Cape Disappointment

We get teased when we tell people that we are going to Cape Disappointment.  They say, how could you go to a place with that name?  Well, other people must agree with us, because the full-hookup loops of this park are almost full.  Rain, wind, chilly weather--they don't stop people from camping at this Washington State Park. 

My view of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse while connected to the internet at North Jetty.

The lack of cell signal almost stopped us this time, especially since we are waiting for that oh-so-important call about the birth of our first granddaughter.  If we are willing to drive to where there's a signal, we can still get calls, emails, and read blogs.  So it's not too much of a disappointment to stay at this park.  We'll be here for a couple of weeks.  We're using our senior off-season discount, so the cost is only $6 per night.

Waves and driftwood

Driftwood at Cape Disappointment's Waikiki Beach

On our 3 to 3.5 hour drive from home to Ilwaco, WA, where Cape Disappointment State Park is located, we usually stop half-way at a deer viewing area.  We have never, ever seen deer there!

Last day at Pismo Coast Village :(

As Dave mentioned in his blog, I did some last minute shopping this afternoon, stocking up for the trip home.  I also discovered the Pismo Beach Prime Outlets.  As usual with outlet stores, I didn't see too many bargains.  Unlike most outlet stores, these stores were not crowded and I could park right in front of the stores.  I didn't care about all the clothing stores, but I did have to explore Oshkosh B'Gosh and Gymboree.  I skipped Carter's, but I'll check that one out next time we're here.  What self-respecting grandma-to-be could resist those childrens' shops?  I found a few things on sale, too.  Our granddaughter is going to be well-dressed, at least for her first few months!

I discovered a new grocery store, Scolari's, located near the outlet mall along Highway 101.  It was a bit high-priced, but all the grocery stores seem to have higher prices than my favorite store at home, Winco.  No Super Walmarts are located on the California Central Coast, just regular Walmarts.  This area also has Vons, which seems to be like a Safeway, in any case they carried Select brands and my Safeway card worked there, Albertson's, and Ralphs-Pretty-Good-Grocery.  I didn't visit Ralphs this trip. 

I finally saw a red-headed woodpecker at Los Alamos Park (oops, make that an acorn woodpecker--thanks, Judy)

As Dave also mentioned, it's a blustery day here today.  I'm somewhat relieved that it's not 75 and sunny because it will make it easier to leave tomorrow morning. 

Morro Rock in the distance as seen from our drive along See Canyon

Dave and I talked to the PCV office manager this morning just to make sure we knew how many of our 45 days we had used and how many prime/non prime days we have left.  The nice thing is each prime days can be traded for two non-prime days.  We have 18 prime days left which can be traded for 36 non-prime days, that is if we don't need to use up any of our prime days.  Weekends in February are prime time, so we used up six of them while we were here.  Because we live fairly far away, and gas prices have rocketed here in California, we may not be able to use up the rest of our days this year.  Unfortunately, the days won't carry over to next year. 

The following pictures are scenes from our walk around Avila Beach yesterday.  We had lunch at Old Port Inn, which is located on one of Avila Beach's three piers.

Good-bye, Pismo Beach, and the surround area.  We'll be back, God willing!

Sunset at Pismo Beach, CA

Friday night Dave and I walked to town to have dinner at Brad's with our friends Debbie and Bill.  We saw the most amazing sunset and I had to keep stopping to take pictures of this wonder of God's creation.

Sunset as we left Pismo Coast Village RV Park

Crossing the bridge on our way to the beach 

Walking on the beach path

The sky kept changing

 The end of the pier at sunset

We reached our destination right on time at 6 pm,  just as the sunset views were gone.

I usually edit my photos  using the Picasa program, but this time I posted them just as they were from the camera.  I'm so glad that we took the time to enjoy this sunset!

Friends and Mansions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday our friends, Debbie and Bill, drove up here from Downey, California.  The drive took them five hours, but once they got out of the LA area, the drive up the coast was beautiful.  We ate dinner at a nice Italian restuarant in Arroyo Grande called Gina's.  We had intended to go to a steakhouse in Nipomo that Debbie remembered from years ago, Jocko's, and it was, in fact, still there.  It looked like a bit of a dive, but it must be a very popular dive because there was an hour wait to be seated.  We didn't wait and ended up at Gina's, which was a fine choice.  Debbie and Bill are visiting the elephant seals today and we'll all meet for dinner tonight at Brad's in Pismo Beach.

Every day, Dave and I like to take at least one walk or bike ride.  Today's excursion was a walk that I discovered a couple of weeks ago.  A sign points to a "coastal trail" which is reached after driving through a residential area.  We snagged one of the five or so parking spots for the trail, and off we went.  This is a paved path along a coastline bluff.  There's a scenic coastal view along the paved trail. 

