Beach access for vehicles, ATV's and campers.
Some of the California State Parks trucks at their HQ.


Well that wasn't too bad after all. Only six days in Pismo Beach for a job the folks at Trailer Hitch RV Center estimated would take half an hour. Sure I first arrived close to 5 on Thurdsay but these folks exit the premises like the tsunami siren is wailing.
So, on Friday, I paid for the extra fast shipping that would ensure the parts would be there on Monday - which they were. But I sat around waiting all Monday afternoon, but eventually they just tore it all apart before declaring the that the 'breakers' that I thought should have come with the new unit, were missing and they didn't seem to know what to do - except tell me to come back the next day! So I raced downtown to the Ace Hardware store, bought the right breakers myself an came back to the dealership. They fiddled with it some more, but once again, at not a minute past 5 they were gone and I had no power, or water, or heat, or electricity for the night! Thanks guys! So I had to pull out my own tools and wire up a temporary fix for the night.
Finally in the morning, they finished the job, only charging me three times the original estimate, plus expedited shipping, plus my own breakers, plus 5 nights in Pismo Beach.

That's

Trailer Hitch RV Center

444 S Dolliver St
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
___________________________________________________________________
End of complaint

At last we were free to leave Pismo Beach behind and were free to hit the road again! Yahoo. That's enough of being totally surrounded by people, and traffic, and noise.
After dumping the tank, filling the fresh water, having a shower, filling the gas we were eastbound on state route 166. But not before we checked out a few places in Santa Maria, and at last found the padded floor panels we have been looking for since last year's trip. On the way home last year, I bought some and forgot where, and have been trying to find them ever since. Finally, at Harbor Tools, we found them and bought an ample supply. We traveled the same way last year, so I already knew of a good spot to camp on a Forest Service road well off the highway and very quiet.The sign said closed, but we figured that meant the fire lookout and other facilities and we were not deterred.

We pulled in to camp in plenty of time, so pulled out some of the old carpet and gave everything a good cleaning, then set up the satellite dish and watched some TV news from home. And Rick Mercer. And This hour has 22 Minutes. And Red Green. And Whose Line is it? But when the lights were out it was indeed a quiet place, though we were serenaded by a quartet of coyotes for a while, then listened to some rain on the roof to put us to sleep.

In the morning, the weather was a mixed bag, but the road down was surprisingly slick, for what looked like sand and gravel. In 2WD and low gear, I thought the back end was about to pass the front once!Aren't rainbows supposed to have more of an arch to them?
Sometimes it is embarrassing when you get passed on the highway - by a Forklift!



I think these power poles are ringed to protect them from fire - but not sure why the third pole did not rate the same treatment.




My gps started to act up yesterday. I had a good strong signal from 8 satellites, but it would not get a fix. Same thing today. I thought I might have to get a new one, till I went online and found out how to do a 'hard' reset. That cured it, and things are back to normal.
I think we will leave you there as we continue to head inland for the deserts.

MonarchButterfly.org


Welcome new readers from Hitch Itch! (see links)

We've now been in Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Arroyo Grande, Ca for the last few days. One of the reasons for that is that the 'charging module' on my power converter in the camper seems to have ceased functioning, making the charging of batteries somewhat more difficult. So we finally found an RV service place in Pismo Beach that has ordered the parts, so we are hanging around to hopefully get it installed on Monday - even though I'm told it's President's Day. But maybe only the banks are closed?

To save hassles finding good camp spots nearby in this mecca of campers, it was decided to bite the bullet and stay right in Pismo State Beach campground - and I can actually see the RV dealer's sign from my campsite.
But there is no power or other services supplied here, so it is also packed with generators. Last night, the disadvantage of being in a paid campsite became very evident - at 1230 AM! Some yahoos had moved in next to me - in tents. And it has been getting quite cold at night, so this bunch, who must have had electric heaters in their tents, decided that they could stay warm only if they ran their generator all night! Now, generators are not allowed past 8, and quiet time begins at 10. And this was NOT just one of the quiet little Honda generators like mine, this was a full-on construction site model and it was going full bore. Before calling in the troops, I decided on a little (Canadian) peacekeeping diplomacy. I approached the 4 tents of people and asked if they could please turn it off. There was no response ( they also must have had industrial strength hearing protection on - or have been very, very drunk, or both), so that called for plan B which involved a spark plug wire. So I tiptoed off to try to sleep once again, noticing all the silent cheering from adjacent campsites.
As might be expected, it only took them 20 minutes to notice the deafening silence, and the cold, and they got it running again. So then, I had no choice ( not being boondocking like I should have been!), but to call in an air strike, err Ranger. Plan C which was not required due to the prompt response for an air strike, involved wire cutters. To make matters worse, I had a touch of the flu, or some food poisoning, so it was not a great night.

