Camping San Simeon (8/9-8/11)

[jrodda]

95% travel blog but I surf fished just enough to put it here.

Alicia had a little break from nursing school and wanted to see Big Sur. I've never been, but since she has also never even been north of Thousand Oaks, I was more than happy to show her a bunch of spots along the way that I've been to with my family over the years.

We got on the road around 0830 on Sunday. Excellent traffic. The novelty of the trip began for her around Camarillo along the freeway, which was looking very nice lately, and had some new residential developments. Stopped for gas in Ventura. 12 gallons at $5.70/gallon. Beautiful day up the Ventura and Santa Barbara coast, but the Channel Islands were shrouded in fog so she couldn't get a view of those.

She knew we were going to Solvang, but I had a surprise stop just short of town. She looked out the window and shrieked "Ostriches!!??" Yup!!!!!! Ostrichland! Worth 10 minutes to stop by and feed the big goofy (and aggressive) birds.





On to Solvang...



Cruised right on through til we were just short of the campground in Cambria.





Had a wee bit of time before check-in so we went up the road to the Elephant Seal look-out. Koga's the big one napping with his face in the wash.



Checked into the campground, set up shop with the new 12 person tent. I'm very happy with it.





On Google Maps, the beach looked to be a couple minutes walk from the campsite. Turned out to be quite a journey through the campground, under the highway, along a creek, through cobblestone, and finally out into another world. Closer to a 15 minute walk.



Camp host said there were lingcod being pulled off the big white rock, but I didn't bring quite the right gear for that.

It was a bit weedy, big juicy evening tides and medium morning high tides.

I got 4 in an hour before Alicia wanted off of the beach she considered akin to "the Elephant Graveyard from Lion King."



Big tasty geode of a boulder on the beach.



Back to camp. Got a single burner propane stove for this trip and I'm stoked on it.



Weiner prn for Koga.



I also got a new air pad which held up incredibly well. I probably woke up a billion times through the night, but that means I was able to fall asleep a billion times. Some of the best sleep I've had while camping.

In the morning I went out for another surf fishing session and was greeted with salad every cast. 1 bite/1 hookup which shook off at my feet, nothing special.

Ducks were gorging on sandcrabs.



Got back to camp for breakfast with a fat skunk to hand. Ended up making friends with a blue jay or 3.



This was Big Sur Day. 60 mile drive up PCH, mostly cliffside. My fear of heights gets me a bit on this chunk of road and I never wanted to drive it again after doing the whole stretch starting from Monterey in 2020. But, Big Sur is smack dab in the middle so I did what I had to do.

We got to the first gates and there was a big Park Closed sign! Wtf! Tons of people just pulled over and taking pics of the coast. I didn't have cell reception or internet to check for details or directions, so I just kept driving north assuming that we could visit Monterey if nothing else. We got to the second opening another 15 miles north and found a ranger. She said there was a wildfire 5 minutes away, and since we were coming from San Simeon, we should indeed route for Monterey because they were closing PCH behind us any minute. Oi! This turned the day's miles from 120 miles to well over 200 miles.

This was not what we budgeted our time for. We continued pushing north and got into Carmel around 1300. Filled up with 12 gallons of gas at $5.70/gallon. Stopped at Starbucks for consistent wifi, picked a lunch spot on the Monterey Peninsula, and went for it.

It was nice to pop into an empty restaurant and be served on our own after that big travel headache. I would have to drive twice as far as I'd originally bargained for, but at least I would get a big plate of Chicken Alfredo in me.



Alicia's Chioppino.



The waiter was very warm and nice. May well have owned the restaurant. Lighthouse Bistro. Half Italian and half Indian/curry menu.

We walked Cannery row for all of 20 minutes as that's what we had time for.



Thankfully, the longer drive came with some pretty heavenly views.



It also meant that I lost an evening of fishing. I've caught a perch before, though.



The wildfire had caused some campgrounds to evacuate, making ours subject to some opportunists trying to sneak onto some sites. The spot next to us was being contested in the dark when we came back. Thankfully we had no trouble ourselves.

Tuesday morning was Hearst Castle. I took a billion pictures for future reference, for when I'm a gillionnaire who wants to pawn art from all the great civilizations from around the world. Just a couple highlights. Alicia's idea to go, but it was much more interesting than I thought it would be.







Then on down the coast to Morro Bay for lunch.



Saw the sea otters.



Some playful rodents.



Stopped in Pismo for snacks and gas. Another 12 gallons at $5.70/gallon. Continued down to Thousand Oaks for dinner with my parents, then home in HB by 20:30.

Alicia is a bit disappointed about missing Big Sur, but I was not at all attached to that part of our itinerary. Outside of the fatigue from the extra driving, I was quite pleased with the whole trip. Great weather everywhere we went, new camping gear was flawless, showed Alicia what makes me so worldly, and caught a few fish. Pardon the lack of fishing, hope you enjoyed!

[Latimeria]

Wow, great write up and pictures Jeremy!  I especially loved all the Koga digs you slipped in there as he'll never see it because I question if he even knows how to work a computer.  lol

Bummer about the extra drive and closed MB, but it looks like a trip that I need to do.  Really fun read and thanks!

[Tim524]

Road trips are always fun, add some fishing and camping into the mix and it makes for a great time