California's Central Coast

barefoot-ing along the beach

We've been hanging out on the central coast for the past month and a half. We always look forward to spending time in Oceano, Pismo Beach and Morro Bay. 
Between staying at the Elks in Oceano, Pismo Coast Village in Pismo Beach, and Morro Strand RV Park in Morro Bay, we get the best of all worlds along this stretch of beach. It's a great place to relax, re-energize, and get fit again. Travel isn't always conducive to maintaining a predictable exercise regimen but here at the coast we know that we will be doing our daily walks (me) and every other day runs(he).



Oceano is the gateway to the dunes where fifth wheels, camper trailers, and on occasion motor homes come to camp on the beach with its easy dune access for ATVs. In the opposite direction are miles of flat open beach for us to walk/run, a routine that we each enjoy. I find the predictable rhythm of the crashing waves soothing and relaxing. Each day is different, never boring. Between the varied weather conditions (sometimes sunny and bright, other times overcast or foggy, and breezy), and the people activities, there is always something that is entertaining to watch on the 4-mile walks.

off on a morning run

Because vehicles are allowed on the beach in Oceano, without fail we get to see folks getting stuck in the sand. Probably the funniest sight was the two sports cars, tops down, helping push one another out of the sand as the tide was rushing in. The driver was most amusing as he held up his fingers, counting backwards, and "one" finger was his cue that he was about to accelerate so that his friends could push. Eventually after several attempts, he rode closer to the water where it's firmer and drove off the beach. His friends turned around to return to the other car further back to repeat the process. 
There are signs advising only 4-wheel drive vehicles on the beach. And the park rangers warn folks too at the pay booth. One morning as we were walking to the beach we saw what looked like a heavy duty army vehicle then realized that it was a tow vehicle that rescued a large motor home that obviously got stuck on the beach. According to a ranger Michael chatted with, it's an expensive tow! We also heard that there are retirees with 4-wheel drive trucks who cruise the beach around sunset and act as good Samaritans helping vehicles out of stuck situations. 

There is a small convenience store along the main beach road in Oceano. We watched the progress of a mural being painted by a couple of different artists. We have viewed several murals along our travels and often wondered how artists maintain proportion on such a large canvas area. But I see that they first pencil in the outline and then go from there.

Next year when we return, the mural may be complete.

Sunsets are always spectacular, sometimes just a plain orange orb slowly vanishing, other times pink glowing clouds creating gorgeous painted skies.




Pismo Coast Village was decked out for Easter. The Easter Bunny clam greeted us at the entrance.  On weekends and over the Easter holidays, Pismo was particularly active and busy with families. Little ones squealed with delight as they ran in and out of the water, often shivering. These waters are not warm!

entrance to PCV with Alpine on the right

The Pismo Pier was open again after months of being closed for repairs and upgrades. We noticed on this visit that there is a lot of new construction including new hotels being built right along the beach front. I suspect that Pismo will become increasingly crowded and a lot more popular (and pricey) in years to come.
















Our walks to the rocks and back continued, sometimes twice daily, sometimes in bright sunshine, sometimes in mist or clouds, and at times it was quite windy too. The weather is quite changeable, we noticed, but it didn't deter us. 

the white cliffs of Pismo

Our Alpine friends, the Collinses, joined us for a couple of days. We will be co-hosting the Pismo SoCal Rally together this coming November and spent time planning and scouting out a few more places and restaurants worth visiting.
Other friends from the Arizonian hiking club were passing through on their way home to Washington State and met us for lunch in Pismo one day.

San Luis Obispo is a few miles north of Pismo. It's where we go to fill up with gas and stock up on items at Costco (on this visit there was fig jam...and so we definitely stocked up!).

Swiss chalet architecture is combined with lots of stone work

For many years we have driven past the famous and iconic pink Madonna Inn in San Louis Obispo. More recently I have heard about its over-the-top decor and also the cakes and pies. We decided to see for ourselves what the fuss is all about. And yes, it was worth a stop. Everyone, including us, who walked in was in as much disbelief as we were. I enjoyed watching their expressions as they entered and looked around, and noted that everyone smiled, most likely in sheer disbelief.  It was certainly eye and brain overload, to put it mildly.
Picture a family with an endless supply of money, and an equally endless supply of decor ideas from all over the world, all jammed together to decorate every square inch of each building. The hotel was the brainchild of Alex Madonna and his wife Phyllis, who apparently didn't like the uniform and sterile look of the first twelve guest rooms that were built in 1958 and decided she would decorate them herself. The hotel has since grown and every guest room is different, in decor and color and fittings. The hotel clerk gave us a file folder with photographs of every room. They certainly are gaudy and interesting to look at. Every room has a different name. 
And since pink was Phyllis's favorite color, it is evident everywhere. I have seen it described as "Pepto Bismol pink."
Kitsch and tacky ....two words that describe the Madonna Inn. Yet it is also candy for the eyes and certainly worth an entertaining stop, just as numerous tour buses and inquisitive tourists still do. 

dining room decorated for Easter

We were able to tour the bar, dining areas, and the wine cellar below with its famous Men's room that has a rock waterfall urinal. 
We had pie a la mode and sat in a booth next to the bar. 
Every table has a pick and shovel design embossed somewhere, the emblem and first tools used by Alex Madonna who made his fortune as a contractor. 



