Montaña de Oro (2)

What a great week! There is so much to be thankful for, and Morro Bay really showered us with all of its gifts. We could not have had better weather, that’s for sure. Now that we have arrived back home, we are freezing. It was all about the blue, sunny skies and beach weather for eight days.

We stopped to dump holding tanks at the main state park campground on our way from Morro Strand. Timing is a little tricky when you are moving such short distances, because you are likely to arrive before 2pm check in time. Some parks are sticklers for no early check ins, and some don’t care if you move in, as long as the previous campers are out of the site. We pulled in around noon and saw that there was a car, but no tent or camping gear, in our site. We also saw a guy talking to the camp host and we thought he might have temporarily parked his car while he was trying to communicate something to the host. I found a safe spot to pull Dory out of the way and we just waited. Our assumption was correct, and as soon as the guy was done gesticulating, he had either found satisfaction, or had given up. He got in his car and left, so we just pulled right on in. There is no kiosk at Montana de Oro, so as long as the host is cool, you’re fine.

We had plenty of time on the day, so we went out and hiked the bluff trail. We saw all kinds of fun wildlife, starting with a big kitty! A beautiful bobcat was just sauntering along the trail, maybe fifty feet ahead of us. He pulled off the trail eventually and groups of hikers moved calmly past him while he just hung out. So cool!

Out in the water, we caught sight of a dolphin pod, slowly making their way through the kelp forests just offshore. I thought at first they might be orcas, but Richard had his binoculars out and said nope, definitely dolphins.

The birds are abundant all over the park, and besides the ubiquitous pelicans, we saw lots of quail. What was not expected was to see a peahen running around the campground. I’m not sure what her story is, but she was funny. I’ve never seen a peahen or peacock run around before, but she seemed to have taken up the job of campground security guard. She was chasing crows like a bar bouncer, and when she wasn’t keeping out the riffraff, she wandered in and out of sites, pecking at things, and generally supervising the campers.

We moved on Thanksgiving Day, an intentional decision that Richard did a good job remembering. I believed it was a pretty good bet he would exclaim, at least once, “What?! We’re moving on Thanksgiving Day?? Why are we doing that?” even though he fully took part in that decision when we made the reservations. But no! He filed that away in his long term memory and didn’t come at me with shocked incredulousness a single time.

We have been looking forward to Thanksgiving turkey hot dogs for a long time. I must say, I think we nailed it. We had cranberry sauce to go on top, and sides of grill baked stuffing and broccoli. For dessert, Richard made a cherry cobbler that was to die for. He used left over buttermilk in the cobbler topping, and sour cherry spread, plus cinnamon and lemon juice, in the compote. Man that was good! We felt very thankful indeed.

The next day, we spent the whole morning hiking the Point Buchon trail. They limit entry to the privately owned PG&E land, but Richard was the second person on the list, arriving before 9am. You need to sign in and listen to a schpiel about staying only on the trail before you are allowed in. The area is only open to the public on Thursday through Monday, so we planned our stay accordingly. It is an absolutely gorgeous trail that hugs the bluffs, and then takes you gently up a rise to a Windy Point, where you can see the soon to be decommissioned nuclear power plant.

As we were taking a snack break, Richard gave a start and said, “What was that??” I’m always the wrong person to be asked that question. He said it was an enormous boom followed by a rumbling that didn’t sound like anything he had ever heard. He felt the vibration in his body and couldn’t imagine what it could have been. I heard nothing, felt nothing, but believed him. We wondered whether it was coming from the power plant, or from Vandenberg Air Force Base, further to the south. Later when we had cell service, we looked it up and it turns out it was a rocket launch! He thinks he saw some funny cloud trails in the sky. I saw nothing. Missed the whole thing.

I did not, however, miss the otters rolling around in the water! Nor did I miss seeing a herd of seals leaping up and down along the surface of the water, bee lining for somewhere in a hurry.

For our last day in Morro Bay, we rode out of the park and into Los Osos. There we tried a new bakery: Wayward Baking. Ooh boy, it was good. We split a ham and cheese croissant, a chocolate croissant, a piece of coffee cake, and a chocolate cookie. The croissants were buttery and flaky, the kind where you’re guaranteed to be covered in flakes. The cheese was a sharp Swiss, in generous portions and paired perfectly with the thinly sliced ham. The coffee cake had tons of cinnamon and was dense and moist. We hit this place one last time before leaving town the next morning. The eclairs are also outstanding, with lots of custard in a Madelein-like shell, topped with thick chocolate icing.

After returning to Dory, I decided I needed a nap. This was when I had started to feel the effects of under caffeination and I basically put myself in a time out before I said or did anything outwardly cranky. That was a good call and I enjoyed my nap time thoroughly. While I was rebooting, Richard went up and down the Valencia Peak trail. He said there were tons of butterflies at the top, which made him laugh, remembering the unfortunate person who never reached the summit of Lassen Peak because she had a literal butterfly phobia. What an unexpected barrier to an already daunting activity.

We walked out to see one last sunset and reflect on how well this trip went. Each of the three parks has its own completely different feel. Morro Strand is right there on the beach and has a very party time atmosphere. It is conveniently located between Morro Bay and Cayucos, so it has all the benefits of town life; cute shops and restaurants, plus excellent cell service. Montana de Oro is the opposite. It feels much more like you are in nature. The views are incredible, but cell service is not a given. You might be able to check in with the world out on the bluffs, but you will get a nice disconnect from the world while you’re there. Morro Bay State Park Campground is sort of in between. It has a woodsy setting and proximity to the slough, but just enough amenities to keep you entertained. It is not too far to walk to the boardwalk business strip downtown (maybe one and a half miles each way), where you can grab dinner or a treat, but when you return to your site, you are removed from the sounds of cars.

We didn’t have electric hookups in any of the sites, but there are some that get reserved fast in the main campground. That would have been handy for bike battery charging, but we pulled out the generator and also used an outlet in a bathroom to top up.

Coffee was the obvious unexpected hitch. We did well I think with plan B, but cleaning up coffee grounds reminds Richard why he chose the Techimpex in the first place. He is highly motivated to fix it. Even if it doesn’t explode, the moka pot does not make as good an espresso. Otherwise, all systems performed as expected. It was a perfect week and we are profoundly thankful for our life with Dory(s). Happy Thanksgiving!

Total miles from Morro Strand: 15.5, 12.7 mpg, 1 hour 28 min with dump at Morro Bay. Site 19 no hookups. Sometimes 1 bar LTE, better for ATT than Verizon. Some solar in the middle of the day. No dump. Potable water from tanks; no running water. Vault toilets.