This handicap-accessible, dog-friendly trail is open to the public and runs along in front of some multi-million dollar mansions.  We, the public, get to enjoy the view for free.  These houses were quite impressive.

My favorite, a mediterranean-style villa

If you think I'm exaggerating about the multi-million dollar view, the lots in this gated community are selling for 2.25 million dollars for a little over an acre of hilly, ocean view property.  Each house probably cost at least a few million dollars to build. 

2.25 million dollar lot for sale.  How many do you want?

After the walk we ate our lunch at a park at Shell Beach and then came back to the RV to relax for a while.

Blessings and Problems

This snowbird lifestyle provides us with many blessings but some problems, too, just like real life.  You can read Dave's blog to learn more about our latest problem--the refrigerator.  With this motorhome, it seems like it's always something.  The refrigerator not cooling is a major problem since we have to figure out how to quickly use up all of our perishable food.  In addition, the plastic part that fastens the screen door to the motorhome door broke off this evening. 

Yesterday, before we realized how serious the refrigerator problem was, Dave played some golf and I went for a long walk on the beach.  It's so handy to be able to access the beach right from Pismo Coast Village RV Park.  There's a fast-moving river that has developed between the park and the ocean, but there's still a big area of beach that skirts the river.  It will be interesting to see how this river has changed by the time we come here again a year from now

The "river" is very fast-moving.

Another view of the river.  I don't know how deep it is, but no one was wading through it. 

These birds were too busy eating to admire the river ripples.

All the water attracts flocks of birds.

I like the beach and the ocean, but also the fantastic views back toward town and the hills.

Speaking of blessings, here is the latest ultrasound of our granddaughter.  See her head?  She's waving to us.  Only about nine weeks remain until we get to meet her in person.  What a cutie!

Elephant Seal Viewing Area

Dave and I have been in Pismo Beach for a week.  Today we decided to take a drive north up Highway 1 along the coast.  We went by the exit for Hearst Castle, but didn't visit this time since we had been there before.  The road is a long way from the castle, but I was able to get a decent, if somewhat blurry, shot from afar.

Hearst Castle

We didn't know exactly where the Elephant Seal Viewing Area was located, but as we drove a few miles north of San Simeon and Hearst Castle, we saw that it was clearly marked along Highway 1 and that there were lots of cars and people there.

This time of the year, elephant seals come here to mate and birth their young.  They don't bark like sea lions, but they make all kinds of other noises, mostly sounding (to me) like a bunch of cattle.

Elephant seals on the beach--no, they're not dead.

The one on the bottom left is loudly complaining!

This is a happy family (I think).

Most of the elephant seals were playing dead on the sand, but I caught these two frolicking in the water.

Besides seeing the elephant seals on the beach, the view of the Pacific Ocean's rocky coastline was spectacular here.

North of the elephant seal viewing area a working lighthouse was visible.  Of course we had to drive a few more miles up the coast to visit it.  

Piedras Blancas Lighthouse

The lighthouse wasn't open today, but can be viewed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  Do not, however, go to the lighthouse for the tour.  It's a guided tour that meets at 9:45 am at a motel one and a half miles north of the lighthouse. 

Viewing the huge elephant seals was the highlight of our day trip today.  The male seals grow to 5000 pounds and the females reach 1500 pounds.  The adult males arrive in early December after a journey from Alaska.   The pregnant females also begin arriving in December and each one selects a comfortable location to give birth.   Eventually each male will have as many as 40 females in his harem.

The first pups are usually born around December 20 and births continue through January.  By March, the next mating season, which begins about a month after the births, is over and the adult seals head out to the ocean leaving the weaned pups to teach themselves how to swim.

Butterflies and More

I am happy to report that after a full day of taking Vicodin, for a total of four pills, my hand and wrist are back to normal.  I am SO happy not to have any more pain!

Today's walk was intended to be to the Monarch butterfly migration area just south of Pismo Coast Village RV Park.  We started out on the sidewalk along Highway 1.  When the sidewalk ended, we walked through Pismo State Beach Park.

This park is closed for maintenance, but it's a nice non-hookup park right on the beach and right next to the butterfly area.

Camping sites

We saw a path that went south, so we took it.  It went up to the butterfly area, but it also went west toward the ocean.  We skipped the butterflies for now and went on to the beach.  We ended up at a long boardwalk area which had views of both the beach and the state park golf course.

Ocean view from the boardwalk

Looking back toward town  Golf course and wedding tent

Golf course

We walked all the way to the golf course along this boardwalk path, 2.6 miles.   We still had to walk back to the RV park, so we decided to walk back along the highway, and we visited the butterflies on our way back.

A butterfly lesson

The butterflies are hard to take pictures of

Eucalyptus trees

Our walk today turned out to be 4.1 miles.  That's the most we've walked at one time since we have been here.