retreated to the cliff overlook while Joani continued her search for interesting rocks. I'm pretty sure each trip to the water added another couple of pounds of rocks to our collection. Shades of The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball back in 1954.

My sweatshirt pockets are so full of pretty rocks it will barely stay tied around my waist.

The view below from Margo Dodd Park overlooking Shell Beach provided an interesting alignment of the rocky outcropping keyholes.