We woke up under a grove of palm trees at our campground just outside of Sacramento. Today would be a travel day with a stop in Livermore, CA, just outside of Oakland to visit with some new friends. We had met Stacey and her mom Mary on a bike brewery tour weeks before, while in Denver. We exchanged contact info and were told that when we got to their area to give them a call so that we could meet up. Today was finally that day. After packing up, we hit the road and an hour and a half later, we pulled into Livermore. We didn’t know what to expect upon arrival, but Livermore turned out to be a beautiful little town. We explored the small downtown for a bit as we arrived a little early, then drove the short distance to our meeting place of Altamont Brewery. We were excited to see Stacey and Mary again, but were surprised when not only they came but their entire family as well. Stacey had brought her husband Greg and their two kids and Mary had brought her husband Mike. It was really a neat feeling knowing that this entire family had come out to see us and talk for a bit. We had a great time meeting and catching up with the family and made sure that they are now on our list to receive post cards in the future. Hi guys!
We stayed in Livermore a bit later than we had planned, and after having a late lunch at In-N-Out Burger, we hit the road. We knew that we wouldn’t reach our destination of Oceano, CA that day, which was a four hour drive south from Livermore, so we found a KOA in the desert about halfway for the night. As it was getting to be winter, the sun was setting earlier and earlier. As an RV’er, it’s much easier to do things in the light of day than try to set up camp with a flashlight at night.
The next morning we woke up ready to hit the road. Today we would be driving through a beautiful part of central California. Our drive took us through the mountains on Route 152 then south on US 101. It was pretty neat going from desert to mountain to mammoth farm communities and also some wine areas here and there as well. Close to Oceano is the town of San Luis Obispo (or SLO as Californians call it.) Stacey told us that this town was not to be missed. She was sure right as SLO was beautiful. It was a larger town, not directly on the ocean but close enough to have a surfer vibe to it. The town also has beautiful large Ficus trees that give a canopy to almost every street. We walked around doing a little window-shopping before stopping in to Blast 825 Taproom for a beer. This taproom was very unique as you poured the beer yourself. There were around 60 taps, and the way it worked was that after checking into the front desk, you received a wristband that had an rfid tag in it. Once you found the beer you wanted, you put your wristband up to a sensor just above your selected tap. A green light would go on and you could now pour the beer. Each beer was priced per ounce and you could pour as much or as little as you wanted. We had only seen this once before at a brewery in Cheyenne, WY, so it was pretty neat to see the concept once again.
From SLO we continued our journey to the nearby town of Oceano where we would be camping for a few nights. The campground that we found turned out to be amazing. The Pacific Dunes Ranch RV Resort was located directly next to and partly on the Oceano Dunes Natural Preserve. These dunes stretched about a mile inland from the ocean and were just steps away from our home for the next few nights.
The next day we woke up and as it was a beautiful day, decided that it should be a bike day as we had not been able to have one in quite a while. We packed a bag, made sure our bikes were set for a day’s journey and we were off. From our campground on the dunes we rode down through the town of Oceano to Oceano Beach and the Oceano Beach State Vehicle Recreation Area. We found out while there that this was the only beach in the state of California that you could drive a vehicle onto. We parked our bikes and watched as everything from ATVs, Jeeps and trucks to even RVs drove onto the beach. There was a huge tractor going back and forth grading and packing down the sand as it was very soft in spots (we saw more than a few cars stuck in the sand). From here we walked down the beach checking out the cars as well as the beautiful mountains in the distance. We even spotted a group of whales in the ocean swimming by. It was pretty neat, as neither Julie nor I had ever spotted whales from a beach before. From the beach we rode down the coast a bit to the town of Oceano. Once there we took a break and had an ice coffee at a local coffee shop before riding back to our campground.
We had ridden back a bit early so that we could make lunch and dinner on the grill and enjoy the dunes in the afternoon. After making dinner and cleaning Bubbles for a bit, we grabbed our camp chairs, a few beers and headed out to the dunes to watch the sunset. As these dunes were over a mile long, we didn’t get close to the ocean, but we climbed a few of the sand-looking mountains to get to the highest point that we could get to. We set up our chairs and settled in to enjoy nature’s show. Things didn’t go as planned for us as about 20 minutes before sunset, clumsy me spilled beer all over myself, so we walked back so that I didn’t have to sit in a beer-soaked shirt. Oh well, it was still fun while we were up there.
