On Wednesday, we drove down to San Luis Obispo. What a cute little town, nestled among green hills, with a creek running through it! We started with a tour of the mission & then meandered around town, thru Bubblegum Alley, into cool boutiques, in & out of cafes & restaurants.
There was even a shop that specialized in Lokum, or Turkish Delight. They had so many unique flavors & combinations. We did our best to sample them all!
We then drove to the Madonna Inn for dinner. What a cool, kitschy, unique place!
That night, my friend Stephanie texted & asked what our plans were, considering the oncoming 2nd atmospheric river. We were scheduled to move northward to a spot in Santa Cruz on Friday. Our spot was in the coastal redwoods, overlooking the San Lorenzo River. Stephanie warned me that this kind of weather in that spot could be really dangerous. In bed, TJ & I were on our phones, frantically researching all we could about the forecast. We decided to cancel our Santa Cruz plans & avoid the storms, but we weren’t sure where we were going to go next. After Santa Cruz, we had a spot on the beach just south of San Francisco for a week. Should we wait it out up north, hoping to continue after the storms – or, should we scrap it all & just head south?
Our two newest friends have become Uncertainty & Vulnerability. We keep reminding ourselves that adventure requires this. You can’t have an adventure without stepping out of your routine & being uncomfortable – being vulnerable & risking being wrong. It sometimes doesn’t feel good in the moment, but that passes & you’re happy that you pushed through.
On Thursday, we braved the beginnings of the oncoming storm to take a day trip up to San Simeon to see the elephant seals on the beach. At this point in the season, it’s mostly abandoned seal pups (their mamas head back to sea after a month) and some desperate, straggler males hoping to find a mate. The most surprising part was the sound they make…
We stopped in the San Simeon visitor center. This is an elephant seal skull – all of those hair-like crevices in the “nose” area help create condensation as the seal breathes, so it doesn’t need to drink water for months while at sea!
Hoping to sightsee as far as possible up the 1 before the closure due to the January mudslides, we headed north. I’ve been so stunned how the landscape of the coast changes so drastically from soft, green, cow-dotted hills to sandy, rocky beaches to pine forests to mountains. We were making our way northward, heading into the mountains just south of Ragged Point, when TJ said, “Hey, my phone says “SOS” instead of the usual bars…
Shortly after, we saw a sign indicating that the mountain road was 1-lane ahead due to another mudslide. Nope. I backed that monster truck up like Austin Powers, & we headed home.
The storm started rolling in – heavy rain & winds. I’d promised Sofina we could dye her hair, so we set to that. After I dropped the blood-red dye bottle & it immediately stained our kitchen floor, TJ kicked us outside. In the rain. We finished under the cover of the 5th wheel & rinsed in the washroom at the campground.
That night, we decided to officially scrap all of our northbound plans & head back south. By now, only 2 of my 5 reservations had panned-out, & our entire plan had changed. It felt like the weather was really trying to get rid of us. We were still keeping an eye on the news, & we realized an area in the town of Felton – next to what would’ve been our camping spot, was evacuated due to the San Lorenzo River flooding! And, that new mudslide in Ragged Point became a larger mudslide & the 1 was now closed from that point northward!
We ended up staying 1 extra day in Morro Bay, due to high winds. We listened to the wind & rain tear around the 5th wheel. It felt nice & cozy inside our new home. We had a “fire” in the fireplace, we played some games, & we made plans to head south to Flying Flags RV Park in Buellton (Solvang) in the morning.
TJ got a little creative.
We also hoped that the 101 would be open in the morning so we could get out (that afternoon, an area of Morro Bay had flooded, ½ mile north of our campground, which closed a portion of the 101). Come on!
Go Big and Go Roam 
Love all the pics. The one in San Luis Ibispb Mission of Sofina lighting a candle for Demo made my eyes well-up. I was at the gym at the time, and I fight back tears. (Whew)
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