Morro Bay State Park

We spent a lovely weekend at Morro Bay, a 10 out of 10 state park if ever there was one. Pricey ($50 for hookups), but if ever a park deserved it, this one does. Every hookup site was screened with mature vegetation, the sites themselves were level and pristinely maintained with very nice BBQ and separate fire pit and stone picnic table (none of those ratty wooden ones!). We don't tow, so we were thrilled to find that we could walk to just all of the amazing amenities: in-park golf course (!), a very nice natural history museum, two restaurants (one is just a stone's throw from the campground), the harbor and kayak rentals, hiking trails. Now, downtown is about 1.5 miles each way; totally doable, but we didn't try it, as we ended up finding a couple of geocaches.

Restaurant across the street from campground

Museum within easy walk from CG

State park golf course--with a view!

Smooth-as-glass bay with kayakers and stand-up paddlers

Sunset at the harbor across the street from CG

We had a blast meeting the folks who were camping (no hookups, of course) in this vehicle.

Now, THAT'S a rig

They gave us a complete tour and we were envious for about a day. We really liked how self-contained the rig was--almost 100 gals of fresh water, the cartridge-style black water disposal system (means never having to find a dump!), all appliances were either diesel (furnace, hot water) or solar/electric (fridge); the only propane appliance was the stove, as they say that diesel tends to be problematic in that application. Very nicely finished inside with high-end wood and appliances. 600 amp hours of solar. Good clearance, and an almost indestructible shell.

The downsides were that drivers must follow truck regulations and speeds, the thing gets less than 8 mpg, driver fatigue sets in pretty quickly, the interior (while nicely designed) is pretty cramped for 2 adults and a dog, and you really gotta be in good shape to climb in and outta there ;-) I didn't have the nerve to ask about price, but each one is made to order by a fellow in Wyoming. If he likes you. But very interesting to contemplate....

On Sunday, we did a 3-mile hike up Black Hill and then left right around noon--kinda like we did at Malibu Creek. Used up all of our paid-for reservation! At that point, we decided that it was time to be home. We had made it 10 days without much grocery shopping (just milk, fresh veg) and without a laundromat, glory be, but it was time for both. And we had such a wonderful time in this neck of the woods (and we had one more CG to try out--Kirk Creek, which is spectacular boondocking right on a cliff above the ocean) that we figure we'll be back maybe next month for a few days. Why not enjoy one's own backyard?

We had a blast driving up Highway 1 all the way home. Can't believe we've never taken Rocksie to/through Big Sur--our backyard--but she did great.

The best stop was just north of San Simeon. (We opted to spend time on nature, not on another tour of Hearst Castle.) We spent a good hour watching the amazing mating rituals of the elephant seals. Here's how it works. (I just posted all these to Facebook under the heading "Just in Time for Valentine's Day." Now, I'm duplicating my Facebook and blog posts--no!!! I had been so careful to distinguish between the two. Oh well. Just this once, she says....)

Males battling for females

Alpha male putting moves on a female

Male trying not to drown her, but, still accomplishing the goal

Surf scene reminiscent of "From Here to Eternity"

Bragging

Cuddling after....

 Lest you think this was a "private moment" for our seal couple, this is the view down just one portion of the beach. The view the other way was quite similar.

The females give birth starting in November, nurse the single pups for one month (pups gain 10 pounds a day), breed again right away (Feb-March), and then swim off to Alaska to feed, leaving the pup to learn to swim and survive on its own. They return again in the summer to molt, then they're off again till it's time to give birth in November. What a calendar!

We are now home, but what a lovely little trip we had in our summer-during-wintertime. Will do a trip summary soon....