Morro Bay
Morro Bay, California: DT and I left Merced
at 10 a.m. and headed towards the coast. We followed (this is for you, How)
Highway 59 south to 152, to 33 until we joined I-5. The views were very
interesting, though possibly not "scenic"; it was an incredibly interesting
drive through mile after mile of agricultural landscape. We noticed rye,
artichokes, avocados, mint, timothy, grapes, cantaloupes (Mendota,
California is the "Cantaloupe Center of the World"!) - miles of irrigation
canals and hundreds of sheep and cattle.
After driving south on I-5 for a while we exited to Highway 41 and ended up
at Morro Bay, California. (If you look on a map - it is north of San Luis
Obispo and south of Monterey.) We are camped on the beach, surrounded by
plants – sewer and power! No kidding, we are camped between the city water
treatment facility and a PGE gas turbine power plant! The view from the
campground is quite nice - surfers and kayakers in the water, tons of bird
life, including a nesting Peregrine Falcon pair and Morro Rock.
Morro Rock
Ice Plant creeping on the dunes
Mermaid tourist
After setting up camp and checking out the beach, we drove
into the quaint little town of Morro Bay. There is a little road along the
bay that goes out to the south side of Morro Rock. We saw a sea otter
swimming with her little baby in the bay - so exciting - just adorable!
Hundreds of gulls, many pelicans, and ground squirrels living in the rocks
along the shore. It was a beautiful sunny day, a little windy though - but
we were really enjoying exploring the area. There are many fishing boats and
luxury sailboats in the calm harbor waters.
Morro Bay resident
We drove up to Morro Bay State Park and
Morro Bay Golf Course. The course looks challenging and wide open, so we
booked a tee time for tomorrow. There were several huge herons walking the
course - they were not carrying clubs and it was impossible to guess at
their handicap. At the top of the hill behind the golf course, there is a
viewpoint, where I snapped this photo to the back of the bay - a national
estuary. The air was heavily scented with eucalyptus and sage. Though hazy,
the hilly vista was inspiring - inspiring me to possibly take a cart
tomorrow!
View from Morro Bay Golf Club to the Pacific
Added later: We were lucky and found
wonderful pizza at Pizza Port on Main Street. Friendly
(handsome and young) men served us salads piled high with lettuce, tomato,
red onion, peppers, olives, cheese and artichoke hearts. We tried two small
pizzas - I had a "white" pizza with olive oil, mozzarella and garlic. DT
sampled a pizza with red sauce, green peppers and olives. My pizza was
better, but both were really delicious. However, the pizza's were both
really big for "small" pizzas - so we have lunch tomorrow. Though a family
restaurant, with the required video games, big screen TV and large tables...
Pizza Port also has photos of naked men surfing decorating the walls.
Unfortunately, they were not close-ups. About a dozen old surfboards hung
from the ceiling. We had a stroll through town after dinner, picked up a few
post cards and came back to Goldie in time for The Sopranos.
RV Park:
Morro Dunes RV
Campground