Day 13 – Sunday March 12, 2017
Miles – 0
End – Morro Bay State Park

Rest day. Jake thinks that this is the most beautiful place we have been yet. The hiker biker campsites are interestingly situated. They are on the edge of the campground, very private, under eucalyptus trees and adjacent to the golf course. There is a view of the bay. But there are no paths in or out and you have to tromp over big pieces of bark and branches to get in and out. The place was fully equipped. There is even a restaurant at the marina. The showers were really hot too.

We walked along the paths on the penninsula and got good looks at birds. We got takeout from the restaurant. I sat in our campchair and Monte snuggled on my lap for an hour or so. I rented a paddleboard in the afternoon and paddled over to Morro Rock. I paddled right by a pair of sea otters floating on their backs. About 20 yards away from me, some pelicans dove into the water over and over again to catch fish.

Morro Bay Campsite

Sandpiper Curlew

Day 14 – Monday March 13, 2017
Miles – 11
End – Islay Creek Campground, Montana de Oro State Park

When we got to the campground, we ran into Michelle and Ryan from America By Cycle. I recognized them camping back at Carpenteria. They have a blog from their bike tours that I found while researching our trip. They produced some how to videos on bike touring and how to read the cycling maps. It is funny to run into people that are internet famous to us! They have a toddler who really took a liking to Monte.

In the late afternoon we took Monte to the beach, which was right across from the campground. It was basically the only place outside the campground that he was allowed, and we took him to play in the ocean and the creek, which was just warm enough to be tolerable.

Monte hving too much fun digging for squirrels to pose

This was the first beach that we’ve come across that allows dogs

Dinner was spaghetti with garlic, tomatoes and salmon

Day 15 – Tuesday March 14, 2017
Miles – 15
End – Morro Bay State Park

Overnight we had some animal troubles. A racoon knocked over Jake’s bike trying to get into one of his panniers that had Monte’s treats in it. The food that we put in the lock box didn’t fare too well either. Some mice seem to be living underneath the box and they just munched through our food bag and ate some tortilla.

Back at Morro Bay we had a fellow bike tourist camping next to us and it turns out that he also has a blog that I came across while researching this trip. The Starving Cyclist. He has been bike travelling for 5 years. He had been hanging out around Southern California until his flight out of LAX in a week or two to Europe.  He told us that if we can make it six months on the road, we never have to stop.

Mouse evidence

Montana de Oro camp site

Bluffs

Quail

Lunchtime

Day 16 – Wednesday March 15, 2017
Miles – 27
End – San Simeon State Park

It was damp when we woke up and it was damp when we got to camp too. San Simeon has a nice layer of fog a lot of the time. We were dissapointed to learn that there were no toilets or electricity or showers for us at San Simeon. Just porta-potties installed in front of the boarded up bathroom buildings. Overnight we had another racoon incident. There were no boxes to store food in here so we sealed it up as best we could. We caught a racoon trying to get into the trailer to get Monte’s food in the middle of the night.

Cookie stop in Cayucos

Black bean pasta from Trader Joe’s

Day 17 – Thursday March 16, 2017
Miles – 4
End – San Simeon State Park

We saw the greatest number of migrating grey whales this day as we biked along the coast and walked through the state beach parks. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Morgan’s bike

Jake’s bike

They put the hiker biker right by the garbage

Leaving the restaurant in style

Jake doing dishes under a wild sky