Around the coast, sort of......



As we were so close to San Luis Obispo (SLO) we decided to drive over and visit the mission, continue through Port San Luis and then drive back around the coast through Montano de Oro State Park to Morro Bay. 

Well, we found SLO mission, what we couldn’t find was anywhere to park the truck!   For one thing we didn’t have enough change, yes I know, most parking meters take credit cards, but there are so many reports of these types of card readers being compromised that I just don’t trust them, so it’s cash or nothing.   And, yes I do realise that this probably makes me a dinosaur. 

For another we simply couldn’t find a space that was actually big enough for the truck!   We’ve got so used to the places we visit having plenty of parking that it didn’t even occur to us to check out parking in SLO.   Oh well! 

So, we gave up and headed to the beach, between Avila Beach and Port San Luis we parked by some steps leading down to a lovely beach.  



As we walked along we passed quite a few RV’s overlooking the beach. For $50.00/night you can boondock, there is also a small section with water and electric as well as full hook-ups over-looking the beach.

It’d be a lovely view to wake up to, although when a winter storm blew in a few days later I was glad we weren’t quite that close to the ocean. 

We stopped for an early lunch at Fat Cats Café near the pier in Port San Luis, and discovered that according to USA Today Travel’s it’s one of the five can’t miss eateries on the Pacific Coast Highway.   It was very nice. 

Afterwards we took a stroll along the pier,

some harbour seals on a barge loudly made their presence known,

sea otters lazily floated by, these looked a lot warmer than the ones we used to watch when we were in Alaska.

This cute little seal was on the lookout for any left overs from the fishermen,

as was this pelican,

and when a fishing boat docked it was absolutely beseiged by pelicans, seals and gulls.

On our way back to the truck, the only road we could see that looked as though it led round the coast was closed and marked ‘Authorised Personnel Only’.   We had no idea why, so we decided to approach Montana De Oro from the other side. 

We were pleased we did as it’s a lovely spot, by this time it was late afternoon and as almost all the parking areas are well away from the beach it was too late to follow the path through the dunes to the ocean.   There were some excellent views of Morro Bay and the rock.

During WWII Montana De Oro was a training camp for troop manoeuvres and weapons practise and as there is a possibility that there could be unexploded ordnance lying about, signs warn you not to stray from the established paths.

Further round we were able to park by this beach,

as you can see it was very gritty sand and the tide was coming in very fast.

Talking to one of the rangers at Montana De Oro we discovered why the road from Port San Luis is closed.   The power station on the map isn’t just any old power station; it’s a nuclear power station, with all the idiots about these days no wonder the road’s closed. 

This whole area is lovely and SLO looks like a charming town, we’d like to explore more, maybe one day we will, who knows, but if we do we’ll definitely research the parking situation for the truck beforehand. 

Have fun, we are!