While I loved the mountains outside of San Diego, our luck with the weather was not so good. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it was absolute shite. We were stuck inside with snow for several days and when it finally thawed we looked ahead to see a potential foot of snow coming to smite us.
Kendra whipped out her astrolabe to plot a new course. She doesn’t actually have an astrolabe, but she has an uncanny ability to navigate us through troubled waters. We spent a night at a Home Depot in San Diego, a night at a golf course, and a night at a state park in Oceano with full hooks before our planned three weeks of beach time — off the grid.
It had been some time since we dealt with generating all our own power, and last time was from thousands of feet closer to the sun. The days I have worked we needed a little generator — about fifteen minutes a day on average — but on the weekend we generate more than we use. We plan to tweak this, but we will make our first two weeks without needing additional propane. Fairly pleased with our capabilities.
So here we sit in paradise. Every day is sunny, with pleasant temperatures, a breeze, and fresh sea air. The nights are filled with the sound of the surf and tree frogs. There are a lot of places you can stay with full hookups in Pismo, but they are expensive and inferior in every metric that matters. This is definitely a place where peace could find you.
With two weeks in a single location, we had to do something awesome on the free weekend. Saturday we hopped into Scout, our slightly beat-up Honda CRV, and set out on a quest to see a waterfall. The drive was top-shelf. If you get the chance to drive highway 1 south of San Francisco — Big Sur —, hop all over that. We watched a huge wall of fog roll in as we wound our way up the cliffs along the coast. We decided to turn back just before the fog struck land.
We traveled a short distance in the fog and stopped at Ragged Point for breakfast. Splendid breakfast, decaf coffee Kendra was talking about the next day, amazing views, and surreal to sit in the dining area watching the dense fog roll past.
We pulled off at an Elephant Seal sanctuary and spent a half-hour watching giant seals nap. That probably isn’t something everyone would enjoy, but we did.
We stopped again to take a nap of our own on the warm sand of a sun-kissed beach with the sound of surf breaking on the shore. Those seals had a marvelous idea. Finally, we picked up a seafood feast for two on our way home. Our lives may not always be easy, but some days they are transcendent.
May peace find you.
Torta Log 