Carol & Warner's Trip Around The USA: Carlsbad, CA to Morro Bay, CA

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Carlsbad, CA to Morro Bay, CA

We were on the road and getting gas at 8:50am. $4.09 per gallon – a real bargain!

Our route was planned for I-5 to Santa Clarita where we switched to Route 128 to Ventura. From there we drove north on 101 to Santa Barbara and then Morro Bay arriving late afternoon. The Morro Bay State Park is a lovely place to camp located on the bay with a marina and cafe.

The trip was delightful as usual. Southern California is so different from landscape we have seen so far. Grassy hillsides dotted with California oaks. We passed acres of vineyards in southern part of our journey. Familiar names appeared on road signs: Los Angeles, Burbank, and Pismo Beach.

Route 126 was a very pleasant road through the hills toward the coast at Ventura. Beside the road were huge groves of orange, lemon, and avocado trees. Slowly the citrus groves gave way to fields of lettuce, broccoli, strawberries.

At Santa Barbara we exited the highway and drive into the city, strolled the streets, and ate fish and shrimp tacos for lunch. At 1:24 pm we left Santa Barbara and continued along Route 101 north. To the west was the Pacific Ocean and to the east the hills.

Off shore oil drilling rigs were counterbalanced by fertile fields, vineyards, and the green/brown/yellow of the hills. Entering wine country we were greeted with vineyards spread as far as the eye could see. At San Luis Obispo we left Highway 101 at 203A and drove on to Morro Bay.

On our arrival we searched for Coleman Drive, the address we had for Morro Bay State Park. Coleman drive took us to Morro Rock, which I photographed, but not to the campground!! After asking for assistance we discovered the true location of Morro Bay Park and found our way there.

It was a very pleasant place with tent sites scattered among tall pines. There were also sites for tent trailers and mobile homes. After setting up camp we explored the area finding a marina with a small restaurant where we later had a very nice dinner overlooking the bay.

We took a walk along the shore of the bay and discovered a rookery where cormorants, great egrets, great blue herons, and night herons nested. Carol searched for birds and I took far too many photographs of Morro Rock and nesting birds.

The evening was spent by the fire reading. The weather was cool but pleasant. We slept well, got up early the next morning, broke camp and hit the road again!

Vineyards