Saturday, February 23, 2013

Morro Bay, CA

On Thursday, Dave and I drove the 20 or so miles to Morro Bay.  We walked along the entire waterfront for a total round-trip of about three miles.  Morro Bay is different than Pismo Beach because it was built along the bay, and thus, has a marina area.  It's a fishing town as well as being a tourist destination, and there are many excellent (I presume) places to eat seafood. 

Morro Rock, as viewed from Tidelands ParkIMG_5935

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The infamous smokestacks of Morro BayIMG_5925

Dave is taking a picture of the Avalon deep sea rescue vehicle which has been donated for the not-yet-built maritime museum.IMG_5926

Looking back at Morro Bay from the walking path.IMG_5927

Morro Bay is known for sea otters, but I wasn't able to get a clear picture of any.  :(

A cute kid's play area in Tidelands Park where we parked our car before taking our walk.IMG_5934

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Anya Grace is Born

Amaya Grace, our second granddaughter, and sister to Sophie Peace, was born yesterday, 2/15/13.  She weighed 8 pounds even, and measured 20.5 inches long.  Tim sent us the following great pictures!

The new family of four.  Doesn't Kiersten look great after  giving birth earlier that day?anya2 (2)

Proud papa, our son Tim:anya1 (2)

Big sister and little sister:anya4

Anya Graceanya3 (2)

Welcome to the world, sweet baby Anya Grace.  We love you!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Cambria's Moonstone Beach and Pismo Beach's Monarch Butterflies

On Monday, Dave and I drove north to Cambria.  We parked at San Simeon State Park and walked along the ocean on the Moonstone Beach boardwalk.  This was a lovely walk!IMG_5842

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Yesterday, while Dave played 18 holes of golf at Avila Beach, I went for a walk to the Monarch Butterfly Grove just north of our park. IMG_5881

The butterflies clump together for warmth.  They arrive at this grove in November and are here until the end of February.  Then they fly back to the more northern climates.IMG_5870-001

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We've had wonderful, sunny skies all week, so today we took a drive south on Highway 1 to Lompoc, where we had lunch at Texas Cattle Company.  On the way home we drove through Orcutt and stopped to take a walk around Old Town.  When we got back, we took a bike ride around the RV park.  The sites are already filling in for the three-day President's Day weekend.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Bob Jones Trail in Avila Beach, CA

Yesterday was a rare day of rain in Pismo Beach, CA.  We stayed inside all day except for when Dave walked over to the park store to get our mail.  We called it a "lazy day" but, really, all of our days here are lazy days!

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Today was sunny, so we continued our walk on the Bob Jones Trail in Avila Beach.  It's a multi-use path that in prior years we have always ridden our bikes on.  This year we've been taking a lot of walks, so we decided to walk the trail.  Round-trip is six miles, so we divided the path into two parts.   IMG_5814

The middle part of the path has a small playground that is supposedly private and intended only for the residents of the the gated community along the trail, but I'm not sure that they enforce that rule. 

The west part of the trail runs along a beautiful golf course.IMG_5815

The whole path is paved and marked with a yellow dashed line down the middle.  It's hard to ride bikes on this path because the path is very popular with dog-walkers, stroller-pushers, and groups that like to spread themselves across both sides of the path.  All-in-all, this a gem of a path.  It's a little too short and too slow for a good bike ride, but it's great for taking a walk.IMG_5817

When we biked on the Bob Jones Trail two years ago, I was riding my bicycle that has hand brakes, and I had to press the brakes so much along the crowded path that it ended up aggravating my carpal tunnel syndrome on my right hand.  I was in so much pain that I had to make a trip to a storefront emergency clinic.  IMG_5818

After that experience, I bought a retro fold-up bike that has coaster brakes.  I miss having gears, but the change in bicycles has been much easier on my wrists.  IMG_5820

The playground and halfway point of the trail.IMG_5831

Requisite mansion photo, along with an apple orchard in front.IMG_5829

I don't know what kind of bird this was, but it looked big, and it sat there quietly while we took pictures.IMG_5832

This bird has now been identified by Judy, the Bionic Bird Lady of Blogland, as a red-shouldered hawk.  Judy knows a lot about birds, and now she is bionic because she just had a hip replacement.  Thank you, Judy!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Santa Margarita Lake Regional Park

IMG_5789 Like all San Luis Obispo County parks that have lakes, Santa Margarita Lake cost $10 for a day use pass.  That steep price could be the reason that the park was quite empty last Saturday.  The park contains quite a few camping spots, none of which have any hookups.  Those sites cost $23 off-season and $25 during the season. 

Boat launch areaIMG_5786

This park is a reservoir which was formed when the Salinas River was dammed.  The reservoir is a major source of drinking water for the City of San Luis Obispo.  IMG_5783

We drove around the lake which we could clearly see was very low.  Then we ate our picnic lunch as we overlooked the lake.  After lunch, Dave and I decided to take one of the park's easy hikes, the Grey Pine Trail Loop.   

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As frequently happens to us, we never did find the loop part of the trail until after we had retraced our steps.  Experienced hikers, we are not!

The very narrow trail path.IMG_5795 IMG_5810

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View of the lake from the trailIMG_5806

Big mossy rocks were in abundance.IMG_5803

Parasitic mistletoe was also in abundance along this trail.  (Thanks for the identification, Donna K!)IMG_5796

We enjoyed our adventure hiking along this trail on this cloudy day.  Maybe we'll do it again next year!