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.