May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

Aimee and I take a morning stroll along Pismo Beach. This stretch allows street traffic so we have to occasionally dodge a car. They also allow camping on the beach. I want to take my beloved “SS Free at Last” and spend tonight on the beach. She has a full fresh water tank and fully-charged battery, so we are self-contained and can do it without a sweat. Aimee vetoes it outright, afraid we will get stuck in the sand and she will have to spend eternity in the RV. She holds steadfast even though farther down we see several RV’s already camping here.

Disappointed I decamp and we head farther north along the coast. We play the Beach Boys on the way. It is foggy again and we can’t see the ocean. We stop a short ways down the road at Morro Bay, CA and get a campsite at the state park here. Morro Bay is an estuary with a Gibraltar-like rock, appropriately called Morro Rock, guarding the entrance. After finding a spot we like, we take our bikes and ride into town along the shore road. Morro Bay is a cute little fishing and boating village. We pass a Coast Guard station in town where a young recruit is intently shining the station’s large brass bell. We have some friends whose oldest son just entered the Coast Guard. Aimee and I both are thinking that is probably how he is also having to spend his first days.

Just past the town we continue biking out the causeway that connects to Morro Rock. On our way there the fog rolls in again and we can’t see anything. So much for a good picture. It is also chilly and breezy. We aren’t so sure we like the California coast, at least the northern part. We like some sun especially with our blood thinning out after a winter in Tucson.