A Visit to the Elfin Forest

Dave is up on the roof of our motorhome installing a part for the satellite to keep it from moving around in the wind.  I have to stay put in one spot while he's up there in order to not shake the RV.  So I'll take this time to catch up on my blog.

The other night was a clear, warm evening, so Dave and I drove out to the beach to look at the night sky away from the city lights.  The city lights along the beach are pretty, too, but there's nothing like looking at the stars and planets on a clear evening.  We had a great view of the Milky Way as well as some of the constellations and planets.  As we were looking up, we both happened to see a meteor.  I usually am looking in a different spot and miss such sights, but I was glad to see this one.  There's no replay button for something like that!

We are leaving Pismo Beach a week from today and will travel home by way of Monterey (Pebble Beach!), Pleasanton (Livermore), and Sacramento.  We will be staying at the fairgrounds in all three cities. 

We will have been here for two months--twice as long as we stayed last year.  We've seen many RVs come and go, and some  that plan to stay a lot longer than we were here.

One of my favorite walks we took was the Elfin Forest in Baywood, a small town located near Morro Bay.  This was the first time we went on this walk, but it will be an annual event for us from now on.

The Elfin Forest was built with the donations from a family who lost both parents and a school-aged daughter in a car accident.  The trail is boardwalk most of the way and is marked with signs identifying plants and birds along the way.  Every so often is a larger marker, like this one at the beginning of the trail, telling a story about a Chumash Indian girl who lived here many years ago. 

The Pygmy Oak Forest was one of my favorite stops along the boardwalk path.

The Fuchia Flowering Gooseberry was one of the more colorful plants blooming in February. 

One of the most common plants we saw was the Coast Silver Lupine.

Halfway through the loop walk, we had a good view of the mud flats of Morro Bay...

and iconic Morro Rock looming behind Morro Bay State Campground.

Even in the Elfin Forest, Dave was able to take the time to read an email on his smartphone.

After our walk through the Elfin Forest we drove into Morro Bay and had lunch at one of our favorite casual outdoor food stands, Lil' Hut.  As usual, I had clam chowder and Dave had a hamburger and fries.

While eating our lunch, Dave and I saw what looked to us like the world's smallest boat!

A Drive on the Beach

The following pictures are from our drive on the beach on Super Bowl morning, Sunday, February 5, 2012.

I had never seen jet skis being used in the surf.

The majority of people on the beach were interested in riding ATVs on the sand dunes. 

You could go on a group tour of the dunes.

If you didn't bring your own ATV, you could rent one on the beach.

If you forgot anything, you could buy it on the beach.  They were also selling air to put back in your tires in case you had to let some air out so you wouldn't get stuck.

Maybe you would prefer to camp on the beach?  Only $10 per night--pick your own spot as long as it doesn't say "No Camping Here".

We saw lots of different activities taking place on the beach.

Fishing

Bicycling

Horseback riding

Surfing

Boogie boarding

Dog walking

 

Jogging

A little football throwing before the big game

Hunting for treasure in the ocean

Wading in the ocean with an umbrella for protection

Fording the stream across the beach--we made it!

As we got closer to the big dunes, the sand on the beach got thicker, so we reluctantly turned our Honda CRV around and headed back.

All this fun on the beach was ours for free thanks to our handy California State Park vehicular day pass, as long as we were there between  the hours of 6 am and 11 pm. 

Sharing the Blogging

It's kind of a hassle to get lab work done away from home.  I had a good experience with getting my Pro-Time/INR anticoagulation test done.  I am a Kaiser Permanente member and they don't have any facilities along the coast of Central California.  I found a local non-Kaiser lab that was able to do the test for only $3 more than I pay at home.  I got the results by phone and picked up a copy of the results today, and the lab faxed the results to my physician and the program that manages my care.   

My test results were a little high, so I knew the anticoagulation nurse would be calling me.  Sure enough, she called today while I was writing this blog.  She received the results just fine.  I need to adjust my dosage of Warfarin a bit and get my blood tested again in a couple of weeks.  No problem, I said, now that I have an account set up with a local lab. 

I haven't been blogging as much lately but anytime you want to see what's going on with us, you can read Dave's blog.  He writes every day or two and he often includes informative videos and good pictures.  I've gotten lazy about blogging when he beats me to the punch with his updates.  Click here to read Dave's blog.

