Walk Along the Beach in Cambria, CA

Cambria is a town located about 45 miles north of Pismo Beach on Highway 1.   The town only has about 7000 residents, but they have a wonderful system of trails.  Our favorite trail is the boardwalk trail that runs next to Moonstone Beach Drive along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. 

We parked at Cambria’s San Simeon State Park at the south end of the boardwalk.  There’s another parking/picnic area at the north end of the boardwalk.  It’s about a 40 minute walk from one end of the boardwalk to the other.

It was sunny day when left Pismo Beach, but when we got to Cambria, the coast was foggy.

With the ocean on the west side of the boardwalk and houses and inns on the right side, it’s an interesting walk.  I’m so glad that there’s a public boardwalk in front of all those houses, which are actually located across the street from the coastline.

These guys were having fun chasing the waves.

This one of my favorite trees along the path.

This year we didn’t head further on north to see the elephant seals.  But we saw a few seals on the rocks.  They blend into the rocks so well that we had to look twice.  They weren’t barking like seals usually do, or maybe the surf was so loud that we didn’t hear them.

The fog began moving out as we walked.

Sunshine!

We ate lunch at Cambria’s Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill and as we ate, we watched the fog and clouds come and go.

Day Trip to Goleta, CA

Last Thursday our motorhome was being washed, so we went for a drive in the car.  We headed south on Highway 101.  We usually go to Solvang or Lompoc and/or the mission outside Lompoc on these trips south.  But today we decided to drive the 89 miles to Goleta, about fifteen miles northwest of Santa Barbara. 

We stopped at a couple of state parks along our way south.  Dave bought the California off-season senior state park pass again this year, so we can park for free at all the state parks and beaches.  The price of the pass went up from $10 to $20 last year, but to us, it’s still worth the price.

The first park we checked out was Gaviota State Park.  This park had a modest no-hookup camping area with a train trestle running right over it.  The pier was interesting, though, in that it had an above-ground boat launch.

The views from either side of the pier weren’t bad.

Oil platforms were visible in the distance, as were the Channel Islands.

Our next stop was Refugio State Beach.  This park had two camping areas, again with no-hookups.  This park was right on the beach and even mid-week, there were people camping here.

I liked these palm trees.

After our stop at Refugio, we drove on to Goleta.  Our destination was Howe House.  We knew that the house itself was only open on weekends, but I read that the grounds were open.

Howe House

We walked along the somewhat paved path and came to a protected pond.

The old Goleta Depot and Museum were also located at this spot.  The museum wasn’t open until the afternoon, and we decided to head for town (and lunch) instead of waiting for the depot to open.

We ate lunch at Hollister Brewing Company.  We ate outside on the patio and were glad that our table had an umbrella because it was warm that day.

We enjoyed our day trip and when we got back to the motorhome, it was washed, waxed, and gleaming brightly in the sun!

Flowers along the path at Howe House.

Rancho Guadalupe Dunes

Last week Dave and I drove to the small town of Guadalupe, CA and visited the Guadalupe Dunes.  This is a Santa Barbara County park, but admission is free.  It’s a fun place to go to see sand dunes.  Unlike Oceano, these dunes are protected, so there are no dune buggies racing around.  We parked right in front of the ocean and ate our lunch.

We were amused by watching a man work out on the beach.  His equipment consisted of a rock and a shovel.  Dave surmised that perhaps he was trying to build his muscles and stamina for paddleboarding.  Below are some of the pictures of his workout.

See the rock and the shovel sticking out of the sand?  At first he was dressed warmly, but as the workout progressed, he shed his outer layer of clothing, but not his stocking cap.   Doing squats:

Doing pushups with the rock

Doing short jogs

Digging with the shovel while doing a slow jog:

It doesn’t take much to amuse us! 

We also saw a protected wetlands area. 

But where was Lawrence of Arabia?

We’re Back in Pismo Beach!

After leaving home on December 11, we finally made it to our destination, Pismo Beach, California.  We had good stays in Riverside and Bakersfield but it’s great to be at the beach again.

Here’s an aerial photo of Pismo Coast Village RV Park that I lifted off the internet.  That lagoon between the park and the beach has grown this year and reaches a lot further north towards the Pismo Beach Pier.

We had a bit of trouble getting a consistent WIFI signal from our assigned site, #162, so yesterday we made a move to a nearby site, #190.  Now the signal is good and we are happy!

Dave did a bunch of small projects around the motorhome on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I’ll let him write about that in his blog.  After we got here on Tuesday, we walked to town and  we ate a lunch at our favorite clam chowder place, Splash Café.

This morning we walked to the nearby Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary among the eucalyptus trees.  We didn’t see as many clumps of butterflies as last year, but we saw a lot more flying around.  We walked home through North Beach State Park Campground.  There weren’t too many rigs there on this Thursday morning.

The docent said that butterflies have been coming to this spot for over 100 years.   We’ll probably visit them a few more times where we are here.

The RV park’s logo is a clamshell painted for each season.  Right now, it’s butterfly season!

Bakersfield, CA

Dave and I have been enjoying our stay in Bakersfield, California.  The city gets a bad rap since it’s not a destination.  But for us, it’s been a good place to hang out for a while.  The daytime temperatures have been in the mid-60s and we’ve had sunshine every day.  The nights are bit cold with temps in the mid-30s to low 40s. 

One of the ponds at Park at River Walk

We rode our bikes on the Kern River bike path. This is another excellent bike path with no streets to cross.  We had to drive to this bike path but were able to park the car at the Park at River Walk off of Stockdale Highway.  On Saturday we rode northeast on the path and today we rode southwest.  We rode about twelve miles round trip each time.

Amphitheater at Park at River Walk

Oil well along the bike path—not a sight we see every day!

We’ve done some errands while we’ve been in Bakersfield.  On Friday I had to go to Kaiser to get a pro-time lab test done.  I take a blood thinner, so my blood needs to be checked every few two to four weeks.  After the lab test, I got my hair cut at Great Clips, a chain that I use at home for haircuts.   

Sunday morning I drove across town and shopped at my favorite grocery store, Winco.  Bakersfield is building a new Winco that will be located about three miles from Bakersfield RV Resort where we stay when we’re here.  I like to stock up on food before we go to Pismo Beach because the prices are higher at the beach.

One of the historic houses, Howell House, was being painted.

Costco is a couple of miles from here, and we’ll gas up our motorhome and tow car before heading to the beach.  Walmart is about a mile away, and we always seem to need some things from there.

Lopez Hill House

On Thursday, January 2, Dave and I visited the Kern County Museum and Pioneer Village which is located north of downtown on Chester Street.  We had been here many years ago and more buildings have been added since then.  The Museum sponsors a Christmas Village each year and many of the pioneer buildings were decorated inside and out for Christmas.  It was a little incongruous to see the pioneer buildings from the late 1800s all gussied up with electric icicle lights and Christmas trees. 

Log Cabin with icicle Christmas lights.

We were at Kern County Museum in the daytime, but this hay ride looked like it would be fun during the nighttime Christmas festivities.

It’s always nice to see a nativity display.  They are getting rarer and rarer.

Clock tower at Kern County Museum

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we’ll finally arrive at Pismo Coast Village for our two-month stay!  We’re all stocked up and ready to go!