Heading Home

We got an early start because we wanted to get home, unload everything, and get the Casita to Paul Evert's RV before they stop accepting units to the service area at 5p. The fridge issues have not been resolved and in addition the freezer door came off in my hand a few days ago. Using duct tape it is held in place ... my laptop also stopped working! Despite the challenges we have had a nice time. We are thankful to be home safe and sound.

-Humor-

Our Last Day

We had a very enjoyable last full day. We drove up the coast just a little ways to see the amazing Elephant Seals. Such incredible creatures. The ones we saw were females and youngsters, weighing approximately 1500 lbs! They seemed huge! I can't imagine how large the males would look at 5000 lbs. I would like to come back when the males are here and for the birthing. We stopped at several locations along our drive. We weren't looking for them but surprisingly saw the much talked about Zebras still left from the Hearst private zoo. We had some decent Mexican food for lunch and came back to pack up some things. Thankfully things have pretty much dried out from the rain. We walked on the beach near our camp in the evening.

Elephant Seals

Lunch Time

Zebras! 

Tony

Sunset

San Simeon SB - Hearst's Castle

Today we will have our visit at Hearst's Castle. We took a short walk this morning and then headed up toward the castle. We are glad it is a cool day so Tony can wait in the car safely. We took him into the Visitor Center with us first because we were early. We also had a small snack there before the tour. When tour time came Tony was safely tucked away in the Jeep. It is a steep and crooked ride up the  hill to where the tour begins. The trip up is narrated and very interesting. We took our "cottages and kitchen tour" and enjoyed it. It is a beautiful place, quite opulent for my tastes. It was quite a place in its time, actually it still is. Hearst was an interesting man with a nature to serve just himself it would seem. The structures here are lovely but one has to wonder what other good he could have done with just a small portion of his wealth. I am glad I saw the place but I have no desire to go back. I over heard others saying how one visit is just not enough, it was for us. We got Tony from the Jeep and then watched the movie about the building of the castle and more information about Hearst himself. Oh brother, the few people there sure made over Tony, John loves that! Our trip back to camp was lovely because we stopped along the way to watch the sun go down. A lovely day with beautiful weather. 

Castle On The Hill

A Cottage

The Fire Truck

Sunset

Leaving Morro Strand

Today we are moving to San Simeon State Beach. It poured down rain last night so we have a sizable puddle to contend with when packing up. Before packing up we went over to Morro Bay Campground and took showers. They were pretty pitiful showers as the water never did get very hot but it was a shower. I would have preferred the Casita shower to that. We headed out about 11am and made a few stops along the way. We took a nice walk on the beach by Cayucos Pier. There was a City Water worker there and he said there was a grand opening for the pier two weeks ago. I don’t know if that is true or not and we have no Internet tonight to check that tidbit of information. We had lunch in Cayucos at Duckie’s Chowder House. I had the Shrimp tacos and they were delicious. John chose fish and chips. He said the fish and chips at Giovanni’s is better. We were going to walk the pier after lunch but decided we should get to our destination and get set up before the rain hits, if possible. We planned to buy gas in Cayucos but we forgot, we are really low and that makes me nervous. Anyway, we made it to Cambria and got gas for $3.69 per gallon. Since the price changes so often I don’t know if that is a good price or outrageous! We passed the Hwy 46 turn and it was just a little further north to San Simeon State Beach. Thankfully the dump station is functioning here and we emptied and refilled with fresh water so we are set for now. Unfortunately, it rained pretty hard the whole time we did that but it slacked off while we set up camp. We are in site #107 for this stay. There aren’t many people in the park tonight. There are over 100 sites here, very nice sites, some are tent only. We are unsure of the walking distance to the beach. I started out for the beach but there were signs saying No Dogs and Tony didn’t have his vest on we we turned back. After we were completely set up we realized we do not get very good phone service in our campsite. Up at the Ranger Kiosk where we came in there was good reception. It might have been prudent to pick a site up on the knoll up there but the sites didn’t look appealing at the time. oh well. We decided to drive up to Hearst Castle Visitor Center just to see how far it was. It is not far at all. We drove around the area and then finally did see the castle way up on the mountain. We used a few turn out Vista Points to watch the water and watch for something interesting, no luck this time. We did see some vultures finishing off a carcass near the campground though! We have had showers off and on since then. We came back and made a nice hot drink, played cards, watched a video, read, and fell asleep. Tomorrow we will have our visit there!