One area of the beach ( and dunes?) just down the road allows ATV's and trucks on the beach, so many of my fellow campers are decked out with big, jacked up 4x4 trucks, full of ATV's with the requisite flags. There is a regular procession of these rigs, with tires half flat for traction, heading into town each evening to fuel up and pump up the tires again.
Did not think to get any god pics of them, but will try tomorrow if there is time and see what I can come up with. There also seems to be a lot of pit bull type dogs around here ... At least they are all on leashes, so Harley does not have to teach any of them manners!

There is a huge pier in the middle of town, that must be close to a half mile long. So you can walk out there and watch the surfers from above, as well as seeing the back sides of the waves, all without getting wet. Downtown is very surfer-oriented, with some obviously famous eateries, with lines stretching along the block to get in.






Remember, you can click on any of the photos in the blog to see a larger version!
And click on some of the ads, too. They pay me for it!





Pismo Beach is also about the biggest wintering areas for the Monarch butterflies in the US, and the grove they like is right at the edge of the campground, literally less than 100 yards from my camp. They tend to stay in the tops of the tall trees, however, so taking good photos without a telephoto is pretty tough. The literature says that there were 230,000 of them in the late 90's, and last years count was only 22,000. Not sure if they have died off, or whether more of them have decided to head for Mexico? How to they count them, you ask? I'm guessing 'mark and re-capture' as there are ways to tag them, apparently.

In the morning, I was trying to see if I could spot any of these long distance flyers in the trees - with my head still on the pillow. When I gave up, and opened the door in the morning, I found that one had come to pay a visit and was sitting on the tailgate of the truck. He looked a little groggy because it was so cold.
I was sure hoping to get out of here today and get back out in the sticks where there are no people around, but the RV place prevented that in a big way. Even though I was there at 1PM for the half hour job, they still quit right at 5, and even after I had been running around town for parts they needed for the job. To make matters worse, they left me with NO power in the camper for lights, water, heat or anything else. So I had to do my own quick jury-rigged repair to get systems working at least for the night. Beginning to think I should have just done the whole job myself. Hopefully tomorrow we will finally get back on the road where we belong!

When we last left you, we were on Sycamore Canyon road in the Big Sur area. Since there were creek sounds and no wi-fi, we drove back to the highway where we found good service to check out the local media back home.
Harley took advantage of the time to see what wildlife and bugs and birds might be within his reach.
We spent a slow day going down the beautiful coast, stopping at every pullout to enjoy the sun and scenery. We also ran into some of the never ending road construction on this road, which seeks to eventually slide into the Pacific. I was made to feel right at home by one of the trucks with a plow on it, but this one wasn't plowing snow and ice, it was for rocks and gravel.
Time was not a factor, so when we reached one of our usual camp spots, we headed up the road to find the best of several spots - all with great ocean views! But first it was to a little creek to get some lean fresh water to splash some of the accumulated dirt and salt off the truck and camper. That accomplished, it was declared that "It's 5 o'clock - somewhere", and happy hour broke out.
The road is very narrow and pretty steep in places, usually only one lane wide. I surprised even me by finding some usable wi-fi in one spot.

