Still @ Pismo

June 4:  We spent a restful day at the campground.  After breakfast we walked on the lagoon trail, which is short, maybe .5 mile, but interesting. John turned on the generator so fixing lunch was a snap in the microwave with very little clean up, what a convenience!  I finished my second book of the trip by early evening “Surrendered Hearts” by Carrie Turansky.  I enjoyed it, it was thoughtfully written and honestly (though lightly) dealt with human emotions in my opinion.  The first one I finished was “Always the Designer, Never the Bride” by Sandra Bricker. It is part of a series, I think I read them all now.  It is lighthearted and predictable but enjoyable reading as well.  I started a third book that hooked me instantly called “Next Target” by Nikki Arana.  I’m not sure I’ll finish it, I’ll see today.  I think one has to be very careful writing about Islam and not group all people into the fanatics we hear about in the biased new reports.  Enough of that.  Dinner was a BTL sandwich for John and a BLT salad for me.  It was another lovely day here but the wind picked up so we had to move the majority of our card playing inside so the cards wouldn’t blow away.  This made John start talking about wind protection… the real idea behind the small trailer is to “keep it simple” and not carry tons of gear with us.  I am absolutely fine with things they way they are! 

June 5:  I was  a little bit concerned the sun was out here before 10am, but it was a lovely and cool day just the same!  After lunch we decided to drive over to Avila Beach, just a short drive north 15-20 minutes.  Our first stop was Avila Valley Barn, a favorite place of ours, to look around and buy a delicious Boysenberry strudel. They have expanded their little “farm animal” place and it is a nice stop for kids.  I enjoyed looking at the jams, jellies, tapenades, and various specialty items.  We had an ice cream as well, but we did resist the multitude of fudge flavors and taffy they have to offer… Oh yes, John did not resist the peanut brittle!  We also bought some freshly picked squash to use with our next meals at camp.  From there we drove on the 3-4 miles to Port San Luis and Harford Pier.  What a delightful walk we had on the pier.  We saw fishermen cleaning their freshly caught ling cod, just past that it was barrels of crabs that were a feast to the eyes, then the most fun of all we spotted a couple of otters!  They were obviously enamored with each other and didn’t mind putting on a show of courtship.  They seemed as interested in us as we were in them in this photo.  We even saw one of them gather some sort of shellfish and eat it as we watched.  The pier was almost deserted except for a handful of fisherman and a few tourists.  We backtracked the short trip into Avila Beach  and walked along the pier there as well.  There were a few people fishing but not much going on there.  Even though it was windy, the water was quite calm and nice for children to play.  I’m sure it is crowded on weekends.  We decided to have a bowl of clam chowder and a glass of wine sitting outside watching she ocean waves and people walking by.  We are back at camp and after attempting to play cards outside, we moved inside.  It is not cold, but the cards keep blowing away!