May 11th – we left San Lorenzo County Park in King City at about 10am and drove a comfortable 55mph down US101 to Pismo Beach where we checked into the Pismo Coast Village RV park right on the beach. A short walk gets us onto the beach about 1/2 mile from where cars can enter. We wanted to stay at a city or county park but the state park at Morro Bay is now $50 per night and this really nice private park – nice but crowded – is $42 and it is full hookups and in a great location.
Speaking of location – we are within walking distance to the Old West Cinnamon Rolls bakery. They are really good. I once had a Cinnabon cinnamon roll in the Charlston, SC airport and didn’t even eat it all – not good. Old West Cinnamon Rolls are in a different league in my opinion. We will be walking there for ‘breakfast’ tomorrow – we are on vacation so we can cheat on our normally very strict diet ;-).
As soon as we hooked up and checked in we went looking for some coffee and some lunch. There was a coupon for a free Peet’s coffee on the Pismo map they gave us so we decided to take advantage of it. We had a very strange Panini sandwich at a local coffee place and wished we had gone straight to Morro Bay instead.
As soon as we finished our sandwich we headed out in the Tracker for Morro Bay. We took Los Osos Valley Road from US101 to Morro Bay and drove through the state park there – that was the $50 per night park – just to look. Once we got to the town we parked and ate the obligatory stale cookie and walked to our favorite shop – The Garden Gallery – a very nice shop that sells everything – ceramic pots, succulent plant arrangements, unusual fountains, etc. and the prices are not bad but can get quite high for some items.
We had been thinking of having dinner in Morro Bay since some GMC friends had recommended it but decided to skip it for today and maybe go back tomorrow. That panini from lunch was still hanging around. Instead, we headed for Trader Joe’s and got some prepared – but very good – food and we’ll make our own dinner.
Here are the photos from today. We approached Morro Bay from the south and the view of the rock through the trees is from the state park just south of the town. The rock was formed by volcanic activity and is about 576 feet tall. The next photo of the rock is approaching it from the east. The next is behind the rock looking back at the power plant and, finally, the power plant. The smoke stacks on the power plant are 450 feet tall. It currently is almost completely idle for some reason. The fuel is gas but, from the size of the smokestacks, I’d bet that it was coal at one time.