Later that night, one of the advantages of boondocking made itself evident. The wind came up quite a bit and Harley was getting seasick from the rocking of the camper in the wind. So we just up and moved camp a few switchbacks up the mountain to a completely sheltered spot in the bush. I suppose the folks down in the Kirk Creek State campground way down below just toughed out the breeze - at $22/night.Not entirely sure if the tree came down during that windstorm, but at Plaskett Ck campsite just a few miles down the coast, a pretty large tree had landed right in a campsite.
In the morning, we were up early and moved back out to an ocean-view area for coffee, then moved down to an ocean-front spot to make some breakfast. This road-trippin' is tough, I'll tell ya.
Cambria was our on-line spot in the morning and we noted that the gas price was $3.79/gal. Fortunately, the tank was already full of cheaper gas. In Morro Bay we did a drive-by visit of a vet clinic to get some of Harley's special (read expensive) cat fodder for almost $80. Guess I'll have to keep him around for a while longer, with that kind of investment. I would have brought more food from home, but was worried that those US Customs guys might take it for their cats. As it was, his food made it through unscathed.
Down the coast there are large areas frequented by large groups of elephant seals laying on the beach, flicking sand on themselves with their flippers. Also fighthing, and snorting, bugling.





We drove by the Hearst Castle once again. Some day we'll have to stop in and visit it's opulence,

but this time, Harley just checked out the sign.
Couple of views from Nacimiento Road.





Next, Pismo Beach, Ca!

We were camped by the lighthouse for a couple of nights and there was a helicopter sighting. It was not the coast guard, but pretty similar, I guess. Some from back home may recognize this one!


There was also the usual white hunters in the area.
His cousins were kind of unique. They were about 1/2 as tall, and spent their time in the tide pools. But they had bright yellow feet that they used to continuously stir the bottom of the pools, no doubt trying to get a meal.

Just down the highway there was a railroad crossing, and the train insisted on posing.



Saw some gas priced at $3.59/gallon near Costanoa, and saw a guy in Santa Cruz who had enough ink on his exposed skin for a set of encyclopedias. But what stood out (and waggled a bit), were the 2" black disks he had inserted in his ears. Hmm. Nice, if you happen to like that sort of thing.
Another highight! Found yet another gas station in California where I could pay at the pump without going inside!
Got me a badly needed haircut in Seaside, and headed south back into the redwoods at big Sur.
Used Google Earth to locate me a suitable, isolated, private camp spot down a little Forest Service road not far off the main road. So I had to listen to creek sounds (and birds), instead of the ocean.




It's always so great just to stand outside in the evening watching the stars and moon while breathing in the great combination of ocean salt, sycamore and cedar and redwoods.

Same thing in the morning with the first coffee, taking it easy, wondering what the day will bring!

Tomorrow, here's where we camp!

Gosh, where have you been? This stuff happened three days ago and you are just getting to see the photos now! Well, I have been busy, and not always with a good internet connection at the right time, OK?
Here is the pics of us approaching the Golden Gate bridge, and crossing for the toll of $5, only payable when traveling south. Not a bad deal when you consider it is only $2.50 each way for a round trip - and the Coquihalla is $20 for a round trip.





Just south of the bridge there are several long tunnels, where highway 1 leads under a golf course! It caused me some trouble last year as I was clearly 'on the road' according to Google Earth, but I was actually in regular city streets. The highway was there all right, but about 100 feet below my tires!

Drove by the San Fran Zoo, and this guy -Deputy Dog? - was on a pole in the sreet.



Then I was telling you about the surf rescue I saw underway in Pacifica - just a bit south of San Fran. A couple shots of the ship circling after it was over, and the one hovering on the far side of the wharf was when the whole deal was still going down.

And, some pics of the wharf when I found a spot to park and walked down. Dang it was cold. The locals had their fur lined sandals on, and their inusulated sunglasses.

Actually, the dust in the distance in this pic is sand blown up when the coast guard landed further down, presumably to off-load a patient?



Carrying on south down the coast, through Half Moon Bay, this was supposed to be a shot of a surfer walking down the sidewalk, but you can see what got in the way.


Then it was two nights on the shore at the lighthouse - the same one where I spent New Years last year - you can check it out in the blog archives.
Here's the link if you can't find it yourselves - it's at the verrrry bottom of the link below!
New Years lighthouse.
Or, for better sunset shots, as requested by M,S, and R, on the first post on this link.
December 30, 2006.

Harley said that if no one laughed, he would let you in on one of his exercise routines - one he calls "Laces". I hope the SPCA does not see this one and come after me.