During our day trip to Solvang yesterday, I didn't take any pictures since Dave took some with his video camera.  We had a nice day with excellent weather and no crowds.  We saw several empty store buildings, including one big bakery, so the recession seems to have taken its toll on the village of Solvang. 

Oso Flaco Lake boardwalk to the beach

Dave wrote that we purchased a California state park pass, the Limited Golden Bear Pass.  We owe a big thank you to Kate who writes a blog called Kate and Terry--Travels in Cholula Red.  When Kate blogged about buying the pass, I assumed that only California residents could get the pass, but we had no trouble getting it at a nearby ranger station.  The park is good for vehicular fees at any California state park.  The pass is for the calendar year and excludes the months from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  For seniors 62 and over, the pass costs $10.  We've already used it three times at parks that cost $4 each to park, so we've already gotten our money's worth.  Many thanks, Kate, for blogging about the California state park pass!

Sunset at North Beach, one of the Pismo State Beaches. We used the Limited Golden Bear Pass to park our car right on the beach on 2/2/12.

Today we were returning from our ten-mile round trip bicycle ride to Oceano when Dave's back fender rack broke.  He was able to bungee the parts together and make it back to the RV park with me following him on my bike to make sure that he was okay.  We added visited a bike store to our list of afternoon errands and he purchased a new sturdy rack. 

What else can I say--nice sunny weather, cool nights, lots of exercise, plenty of good food.  Life is grand!

Navy Seals? No, Elephant Seals!

 

Today was a beautiful day--temperature in the mid-70s, relatively little wind, plenty of sunshine.  Dave and I drove north on Highway 1 and visited the elephant seal rookery. 

About 17,000 of these large marine mammals migrate thousands of miles, twice a year, to the central California coast for birthing, breeding, molting, and rest.  We happened to be there at a prime viewing time.  Some of the newborns were only a few days old.  After they are weaned, they leave their mothers, never to see them again. 

The Piedras Blancas rookery, where we visited, is located on Highway 1 seven miles north of San Simeon, west of Hearst Castle.  A few miles south of there, we saw some zebras on the hillside, but we didn't have  a chance to stop and take a picture. 

Waves hitting the rocks while we viewed the seals.

Last night Dave and I had the pleasure of attending a performance by the Peking Acrobats.  The troupe was formed in 1986 and we saw them  perform about that time at Sea World in California.  It was an amazing performance both then and now.   Acrobatics, juggling, and balancing acts make for spectacular entertainment.  I enjoyed this show much more than the Mystere Cirque de Soleil show that we saw in Las Vegas. 

I found the following pictures of the Peking Acrobats on  the internet.

One of the highlights was the "Balancing Chair" act.  Spectacular!  The performer received a standing ovation.  Those chairs are balanced on four wine bottles.  He had to perform on the floor, rather than the stage, because the stage wasn't high enough.  I held my breath because I thought he might topple over into the audience!

Tickets were pricey at $44 each for seniors, but not a bad price if we only have a chance to see the Peking Acrobats every 26 years! Clark Auditorium, where they performed, is located in Arroyo Grande which is near Pismo Beach. I highly recommend the Peking Acrobats as a wonderful family-friendly show!

Why Pismo?

This is our second year of snow-birding in Pismo Beach.  Many snow-birders go down to the Palm Springs/Desert Hot Springs area, or to southern Arizona, Texas, or Florida. 

Our site at Pismo Coast Village, #161

We come to Pismo Coast Village RV Resort in Pismo Beach, California because we are shareholders here.  It's not a time share, instead we own a share of stock in the company.  After purchasing a share, we get spend 45-70 days free-of-charge at this resort during each calendar year.  The number of days we have available depends upon how many are "prime" days versus non-prime days.  This year we are using 61 days altogether, nine of which are prime time.  We pay no monthly fees, no annual fees, no dues, nada.  If we decide at any time to sell our one share, the prices seem to remain about the same as when we bought our share, or slightly higher.  There are only two shares available to buy at this time.

Looking back at Pismo Beach from Shell Beach

This weekend is the annual share-holders meeting, which included a wine and cheese get together on Friday night at the clubhouse, and a board meeting on Saturday.  We didn't attend either event, but we sent in our proxy vote for the business items. 

