Morro Dunes RV Park

January 8-11, 2013

Tuesday:   Today was super-duper awesome!    We tried to get an early start for paddling in the bay, but since we foolishly didn’t get our gear organized the night before, we got a late start.    We put on at around 10:15.   This means we were stuck paddling against the ocean currents both ways.    However, the beauty of the day and the marine wildlife encounters more than made up for it!  

Right off the bat we encountered some curious sea otters.    Since we saw the otters scatter from the SUP paddlers before, I assumed they would do the same for us.   But, it turns out they were curious about our boats and popped up, (way up!) to get a good look at us.    They are so cute and cuddly looking…

After our paddle with the otters, we headed deeper into the bay to search out the sea lions.   We could hear some barking in the distance.    After battling the tide currents (4 mph!), we made it to a spot where a fishing boat was tied up.   The workers were getting gear ready for a fishing trip.    In the water, there were 3 sea lions begging for fish.   It was very amusing to watch them bark and beg, going back and forth to each side of the ship.   The 2 workers would have to stop talking when the big guy let out long barking howls…it was sooooo loud!    One of the sea lions came over really close to our kayaks.   He seemed HUGE in the water.  I admit I was a little nervous…I didn’t know if he would try to bite me or swamp me.   But he just seemed to be checking us out as food source.    It was surreal to be paddling with sea lions.   Once in a lifetime.   (like drowning…)    After watching the begging for a bit, we paddled hard up current to be able to float back down past a large colony of sea lions who had taken over a boat tie-up dock in the middle of the bay.    Missy docked on shore in order to get some stable video of me paddling by the platform.   These guys were just enjoying a nap in the sun, so not so much with the amusing antics.    But still awesome to paddle around.

We headed back to our launch point.    At this point, the tides were changing.   Boo-hiss.   So instead of being able to ride the 4mph current we’d been fighting, we got to fight the current all the way.    The water was already down 10 feet at our launch point.    I actually was able to ground my kayak on the water’s edge, wait a few minutes, and the water receded just enough that I got out without getting my feet wet.   For some reason I found this to be pretty neat.

Wednesday:   We started off the day with a walk on the beach with the dogs.   While this RV park isn’t much to speak of (being basically a parking lot), its proximity to the beach can’t be beat.   Just a short walk over the dunes and you’re there!    After beach time, we got on our bikes and headed back over to Morro Bay to watch the wildlife and the surfers.     We watched a neat example of seagull bullying…1 or 2 seagulls would watch the diving birds from shore.   When a diving bird popped up with a catch, the gulls would fly out to the water and harass the poor bird.   The bird would dive immediately, but the gulls would just wait and bully them at the next pop up.     It was impressive how long the diving bird could stay down.    Finally, the diving bird would swim far enough away from the gulls underwater to be able to pop up and quickly eat its snack.    

Thursday:  On today’s agenda: scout some locations for our next move.    Since we were going to be driving for at least 4 hours, we decided not to take the dogs.  So we walked them on the beach for a long time in the morning and then headed out.    First we drove to a county park that’s an hour and a half away.    I couldn’t tell from the internet how big the spaces were.    It was a very pretty drive in the rolling foothills and wine country.    The park was pretty big, with lots of spots.   But the interior roads were narrow, and the parking pads were lined with boulders.    So we couldn’t count on overhanging out the back.    There were a couple of spots that would do, though, so we could keep this park in mind.     I’d read reviews about how there were friendly deer.   Understatement:  there were HUNDREDS of friendly deer.   They were overrunning the campground.     I like watching deer, but that many so close would only torture Buddy and Cassie.

Leaving the park, we worked our way out to the coast.    This involved having to drive through a military base (which we at first bypassed, not believing that the GPS was leading us the right way).   And we had to cross a creek on a green plastic bridge*. That was SCARY.    (*Ummm, it was steel. And the sign said 60 ton limit. But it was funny how scared Tina was to cross. Everyone knows her fear of steel grates. Tee hee. -–Missy)  Then we headed through the mountains to the ocean.   I’ve never seen such a squiggly line on Karen before.    It took us about an hour to go 10 miles.    But, the scenery was pretty, so no complaints.   We checked out a couple of National Forest Campgrounds on the way.   One was closed, and the other was tent only.   Bummer.    Once we got to the ocean, there was Kirk Campground.    It was right on the ocean, but there were only 1 or 2 spots we might fit in, and they were taken.    There was no extra parking for vehicles, so if you don’t fully fit, you can’t camp there.

After leaving Kirk, we went a few miles south to Plaskett Creek.   This is the one we thought we’d be able to make no problem.   But, the spots were narrow and boulder lined.   And they seemed short.    Sigh.    Looks like we have to go back to the drawing board for finding our next spot.

The drive down the coast was spectacular!    CA has done itself a huge favor in not allowing any development on this stretch.    The pounding waves, the gorgeous aqua water, the rugged coastline…what a treasure.    So even though we struck out on campgrounds, the drive was worth it.   We pulled off a couple of times to enjoy the sights.    One pull-off happened to be an elephant seal breeding beach!    We didn’t know it when we pulled off.   Hundreds of elephant seals as far as the eye could see!    More than half had babies…soooooo cute!    I don’t like the males, though.   I think they are quite ugly.   But it was neat to be able to watch them for a while.   They aren’t very graceful in moving around on sand.

Friday:   Today was cold and windy.   Brrrrrr.     We spent some time on the beach in the morning.  We lugged our chairs and blankets and scouted the best spot in the dunes to get a little wind break.    For a while, we were the only ones on the beach.    I think we managed a couple of hours before the wind shifted direction and there was no lee anymore.    Lovely morning.

In the afternoon, I picked up a fax at the office and went out on a bike ride.    Missy stayed behind, being scared of the wind.    It was quite cold.   Very cold.    But it was a sunny, clear day.     So I enjoyed watching the seabirds and otters in the bay.