The next day we woke up ready for another travel day. Today we would be going back north to Monterey to stay with Melissa through the Thanksgiving holiday. Back on US 101 we went backtracking all the way to Monterey. We arrived back in Monterey and at Melissa’s late in the afternoon. We again greeted Melissa’s dog Harper and within a few minutes Melissa was home. As Melissa’s phone was having issues, we all went to the local Apple store to hopefully get the issues fixed. While waiting we walked over to a restaurant for an adult beverage. Soon enough the phone was fixed and we were off back to her apartment. After feeding the dog, we walked downtown for dinner and drinks before calling it a night.
The next day we woke and had a great breakfast. We had a lot of fun planned for the day, as first we would be going for a hike at Garland Ranch then take a drive down Route 1 to Big Sur. The 4 of us (Harper the dog included) got into Melissa’s Jeep and we were off. It took about half an hour to reach Garland Ranch, which is a big park east of Monterey. There we hiked the Garza Canyon Trail and the Redwood Trail. As there was quite a lot of elevation change including water down in Garza Canyon, the temperature went from being hot in the 80’s while high and away from the water, to cool and in the high 60’s once we got to the bottom of the canyon. Melissa had told us that after living in Florida for so long, the change to California was tough (in terms of hiking) as she had not experienced any sort of hill for quite a while and Harper had never seen a hill his entire life. They eventually learned and are now both great at hiking the hills around Garland Ranch.
Next we hopped back into the Jeep and drove over to Route 1 just south of Monterey. We stopped at a few overlooks going south before stopping at the famous Bixby Creek Bridge. If this bridge was in any other state other than California, it would be its most famous (The Golden Gate Bridge is California’s most famous). The sight of it from either end is just spectacular. Looking either north or south you see the Pacific Ocean, a huge inlet, waves crashing down below and mountains rising from the back. This is truly a spectacular sight. From the Bixby Creek Bridge we continued south, going as far as the Nepenthe Restaurant. This restaurant is special as the views from its large porch and patio areas are spectacular. We stopped there and relaxed for quite a while before turning back north. On the way back, we stopped at a few of Melissa’s favorite spots, a pub for their tacos and a hotel along a river that had chairs that you could put right in the water. It was a bit cold to actually sit in the river, but we were able to sit next to it and enjoy the scenery around us. From this point on Route 1 we made our way back to Monterey. We walked back downtown for dinner before calling it quits for the night.
The next day was a special day. It was Thanksgiving! It was the first holiday that we were celebrating while on the trip and it was great to be able to spend it with a friend. Melissa had moved to Monterey as the Monterey Aquarium had hired her, and as fish need to be fed every day, she had to work on Thanksgiving morning. It was no problem though as she works at an off-site facility, so Julie, Harper and myself were able to go along and keep her company. The off-site facility had a few large tanks in it with tuna, mahi mahi and hammerhead sharks in it. It was pretty neat being Thanksgiving morning and spending it watching baby hammerheads swimming around. It was sure something that we won’t be forgetting for a long time to come. Once all the fish were fed, we drove over to the Asilomar State Beach. There was a walking path there that went along the coastline and in and out of many tidal pools that dotted the coast. As it was early afternoon, there were a ton of people walking, everyone in a great mood. We walked from tidal pool to tidal pool trying to find some little creatures that call the tidal pools home. We didn’t find any, but still had fun looking.
From the tidal pools we drove back to Melissa’s for a few hours of rest then went over to her friend Anne’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. As this Thanksgiving was a bit different, Thanksgiving dinner was going to be a bit different as well. Instead of the usual Turkey with the trimmings, we were going to be having homemade sushi rolls. As Anne was originally from Hawaii, she was an expert in the art of sushi rolling. We hung around and talked while Anne rolled dinner, and by the time we sat down we had a feast in front of us. In addition to the tuna sushi rolls, we had fried rice, salad, sweet potato pie, fruit and a few other tasty items. It was all amazingly good. After dinner we had a drink and played a card game. All in all we had a great Thanksgiving. Great food and great company, not much more you can ask for.
Next up…..We head south to San Diego and spend a week with Julie’s parents.
