Day 1 - Roadtrip up to Santa Maria (Tuesday)
My dad lives along the way to San Simeon, so to take the stress of trying to get out super early in order to secure a campsite (I never reserve, relying on the first-come, first-served sites), I arranged it so that we'd stay a night at my dad's place and get out early enough to get a site the following morning. That way we could take off some time before noon and take our time driving up there, stopping wherever and whenever we felt like it along the way.
My car's odometer flipped over to 100K on this trip, which I photographed (not included in the Flickr photo gallery), which I felt required a stop (when it reached 99,999.9 miles) and to mark that location in my GPS unit. How geeky is that?
Our first planned stop was Pea Soup Andersen's. I can't take a trip up the 101 and not stop there - it's a tradition! First we found a geocache somebody had hidden in the parking lot, then we went in and had far too much pea soup. YUM!
While I gluttonously spooned soup down my gullet, I realized that despite our numerous trips up this way, Rece had never seen Solvang. It was only a few miles off, so I decided to head up there for a quick peek. When he asked where we were going, he mistakenly heard me say "Soul Fang" which I found quite hilarious. "Yes, Rece, it's a town full of vampires."
We found a couple more geocaches along the way and made it to my dad's place shortly before dinnertime... not that we had any room for more food.
Day 2 - Camping Day 1
After a good night's sleep, we took off for San Simeon State Park. As usual, we had our choice of campsites and opted for one we'd been in a couple years prior.
There was a group of tents in the 2 campsites next to us that turned out to be a bunch of kids from a YMCA club. Rece had fun hanging out with them - they really were a good group of people.
We drove down to Harmony, a very tiny town with a population of 18. We were there for a geocache, but I also picked up a birthday card and mailed it out from there - so it would have a Harmony postmark.
We nabbed a few more geocaches and picked up some groceries that I had opted to buy locally instead of trying to keep them fresh and "unsquished" on the trip.
Day 3 - Camping Day 2 - Gabe's birthday
Wanting a change of pace, I decided that a drive up the coast was in order. I had downloaded info for a couple of caches about 45 minutes drive up the coast, and wanted to go check them out. We found a nice rocky beach to eat lunch and nabbed just one of the two caches.
On the way back down we stopped to view the elephant seals and Rece got to feed some very friendly squirrels (as can be seen in the photo gallery).
I had promised Rece that we'd go to the beach so he could play in the ocean, so we stopped at San Simeon beach, next to the pier, for a couple of hours. It's unusual for me to spend much time sitting out in the sun and this reminded me of why (headache, lethargy, blah)... oh well, at least Rece had a good time.
Day 4 - Camping Day 3
With the YMCA kids having left the previous afternoon and nobody camping next to us, we managed to get a very good night's sleep.
We planned to go picnic at San Simeon Point, which was something we had kept saying we wanted to do, but for some reason we never managed to accomplish. This time we did it, and also completed the walk along the entire point. I can't express the beauty of that place, but suffice it to say, it's a place we feel compelled to visit every time we're up there.
As with the other days, we also found a few more geocaches.
A family set up camp next to our site that afternoon and we spent the evening talking. A nice group of people, who also come here every summer.
Oddly enough, this was the only evening that Rece and I felt compelled to get out and watch the sunset. I got a few pictures of it while we were there. Have I mentioned how beautiful it is out there?!
Day 5 - Camping Day 4 - Drive back to Santa Maria
After a hearty breakfast (bacon, eggs, O'Brien potatoes, toast, juice, coffee), Rece and I packed up our campsite and hit the road. We took our time, finding quite a few geocaches along the way, eventually making our way back to my dad's house.
Long, hot showers were in order for the both of us, followed up with dinner out. My dad suggested the Roadhouse Grill (in Santa Maria), which turned out to be a good choice for BBQ ribs... mmmm...
After we got back and I was reconnected to the digital world, we went to the Santa Barbara County fair. It was interesting, to say the least. Let's just say that I'm in no hurry to move to Santa Maria. We did have a good time, though, which is what really matters.
Day 6 - The drive home
The plan was for me to leave Rece with my dad for the week, so I left him there and took off to meet up with a friend in Santa Barbara. She and I had lunch (sushi - YUM!), I introduced her to geocaching (which she seemed to find interesting), and went out for some delicious ice cream.
The rest of the drive home was fairly quiet, but it was just what I needed to clear my head and prepare to re-enter the daily grind.
This entry wishes it could have stayed longer.
2 comments:
Sounds like you had a great time!
Thanks for sharing!!! I love camping - wish there was more time in my life to do it all ;)
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