Our Puddle

Cayucos Pier

Tiny Birds

Duckie’s Chowder House

Vultures

Hearst Castle in the Distance

Morro Strand - Day 5

The kids packed up and left today. I was sorry to see them leave but it is a good thing they did because it started raining not too long after they left. It would have been challenging for them to put down the tent trailer when it is wet. Jeff went fishing in the morning and caught three nice perch. He was happy about that! The other day he caught a few mackerel as well. Sam took Spencer, Soren, and Julianne up to Cayucos in the morning as they wanted to walk around and buy themselves something to eat. A few hours later he went and got them, they finished packing up, and off  they went toward home. Steven and Saira went into Cayucos for lunch as well then straight home. We were happy to hear they were all home safe and sounds. We thought about going out to dinner but with the downpour it just didn’t seem that appealing! We heated up some chili in the microwave. Around 7:30p someone came knocking on our door. They were either drunk or mentally ill. The young man wanted a blanket but we told him to just move along. I called the Ranger kiosk but there was no answer so I called 911. They said they were already looking for this man and asked the description and direction he went. Thankfully, John could give both. A police car and a ranger went though the campground and I assume they found the guy. Thankfully, that was the end of any excitement we would see.

Jeff’s Catch

DLPs – Off They Go

S&S Head Up To Cayucos

Morro Strand Day 4

It is sunny and nice today – thought we might blow away last night! Jeff was fishing with Frank and most of the kids so Saira and I took a walk to the beach to find them but they were too far down the coast so we just came back. Deb fixed us a delicious meal of Toad in the Hole, and I think Vira’s son Robbie cooked thick, crispy bacon. We ate a bit later in the morning so I really enjoyed that. After that meal and cleanup (which we don’t participate in!) we went into Morro Bay to Giovanni's to pick out our crabs. Deb and Vira will return later and pick them up, all cleaned and cracked. In the camp next door where Vira and family are they are preparing for the “Shrimp Boil” we will have this evening. I picked up two dozen oysters, 12 garlic butter and 12 sriracha lime. Jeff, Steven, and Saira missed out on our other trips there so they really enjoyed them. I planned to share with everyone in our party but that didn’t happen…oh well. Jeff went fishing several times. Julie and the boys went to the tide pools and also along the beach in the water. Steven, Saira, John, Julie, and Miranda played Frisbee and tossed the football around as well. It’s a busy group with something always going on. By late afternoon they were back at it again preparing the food for tonight’s dinner. The boys moved our three tables together so we really have a banquet situation going on! Debra lit tiki torches too! What a feast we had. After that it was a relaxing evening around the campfire. I’m sorry they have to head home tomorrow but I am thankful for the time together.

Breakfast

Our Banquet Table

Fresh Crab and Shrimp Boil

Morro Strand Day 3

Today everyone else arrived. We certainly fill out 3 campsites with a total of 19 people! We took the kids to Giovanni’s for lunch and had some delicious oysters for a appetizer! They were so fresh and delicious. This afternoon Deb & Sam made “Hobo Packs” in the afternoon for our dinner tonight. they put them on the grill for some length of time. They were quite delicious and a healthy meal besides. We were pretty noisy around the campfire but no one complained. It was a fun evening. The wind blew pretty hard most of the day and increased around bedtime but slacked off in the night so it wasn’t really cold.

Garlic Butter Oysters

Making Hobo Packs

Cooking Hobo Packs

Eating Hobo Packs-Yum!

