I am driving into Morro Bay heading for the beach area, but run into a detour due to a farmers market in the center of town and decide to stop and look around. The market is on Main Street which is lined with nice businesses and very clean and well maintained. There is a lot of good looking healthy produce, but no place to store it in the van, so I end up with a couple of unhealthy, but tasty cookies. As I’m walking down the street a man behind me compliments me on my calf muscles, first time that’s ever happened ! This is a outdoor sports kind of place where I guess they appreciate those kinds of things. A few minutes later as I come upon the Siren Music Club a woman sitting on a bench at the corner, (may have been drinking), blurts out loudly; Man you are the dude here, I’d vote for you. I didn’t know exactly what she meany by that but I think it was complimentary and I’m thinking, I like this town already.
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| The Bay Theater |
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| Taco shop in town with great murals |
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| covering the whole side of the building |
I go into the Siren, a great name for a music club, where a honky tonk country band is playing to an appreciative dancing crowd. I had heard of this club, they have good stage and sound system and often have touring acts and good regional bands. I’m not a big fan of the Honky Tonk stuff but they were definitely veteran players.
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| A very nice music venue |
I finally make it to the beach in the evening to find a large lot parking with no parking meters, totally free. in fact there are no parking meters anywhere in Morro Bay. I also see no street signs prohibiting overnight parking. Now I’m really liking this town !!
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| The evening light was so nice on the surf |
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This is a creek that runs into the ocean, lots of birds there
in the morning splashing around |
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| I found several medium sized Sand Dollars |
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| A nice Blue Heron looking especially blue in the early morning haze |
I return to the Siren later to see a touring band from LA who are very good. The front man who plays electric guitar and does all the vocals was a dynamic performer.
Sleeping in the van on the street isn't always a good nights sleep. In the early morning hours the working people start driving by and there are various noises like garbage and delivery trucks to wake you. I am usually awakened around 5 AM and after a half hour of thinking about what to do for the day, get dressed and usually drive to a different spot. I then park and do my breakfast thing, clean up a little, check my emails (90% junk) and re think what I need to do or what I could do for the day.
On this day I drive to the harbor area shrouded in fog and walk around. It is nearly deserted at this hour with only the coffee shops seeming to be open. I find that there is a harbor walking tour along the interconnecting boardwalks with signs about the history, plants, animals and geology of the area. This harbor was once mainly a commercial fishing harbor, but in these days it is almost all leisure craft and tourist driven. There are many restaurants and shops all along the harbor and it is quite nice.
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| That's my best picturesque fishing fleet photo |
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| Those long canoes were very cool |
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| Morro Rock looking ominous out there |
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| Don't mess with these squirrels, they have really sharp teeth and claws |
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| That's my best foggy bay photo, kind of looks like a Monet painting ? |
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| Another with evening light and a distant fog bank |
The big attraction in Morro Bay remains the rock, Morro Rock, it's been a landmark since the first person laid eyes on it. It is actually a 581 foot high eroded plug of an extinct volcano. It was surrounded by water until 1933 when a causeway was built to the mainland. The rock to build the causeway was blasted from Morro Rock itself. There was considerable mining of the rock over the years until it was protected, I'm surprised it wasn't all blasted away and carted off for fill to build parking lots.
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| The beach area on the nature preserve side of Morro Rock is the best viewpoint |
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| One of the historical panels on the boardwalk |
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| Many shore birds and hawks nest in Morro Rock |
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| Looks like a favorite perch for the gulls |
Needing some fresh air and a walk I drive to the Montana de Oro State Park where I take a trail across a sand dune steeply down to the beach. Parts of the dunes are roped off to protect threatened Western Snowy Plover breading sites. It’s a beautiful wide open beach with only a few surfers and walkers in sight. These sand dunes are extensive, go on for miles. I collect a few interesting rocks and as I head back up the trail a couple resting on a bench tell me to be sure to go to the Buff Trail which is a couple of miles away.
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| The dunes covered with natural vegetation |
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| Then to the deserted beach |
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| I felt like a was shipwrecked, no one in sight |
The Bluff Trail winds its way around the edge of a high bluff overlooking the ocean with many great view. There are a couple of side trails going down to the rocky shore with tidal pools where at times you can see sea life in the pools.
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| The wildflowers were very colorful |
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| Must have been a hundred viewpoints like this one |
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| I took a trail down to the waters edge |
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| A stock of Clams hanging on at waters edge waiting for the tide to return |
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| Everyone was excited to see this beautiful red Starfish |
The next day I travel to the nearby town of Cayucos around lunch time where I see a sign for a $3 slice of pizza right on the beachfront, a perfect lunch for me. I'm sitting inside eating it when about a dozen junior lifeguard summer camp kids pile in completely filling the place. The proprietor must go through this all the time, he immediately says, "OK kids count off, How, many of you are getting root beer floats ?
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| This cookie company was doing a thriving business, I helped slightly |
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| I wanted to go in, but you just can't do them all |
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A mural depicting the towns founder, I bet he never envisioned
what we see now, surfboards ? |
A few miles away off route 1 is a beach access parking lot for Estero Bluffs State Park where I take a short hike along the coastline trying to find a way down to the water. It's not easy, everything is a steep slippery slope down, I finally find a way.
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| The trail starts like this |
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| The first thing you come to on the coast is this old grounded boat |
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| Looking down the coastline from the bluff |
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| Finally at surfs edge |
I also had a good antique store buying spree n Morro Bay leaving with some real treasures, a classic used Hawaiian shirt, a couple of old postcard and a cool tea spoon and knife.
Next stop is Monterey, California
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