SLO

San Luis Obispo!!!!   Ahhhhhh, this is a wonderful life.  Even if it is just for a short time.   I had forgotten how much I really like this place.  When we first got here and looked around at the scenery I couldn't remember what the draw was, it reminded me so much of the landscape at home, dry, desert almost, brownish hillsides with lots of rock.   It didn't take long though to remember the SLO pace, friendly people and ALL the wonderful nature that surrounds you everywhere!!!!!

I wanted to come up here as a sort of test to see how my knees are doing as far as being able to get out and walk for the whole day, take a moderate hike in the hills and walk in the soft sand dunes.  Also I am going back to work on June 2nd and I wanted to gear up for what lies ahead.   We have all new management at work again, and as the drama makes its way to me, it doesn't sound good.....

But for now, until then, I am continuing with my therapy and getting stronger every day, and we are going to enjoy a little get away.....

We didn't get a great room, we have a view of a wall.....

But at least there is a palm tree to look at..... Hee hee

If you lean over the railing you can see downtown Avila Beach....

Our first evening here there was a farmers market downtown with music, food and lots of fresh fruit and veggies.  We picked up a few things and got a bite to eat and sat down to enjoy the beach.

Soo many families having a good time and enjoying the beach.

We found these little gems.......

Fresh garbanzo beans........I've never seen them before like this.

They were pretty tasty, but work......some of these pods are empty.......

Saturday was spent just hanging out, not doing much but relaxing at one of the many beaches.     A perfect day..... It takes a little while to get into the SLO pace of things.  Hee hee

Sunday we decided to go for my introductory hike......nothing too hard, but a little challenging at the same time.

This is The Irish Hills hike.  I think it was about 3.5 miles, a good start.....this is looking north.

Then picking up the same hillside and looking south.   Laguna Lake in the background.

A little higher up.....

These great century plant flowers were all over the hillsides....

The end of this trail.......Morrow view......

You can barely see Morro Rock in the distance.   I was completely zoomed in......

This pano picture shows 5 of the 7 volcano peaks.  The string of them is called "The 7 Sisters" 

After a great afternoon out in the hills we decided to see what was happening downtown and we found this shirt for Mel.  I just had to get it for him......    :-)

We enjoyed some great music and a nice evening.

Montana de Oro state park is a wonderful place......soo much to do and see.....soo many hikes and beaches to explore........   It is pretty windy here and it is much cooler than I prepared for...... I brought mostly tank tops and shorts and I completely forgot my comfy sweat pants for evenings.  It has been a bit of a challenge.    I think I have had my hoodie on 90% of the time we have been here......

This is part of Spooner's Cove.    I always enjoy coming here....

The entire beach is rocks, all shapes and sizes....there isn't any sand, just tiny, tiny rocks.    Since it has been soo cold, I just enjoyed myself laying on the warm rocks for awhile.   :-)

There are soo many birds here.  I bet I have seen at least 2 dozen different kinds.   The only one who would stand still for me was this seagull.......

We headed out on this bluff trail.  An easy, flat walk, about 3 miles, with gorgeous views!!!!

Such a beautiful coastline.....

This deer wasn't even afraid of us.  She just kept on eating.....

Looking back onto Spooner's Cove...

I am soo intrigued by the strata  layers all along these cliffs.

This fascinates me.......the lower layers are soo dramatic and have obviously been pushed up an an extreme angle, but then the upper layers are still horizontal.   How old are these layers????? How did they form?????     The upper layers are full of small rocks and they are eroding much easier.... I wonder how much longer they will last????

We were soo close to Morro Bay, we decided to go check out the surfing in the area......for Mel, not for me!!!!!     He did bring his board, but the water temp is 55-57.   After watching a few guys in this freezing cold water trying to catch some waves in this wind swell, he decided maybe this is not quite for him..... Hee hee

But, here is a picture of Morro Rock.   This thing is HUGE!!!!!   You can see the tiny cars along the left bottom edge.

  

This whole beach was full of sand dollars.  I picked up just a few.....  :-)

I just got good news.......I was the successful bidder on a different route at work.   This was a very hard decision I had to make in leaving my old route.  It has been my route for over 12 years and I was a sub carrier on it for almost 8 years before it became my route.  I know everyone on this route and they all seem like family to me.   They do not know yet that I am not coming back, I will get letters mailed out to everyone next week.......  My knee surgeries were not as successful as I had hoped and if I went back to my old route, I would probably end up needing more surgery.  This route came available, so I took a chance and I got it.    Now to take another leap into the unknown.....  If it means I can get by without any more surgery for awhile, then it is a good decision..... Now to tell that to my customers!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful evening.....