| We spent several days in
Morro Bay. Here the temperature matched our comfort level. The campsite is
well laid out, clean and a reasonable price. There was the usual collection
of motor homes and fifth wheels - some with quite smart cars in attendance. |  |
We walked the 2 miles to the supermarket and Jan tripped over a protruding
paving slab on the way back. Bruised and bleeding profusely from a tiny
scalp wound, a passing policeman stopped. 57 questions followed trying to
ascertain if she was OK. What day of the week? Who is the president? etc. Then an
ambulance and a passing fire truck turned up - did she ought to go to
hospital.... All she really wanted was a
cup of tea! We did get a lift back in a police car. One of the most
uncomfortable modes of transport we have ever been in. Plastic seats with
hollows in the back for our cuffed hands. Good job it was only a mile. |
| Morro Bay is totally
dominated by the 1GW gas power station which is right in the town centre. It
has just been retired after 54 years because of damage to the marine life in
the bay. |  |
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The US Coastguard keeps a couple of patrol boats in the harbour. They are
not very big. |
| Morro Bay is small and
fishing is probably more important than tourism. Tourism is more important
further south. |  |
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There were tanks at the back of the dock with male and female California
sheephead. These are hermaphrodite starting out as female and becoming male
at about 7-8 years of age. The heads and tails are grey but the middle is
pink to red. Just look at those teeth! |
| It's actually a Thai
restaurant with a roof which looks like a wrecked ship. |  |
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I'm not quite sure what this is, given that he is paddling.... |
| The mermaid and dolphin
statue is fitting for a town where fishing is so important. |  |
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Of course there are some other fishermen about. We also saw seals in the
harbour. |
| They seemed very tame and
we were able to get really close to them. |  |
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This is Morro Rock - a 500ft high granite rock which is the remains of an
ancient volcano. |
| We were able to catch the
sunset on several occasions. Despite the clear skies during the day, it was
rare for the sun to actually set into the sea. Usually clouds on the horizon
obscured it. A weather front is coming... |  |
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We left Morro Bay for Pismo Beach passing more rocks along the way. These are all part of a
chain of 7
ancient volcanoes, Morro Rock being the one closest to the sea. |
| Churches in Europe are
mainly very old buildings. In the US they are often very new. Stained glass
features in many, highlighting the wealth of these churches. |  |
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This is Pismo Beach. A river comes out alongside the campsite making it
quite difficult to get to the beach from the campsite. |
| There were some clumps of
statice
still blooming along the edge of the beach. |  |
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Pismo Beach is much more a holiday/snowbird location and has a pier much as
many holiday resorts in England have. |
| A flower bed in the town
centre. We particularly liked the ceramic fish on the side. |  |
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The bubbles are impressions in the concrete. There are several different
sorts of fish around the flower bed. |
| It is a long, open and
very pleasant beach. It will be very much busier in August than it is now.
The camp site reckoned we would need to book now for next summer. |  |
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The sun sets very quickly here and the colours change quickly. The coastal
mountains here mean there are no roads inland all along this coast for over
100 miles. |
| Even though there appear
to be few clouds, the sun is setting above the horizon. |  |
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Just next door to the campsite is a stand of eucalyptus trees in a state
park where significant numbers of monarch butterflies spend the winter
though more continue on to Mexico. In the sky above a number of hawks were
circling, presumably hoping to catch some of the small number of butterflies
still active. |
| The wardens had set up a
number of telescopes through which you could view the butterflies 'roosting'
high in the trees. They seem to have lost their colour but that's only
because the wings are folded. They don't technically hibernate but undergo a
diapause. |  |
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These eucalyptus leaves have been eaten by a tortoise beetle caterpillar
which has become common here. They damage the leaves badly but do not seem
to destroy the trees. |
| The coastal strip is
quite narrow. The houses of the town crowd onto the nearest hills. There are
no roads beyond those hills. |  |
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