Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, May 11 & 12

Refugio State Beach

We found a great spot to set up, a hundred yards or so from the waves.

It was a little breezy but otherwise a beautiful afternoon. Refugio Beach faces south and is protected by a spit of land to the west. We had to share the sand with the sea gulls and one or two stray humans.

Looking west, looking east, looking north and looking at sea gulls.

Lorri and footprints in the sand, an oil rig, flying sea gulls, a Corona moment (except this was Wednesday morning and we were drinking coffee.)

Beach scenes

A sea gull mooning me, walking east along the beach and looking back, looking forward too.

This was the first time I've seen a duck hanging out in the surf. He waddled around and took off, probably wondering why the water was so damn salty.

Wednesday, May 12

Wine tasting: Laetitia and Sextant

On the advice of our soon-to-be wine guide (Putt's son Brian) we stopped at Laetitia Winery. They specialize in sparklers and pinots and we were not disappointed.

We bought a few bottles and also joined their wine club.

It has a great setting, the perfect spot for a picnic lunch accompanied by a bottle of their Estate Pinot Gris. I wanted to play a few chuckers of bocce ball but we had places to go, people to see, wine to drink and all that.

Heading north we found the town site of "Old Edna" and the tasting room for Sextant wines. I have a niece named Edna and she's not that old but she'll be pleased to know there is a place in the midst of California wine country with her name on it.

Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, May 12 & 13

Morro Bay

Our stop for the night was Morro Bay State Park campground, not quite as "beachy" as Refugio, but a good spot nonetheless.

The camp ground adjoined a nature preserve so we went for a short hike to see preserved nature. Mostly we saw a marina, water, "the rock" and a couple hawks that I couldn't photograph.       

The next morning we drove through the middle of a golf course to this lookout point. If it were a little clearer, the rock would look better. The van and Lorri were a lot closer than the rock so they look pretty good.

Later, strolling through town, we took some more rock photos, purchased a fresh-baked baguette and some good cheese and headed on down the highway for some more wining and dining.