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.