Here is a link to more information and photos: History of Madonna Inn

Morro rock, 576 feet

Morro Bay is becoming a fast favorite. It has a different vibe to the mainly vacation town of Pismo Beach. It's a more laid back spot and still has a great and flat beach expanse for our walks and runs. 
Morro rock dominates the scenery, one of nine "sisters" of ancient volcanic plugs that remains 23 million years later. 

The iconic rock was named El Morro by Portuguese explorer Juan Cabrillo to describe the headdress of a Moor. Hence the allusion to a turban. Prior to becoming a State Historical Landmark in 1968, the rock was quarried for years to build jetties and the road leading to its base. 
It is now home to peregrine falcons and also known as the Gibraltar of the Pacific. Currently in all the US (outside of Alaska) there are about 350 breeding pairs of peregrines, and Morro Rock is home to two breeding pairs. The female on the south side has been documented for 10 years, has had 21 chicks, and is on her third mate. 
The eight other Morros, also referred to as the sisters, are a series of volcanic plugs that stretch in a row between the cities of Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. 

mama otter and baby

Each time we walked to the quaint town and pier area or out to the rock, we were entertained by the otters that inhabit this bay. Several had young ones and it was most interesting to learn about them. Otters float on their backs and carry the baby on its tummy, constantly grooming baby's fur. A group of otters is called a raft because the nursing mothers all hang out together. Mothers will continue to nurse baby until it's approximately the same size as she is before giving baby the boot. 

a raft of otters napping with babies

At the Museum of Natural History there was a great display showing mom and baby up close.


We took a bay cruise and learned a lot about the bay and the eight surrounding volcanic sister plugs. We were also entertained by a colony of seals that like to call the bay home.

fat seals fighting over space on this crowded platform

Besides otters and seals, and the occasional juvenile whale that finds its way into the bay, Morro Bay is home to a colony of boats. As our guide described, typically it's crusty old fishermen and bachelors that live full-time on their boats moored here. But there are a few couples too. Some pay a premium price moored at the dock, the rest "dry camp" beyond that. 


Coincidentally during our stay in Morro Bay, the Kite Festival was on one weekend. We went to check it out.

a gargantuan octopus kite being launched from the dunes

Morro Bay is apparently well known for its sand dollars that litter the beach. In fact the local quilt shop carries fabric with the rock, seagull and sand dollar motifs. They are indeed everywhere and I had to be careful not to step on any on my walks. (Oh, and the quilt shop is pretty impressive in its variety of fabrics and notions. The Cotton Ball also does long arm quilting.)


Morro Bay is also known for its often cloudy weather and we did have several murky days during our stay. We watched as the rock receded then reappeared under a bank of low clouds. But it didn't stop us from enjoying beach walks.

artistically wrought boat

an egret, a heron, a whimbrel, and a duck!

view of beach and rock from the bluffs 2 miles north

every day there are surfers in the waves

Whenever we stay in one place for any length of time, I set up a sewing machine and work on a few projects as time allows. Michael then refers to our Alpine as a "sewing studio." Picking away at a few minutes of sewing yielded over two dozen microwave bowl potholders, a useful gift for friends and hosts. The idea is to place the covered bowl with leftover food or soup in the fabric bowl potholder then into the microwave. It prevents fingers from getting burned when removing heated bowls of reheated leftovers from the microwave. It also works well when holding bowls of ice cream to prevent frozen fingers.

Several potholders joined the stack.

straight line ruler work

I had fun mastering free motion ruler work on the Featherweight using the rulers I got at the Road To California Quilt Show. This definitely takes practice. One of my other projects is to sew up the dozens of Boxie Pouches I have cut out, which also make great gifts.  The quilt sandwiches were a perfect size to practice my clam shell and straight line designs.

the handy and useful Boxie Pouch

With the embroidery machine set up, I experimented with making sew-on patches. Instead of embroidering directly on to a garment, this method creates the design into a patch that can be easily placed and sewn on separately. This is an idea that I learned about at the Embroidery Event Debi and I attended earlier.

But I also embroidered a design on to an existing t-shirt, and liked using the new sticky wash away stabilizer I learned about at the same Embroidery Event. 


Tomorrow we head off again, further north to the NorCal Alpine Rally at Duck Island Resort near Rio Vista. The embroidery machine worked hard to stitch out a couple of kitchen towels for our hosts.

But we will return.... the central coast is our favorite place to hang.