I’m back.

Didn’t even know I was gone, did you?

I spent three days covering a lot of miles up and down the California coast. I went to Pismo, Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo, Cayucos, Morro Bay, San Simeon, Carmel and Monterey - this was not terribly difficult as the first six are all about 10 - 30 miles apart, and it really doesn’t take much time to go from one to the other as everyone on Route 1 (or 101 in some stretches) drives like a bat outta. Avila is where you take your motorhome to park, open the door, plant deck chairs just outside and sit there. It’s what everyone else was doing. I went to Sycamore Springs instead and sat in a hot tub for an hour. Then I went outlet shopping in Pismo, people watched at the beach, and buzzed up the coast again.

I saw two whales (spouting, not up close), a pod of dolphins leaping, lots of birds, seals and sea lions, lots of buzzards eating dead seals, but no exotics; the zebras at Hearst Castle must have been out in the vast acreage surrounding the castle rather than at the road this time. The castle itself is something to see, if you haven’t been.

Driving up highway 1 is an attraction in itself. I did it in the morning fog. I actually had to buy a sweater in Pismo. And now I am home in central Cali, and only want to drive back over there and stay - it’s so hot here! I could while away the hours sitting on a rock overlooking the Pacific if only I could find someone to bring me sandwiches and lotion (for wind burn). If only there were experiments being done on how long people could sit on a beach - I’m game.