Morro Bay

The view across the bay to Morro Rock

      This past week I finally got some free time to head up the coast to Morro Bay. I don't think I'd been there since I was a wee tot.  Here's some highlights from the trip!

     We camped at Morro Bay State Park, which was lovely. Personally I recommend trying to get a campsite on the upper loop, as we did for our second night. The campsites there are in a stand of eucalyptus, rather than out in an open field, so it feels more private.

     We spent our first day setting up and wandering around the marina.  We made our way up to Cayoucos to the Brown Butter Cookie Company.  These guys have amazing cookies!! I really regret not taking a picture inside, because you can see the cookies being baked right in front of you.  They even had 3 gluten free options!

     We made a delicious camp dinner (especially considering this was our first camping trip on our own) and a little campfire and that's about it.

Steak, Salad and Gluten Free Mac & Cheese. Keeping it low FODMAP on the road.

     The next morning we work up to mourning doves and got a jump start on our day with some breakfast burritos!
     Then we threw everything in the car and moved to our second campsite. Surprise, booking a campsite in the summer is difficult, so we're lucky we got  2 consecutive nights, even if it wasn't at the same site.

 

The second day was pretty packed.

     We grabbed kayaks and went across the bay to run around to the sand dunes that I had been dying to play on since the moment we'd arrived. Apparently there was a beached whale somewhere that was attracting a lot of harbor seals and other wildlife, but I've been down wind of a beached whale once before and it's not something I'd like to repeat.

     After a quick paddle back with the tide helping us along, we made lunch and set out for Montano de Oro State Park.   It's only about 10 minutes away from Morro Bay and well work the drive.  The scenery changes vastly when you get out the the area that faces the ocean. 

The little hook coming off Mondano de Oro is surrounding Spooner Cove

    We ended up at Spooner Cove, with is stunning. It's covered in perfectly smoothed beach stones (sorry southern California pals, this is not a sandy beach). And when we were there were heaps of beached Velella Velella.  They're basically like jelly fish that use a sail on the top of their body to skim across the waves, but if the winds change, they can get blow onto the beaches in hundreds.  The perfect treat for a bio nerd.

A dead Velella Velella

   But outside than biological oddities, it is still a great place.

A natural rock "pier" that you can walk out on, as long as the tide is low enough for you to get back.

The signature hole in the rock and my wonderful camping buddy.

     The second night we were relieved from our duties as camp cooks by the SLO Farmer's Market.  If there is a way to arrange your trip so you're there on a Thursday, you have to do it.  The market is 5 big blocks long, with musical performers at every intersection.  There's barbeque, fresh veggies, and most importantly, all sorts of sweet treats.

     But none so sweet as a view down their famous bubble gum alley! I remember putting my gum on this wall when I first came here at 5 years old, and I was probably just as excited this time! We left our mark on SLO in the shape of a lucky green mint clover.

We packed up or happy little camp the next morning and headed out to our next adventure.