Morro Strand Day 2

We are looking forward to some of the kids arriving today. We drove into town and bought more fuses, still no luck in getting the fridge to run but now the heater and hot water heater are working! (yay!) We took a nice walk on the beach in the early afternoon. There wasn’t another soul around so Tony could run free for awhile. It was quite windy but not cold. There were so many Sand Dollars on the beach I couldn’t believe it! I picked up a whole baggy full and I will put them in a jar in my “beach” themed bathroom upstairs. The Deb, Sam, Julie, Spencer, and Soren arrived around 3p. The 3 kids headed quickly to the beach with Tony. Deb and Sam set up and when the kids got back they set up their tents. Now that they have another tent they don’t want to be in the tent trailer with Deb and Sam. Spencer and Soren have a fancy set up – “Glamping” for sure! The 4 of us went to Giovanni’s for dinner, it was delicious! It was also very reasonably priced! There is only outdoor seating but that was fine with us. They have live crabs and even lobsters! They will cook and clean them for the same price per pound ($14.99). Yes, quite expensive. While they are simple to clean but it takes a lot of water and that is not conducive to the camping conditions. We headed back to camp, the kids roasted hotdogs on the small fire we made. We were all tired and tried to stay up awhile. When we went to bed I was sure it must be around 10p and it was only 8:30p! John and I read for a few hours. We are looking forward to the rest of the group arriving tomorrow. 

Our Camp #23 (with S&S Tent Up)

My Sand Dollars

Tony Loves The Beach

To The Coast…

Sounds simple doesn’t it? It’s really good we cannot foresee the future or some days we might not get out of bed! We had a series of unfortunate events today but we are fine and nothing is life changing. We went and picked up our trailer from storage to do the last of the packing and head out, hopefully by 11am. When we got there to hook up the battery was dead again. John just gave it a partial charge yesterday, but before that it had totally drained (not a good thing for a trailer battery).

We went directly to Interstate Battery in Clovis and they checked it. They said it tested well but needed a full charge, which would take several hours even on their quick charge. We decided to go home and put the rest of our things in the trailer and then go back, buy a NEW battery, leave the other to be charged, and be on our way. That is exactly what we did.

However, when we checked the fridge after the battery installation it would not turn on. John tried a few things but then we headed to Paul Evert’s RV to see what they could tell us. After checking multiple things they think it is this “panel” behind the fridge. No, they don’t have a replacement. The soonest they could do that would be tomorrow afternoon. We thought about our options and decided we would use the fridge as an “ice box” and be on our way. By now it is 2:15p and we will need to make good time to be over to Morro Strand before dark to set up. We stopped for ice to put in the fridge and we were on our way.

We did make it just fine, an uneventful trip, which we are thankful for. Now after setting up we discovered the 12 volt outlets are not functioning… nor is the water heater OR the heater (sigh). These things we can live without, though it is not as comfortable as we are used to. We resigned ourselves to this with a note to call Paul Evert’s RV tomorrow and verify that this mystery “panel” is really the source of these additional problems. If not, then we really don’t know what the issues are!

For now we are set up and we walked up to pay for our stay. Some months back I called to verify that they were NOT taking reservations November 1st and it was first come, first serve. I can’t remember who I contacted but it was either the park itself or Reserve America, the source for making reservations in the CA State Park system. I was assured that was the case and this was one reason we came on Wednesday to be sure we could secure sites for ourselves, Deb & Sam, along with others who are coming. So now we want to pay through our stay and we cannot do that. The camp host says we can have the site for tonight but we will need to check with the Ranger staff that comes in after 9am tomorrow morning to see if we can have the same site for tomorrow, and then check again each day after that. I tried to explain about my phone call some time ago but the camp host knew nothing about that. He didn’t even have an envelope for me to pay for tonight until he fished around and found one. Clearly he has not been trained very well. He said that he didn’t think Reserve America has anything to do with the reservations here and that Reserve America doesn’t know what it is doing. That has not been my experience but at this point I took the envelope and decided I would turn on my hotspot and check for myself. Sure enough, on the Morro Strand site it says as of October 15, 2015, reservations are accepted year round for this campground. How nice it would have been to know this before now! Anyway, checking online it appears that the site we have is not booked for the days we planned to stay. I booked Friday-Monday and tomorrow we will pay for tonight and tomorrow night. I let Deb know they needed to make a reservation and to let me know what site they want and I can secure it for tomorrow. So far I haven’t heard back from them and the sites are still available online. Complicated…

We are here safe and sound and thankful for that. It is quite comfortable in the trailer and I doubt we would even use the heater, even if it did work. One must look at the bright side in these situations!  No photos for today – who had time for that?!? Tomorrow in the daylight I will take a photo or two of our camp and the view. Morro Rock is quite prominent just south of us.