The way this park gets its money for on-going maintenance is that half the sites are available to non-shareholders.  These sites cost $44/night and up.  This revenue has, for the past 35 years, paid for all maintenance and improvements at the park.  Dave and I are impressed with the amount of maintenance that we see going on in the park--everything from improving the sites to painting and other upkeep.  This is an old park, with an excellent location, so each site is not as spacious as we would like, but we find it very livable.

Shell Beach's stairs down to the tide pools

Another feature of this park, which we don't use since we drive our motorhome down here each year, is the ability to store your RV (mostly fifth-wheels and trailers) and have it delivered to your site and then towed back to the storage area when you are done using it.  Many, many people use this service.  Most of the people seem to be from California so then they can just come to the park in their car or small truck and they don't have to mess with towing a big rig through traffic.  It's an ideal setup for those who need a place to store their RV and don't want to use it when they are not at Pismo Beach.

Shell Beach

The weather here is generally sunny in the winter, but not hot.  We usually have daytime temperatures in the 60s or low 70s, and night temperatures in the mid-40s or low 50s.  This year has been a little colder than last year, with a few night temperatures in the mid-30s.  Brrr!   Last night we received the first rainfall since we have been here, but next week the sunny skies are predicted to return.  We like sunny skies!

One of the biggest advantages of Pismo Coast Village RV Park is being able to listen to the roar of the ocean.  In addition, we get full hookups with 50 amp, a satellite signal, cable TV, good cell service, excellent free WIFI, a swimming pool and baby pool, game room, ping pong, shuffleboard, a store, laundry,  restrooms, gated entry, excellent security, and access to the beach.  It's only about six blocks to the shops in Pismo Beach.  And a free site is a very hard price to beat!

The park entrance clam shell gets new paint each season.

Books, Electronic Books, and Libraries

We've been visiting the libraries in this area.  Grover Beach is close to the RV park, but the library is a small, volunteer library with donated books and not connected to a larger library system.  Still, they had two of the books that I wanted to read.

Arroyo Grande is a little bit further (5 miles or so) but their library is much bigger and connected to the larger Black Gold library system which stretches from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara.  By using the address of the RV park, Dave  and I were each able to get free library cards.  Better still, we are able to borrow electronic books from that library system as well as from the Oregon consortium which we can use through our home library system.  Both e-book systems work the same way so we didn't have to learn how to use it.  We can also get electronic audio books from both systems if we choose.  We load the books onto our Nooks, but Kindles can now be used for library books, too.

Arroyo Grande library

I'm reading Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilters series, starting with book 1, The Quilter's Apprentice.  I'm almost finished with book 2, Round Robin, and then it's on to book 3, Cross-Country Quilters.  There are at least eighteen books in this series and I'm trying to read them all and in the order they were written.   I read one of these books a while ago, before I started learning to quilt, and I didn't care for the books.  But now my interests have changed, and I am enjoying the books. 

Yesterday Dave and I made the 20 or so mile trek to Santa Maria to get the next book in the series.  Yes, I could have put it on hold, but the libraries are closed the next two days because of the holiday, and I knew I would be ready to read the book before I could get it on hold.  This library system charges a dollar for each book you put on hold, which is reasonable, but it adds up if you put a lot of books on hold like I do at home (for free).

The Santa Maria library is one of the nicest libraries I've ever visited.  It has a small cafe, a library store, lots of study areas and lots of comfortable chairs, as well as lots of books, magazines, and computers.  We also stopped at the small Nipomo library on the way back to get another book in the series. 

Santa Maria library

The other two small branch libraries that are closest to us at the RV park are Shell Beach and Oceano.  We can return our books there and pick up our holds there instead of driving to one of the bigger libraries.  But e-books are the best, because we order them and return them online, without leaving the comfort of our home or motorhome.  And e-books from the library don't cost us a cent!

I enjoy visiting libraries--the way some people enjoy visiting wineries or department stores.  I walk around, I drink it all in, I "try on" some of the books, and I enjoy the atmosphere.  I even have my own rating system for libraries and all that they offer.  Libraries are a good place to hang out on a rainy day, not that we've had any rainy days since we've been in Pismo Beach.  It's a very low-cost hobby!