Coastal Beauty – Old Kids Adventures

9/27/21 – 10/10/21

The past couple of weeks we have seen parts of California I have never seen before, including some terrain that was much more scenic than I expected! We spent a few days in Santa Barbara, staying at an AirBnb for a couple of days so we could clean all of gear from our backpacking trip to the Channel Islands. I was also able to get all of our laundry done, which turns into kind of a big deal when living the van “life”! Lee likes to tease me about spending more time thinking about the laundry than about him. Well… 😊

Santa Barbara was a nice area and much greener than I expected. With all of the talk of drought I expected everything to look really dry. A few highlights for me included biking a beach trail, and dinner of delicious empanadas one night! We’ve both found our bikes to be a great way to explore an area once we’ve arrived – we can get the van situated, and then easily bike 5+ miles to get a sense for a town and do some exploring without the stress of driving a large vehicle. Plus, it’s a great way to get a little exercise instead of sitting in the “front of the house” for an even longer period. So far, most places have been reasonably “bike friendly” if you plan ahead a bit.

After Santa Barbara we left for Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. It has been a real challenge finding places to stay. One person told us that it was not only due to the popularity of the coast, but also due to all of the closures caused by the fires, the coast had most of the open campgrounds.

So with that challenge we bounced around a little in the area, staying in Morro Bay State Park a few nights, back down to Pismo Beach for a few nights and then the last few nights at Morro Strand (each night a different camp spot). We met some more people along the way that makes the time that much more interesting, and we’ve continued to build on our efficiencies of getting set up for our stay (getting the van level, figuring out water, etc).

I really enjoyed the area. We biked around Morro Bay our first day to get the lay of the land and went surfing the next day. Not the best conditions but it was fun to get out in the water even though it was a bit brisk for me. I only lasted an hour.

In Pismo we rode our bikes around to see the sites and of course stopped in to get giant cinnamon roles at the Old West Cinnamon Roll shop. Our neighbors in the campground were a young couple, the gal having lived a few years in SLC working at Goldmans and the guy had a couple paddle boards with him (surf and race). Come to find out he had done the ADR (Another Damn Race) a few years ago so for all I know I may have “raced” against him. Small world and as always we have found almost everyone we meet to be very friendly.

After Pismo we were back the Morro Strand campground. It’s “parking lot” camping, but… it’s also right on the ocean, so that is frequently the price you pay for location. We spent a day paddling in the harbor which was so much fun for me. I was able to watch a couple different groups of otters. They just seem to have so much personality and have the cutest faces! We also paddled to a sand dune and were able to hike over it to a deserted beach littered with complete (if smallish) sand dollars. We collected quite a few that I’m hoping to preserve and possibly make ornaments out of. We also spent a couple of days mountain biking in Montana de Oro state park (10/3, 10/5). The trails were a lot of fun, each a nice steady climb to a peak (Hazard and Oat) and fun flowy rides down, with great views, cool at the bottom in the mist and warm at the top in the sun.

We left Morro, with me mentally adding it to my places I’d like to return one day, and headed up the coast. I had always heard the central California coast along Highway 1 was beautiful but it was better than I expected. On the way up we stopped at Seal beach and watched tons of seals sleeping on the beach, and then made our way to Kirk Creek campground. There were no spots available online but it showed a couple of first come, first serve spots. Luckily we got there in time to get one of the spots because as it turns out it is a very popular camp spot and I can see why. The scenery is unbeatable. It is on the top of a bluff overlooking the pacific ocean. There is also a path to take down to a small pebble beach where we watched amazing sunsets for a few nights.

We also spent a day driving up to Big Sur to see more of the coast, stopping at the McWay Falls overlook at Julia Pfeiffer State Park, and running the trails at Pfeiffer State Park in Big Sur. I would love to go back again and stay at the Kirk Creek campground, I really enjoyed our few days there. Lee is frequently wanting to check things on the internet (investment stuff mainly!), and we were able to drive up the road and use a small motel’s internet for just enough time to do what we wanted to do. “Utilities” take a bit of effort when you’re in more remote spots, but definitely worth it!

We left for Monterey on Saturday the 9th, and I wanted to not only see the town but go to the Monterey Aquarium which has been on my bucket list for a long time. We didn’t know where we were going to stay for the next few days since everything was booked but we figured we would find something (even if it meant a quiet street somewhere). We also had a small mountain of laundry that needed to be done. We found a laundromat that was nice and clean and as the clothes were washing, Lee went off for walk. When he got back he told me he had a surprise for me….it was a stay at a cute B&B built in the late 1800s (the Gosby House Inn). It was a nice surprise!

While in Monterey we biked, went to the aquarium, listened to some John Denver since sadly Monterey is where he crashed his plane and died. We had a relaxing stay at the B&B! The aquarium was interesting as well – it was quite busy, even though wearing masks is still strictly enforced at any big places like the aquarium. The history around fishing for sardines (and indeed practically fishing them out of existence in that spot) was quite interesting, and forces one to think about the progress (both good and bad) that mankind has made in just the past 100 years).

Our van was parked on the street (much like it would have been if we had been stealth camping) while staying at the B&B, and we had no problems with that whatsoever. We’re pretty convinced that as long as you’re parked legally, and are sure to be quiet and “good neighbors”, you’d be able to park in many places and overnight without problems. There will come days were we will likely have to stealth camp a bit, but we expect once we leave CA to find the camping situation a bit easier…