Well, we are not at the Third Annual Altoistes rally in North Carolina because I can be rational sometimes. That would have been a big trip to justify for a four day event. Still, I wanted to. Instead, I picked up a project I’d abandoned last summer and cleared out our bedroom in order to have it painted and re-floored. Understand, this wasn’t a purely cosmetic project. It had become more of a health and safety issue over time and the few people in the know have all signed non disclosure agreements. Given that plan, we decided to make a crazy trip down south to the headquarters of the company that makes the Alto awning. Richard is treating it as a mobile work week and we’re finding it is going ok so far.
But first, we spent the weekend on the coast near Morro Bay to escape the heat. We left Friday morning and were rolling by 10. Richard was in full work mode, which appears to mean tapping on a laptop, dropping his mouse, and holding on and off conversations with other remotely connected programmers. We took a detour on our way to Coyote Lake because that is a mere 82 miles from us and offers kayaking potential. There are electric hookup sites there, which would be nice if it’s hot. I noted that site 7 had a good view, but is in full sun. Worth checking out.
We camped in the San Simeon campground before, but up in the Washburn “primitive” campground. I think the only difference is there are vault toilets up there, no showers, and unpaved roads. This time we checked out the lower San Simeon Creek campground in a “nonspecific” site (which means you can secure a reservation ahead of time, but choose your site based on what is available when you get there). I did take notes on sites that were on the nice side and have solar, but they all seem fairly equal to me along the outside of the loop. Inside the loop is much more in the thick of things, but we were fine with whatever. There was certainly a different vibe on the weekend when it was packed with partiers and families than on Sunday night. We had a group next to us, for example, with a palatial tent compound set up and they ran a generator most of the day. I’m not really sure what for, besides inflating the beds.
Saturday we split up so Richard could go on a bike ride and I could go kayaking in Morro Bay. That was pretty spectacular. The weather was perfect and a far cry from the 100s we’d left behind. There were definitely otters in the water as well as Pelicans and seals. We had a miscommunication on where we were supposed to meet up, but luckily there is pretty good cell service in that area, so I ended up picking Richard up out near Montana Del Oro. Sunday we hiked the San Simeon Creek trail and had dinner at House of Juju by the Bay again. Those fish tacos and seasoned potatoes are the absolute best. And Sunday was Dory’s 2 year Altoversary! Can’t think of a nicer way to celebrate.
Since Richard was working Monday morning, we put all of our outside stuff away Sunday night. We enjoyed the awning quite a bit this trip, which is nice since we are traveling several hundred miles to visit its manufacturers. This was the perfect application and provided a perfectly private refuge from the crowded campground. I found that I really like doing evening stretches under the awning with the privacy walls. It makes it so Richard can take his shower while I’m stretching and we don’t bump into each other or have to wait on each other. All I need now is to make it bug proof.
This was a great weekend, somewhat spontaneously planned. It’ll be a different kind of traveling for us for the week. But at least we get to sleep in a Dory bed instead of on a couch at home.
Total miles: 246.9 (with visit to Coyote Lake on the way), 18.0 mpg, 5 hours 52 min. Site: 91. Sites with some privacy and good solar: 108, 112, 114, 75, 74, 70, 68, 67, 65, 64, 62, 61, 57, 48, 46. No service for ATT or Verizon inside campground, but 4G or sporadic LTE as soon as you get to the beach.
