Morning starts around 5:30am for some of us and the tents start to light up light mushrooms . . . coffee is always served at 6:30am.

. . . this campground was in a very NARROW VALLEY, was all rock, the showers didn’t work and there was no power . . . recipe for disaster!!!

. . . everyone was ready to pack up and move on . . .

. . . we not only had the sounds of the ocean, but this creek running LOUDLY right alongside of us, too. Nature in stereo. Rich took a bath in the stream!!!

. . . need to watch out for slides that happened during the night . . . hard to see before the sun  gets over the crest of the mountains . . .

. . . in fact here it comes. . . 8:30am . . .

. . . the sun sure feels good on the face, and soon the layers of clothing start coming of as we climb and climb . . .

. . . passed this CalFire field station that had their engines ready to go . . . no fire activity yet in southern CA.

. . . nice views around every bend . . . you can see the road ahead, wrapping around the hillsides.

 

 

Great morning light . . .

. . .  lots of road construction along the way in CA. Many times to repair what landslides had destroyed. We came around this bend and Igatiana, who likes to be called ‘Nacho’, was serving as the flagman today. Between he and his girlfriend they have 6 kids ranging from 4 years of to 17!!!

. . . the road around the bend was down to one lane and as the scoop filled the dump truck, both directions of traffic had to stop. Took about 20 minutes to fill the dump truck!!!

. . . we started to come down from our higher climbing  . . .

. . . as I looked down, I saw this sticker on guard rail post . . . nice!!!!

. . . we were down on the flat and I was looking forward to visiting this lighthouse and having a little lunch . . .

. . . what, NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.  Ate a sandwich anyway!!!

. . . the lighthouse was still working, flashing every 10 seconds . . .  and the rock out in the ocean in front of it . . .

. . . reminded me of our puppy, Daisy. I hope she remembers me when I get home!!!

. . . about two miles down the road was an Elephant Seal viewing area , where the ravens were working the parking lot for snacks. They are so used to people, they barely move out of the way. I could have fed this one by hand, but not a good idea to do with wild critters, regardless of where they get their chow from!!!

Lots of seals sunning themselves . . .

. . . and moving back and forth from the ocean . . . as they get too hot from lying in the sun . . .

. . and they get hot!!!!

. . . this one was giving me the ‘stink eye’ and wherever I moved,  he always seemed to be looking at me . . . CREEPY!!!

. . . a little further down the coast we passed by Hearst Castle. Joe and Tom had made arrangements for those who were interested in stopping for one or more of the hour long tours. I visited it years ago while on a trip with my GoldWing motorcycle so passed on visiting . . . but did walk through the visitor center . . .

Where I could have been ‘saved’ by the women in yellow on the left. Surprised CA allows religious or any type of ‘informational’  sharing at their monuments.

Jenny and I had cooking duty tonight and served up chicken and tofu with mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots and corn, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, with real whipped cream!!! A popular repeat of a meal she made several weeks ago. Too busy to take photos . . . but it all was eaten!!!