Beyond the silver rainbow: Route 1, part 1

A week has gone by since my last post and it feels like a month. On Tuesday my wife and me left Visalia and made our way to coastal California driving on route 41. It took us through farming land in the Central Valley, the place where James Dean died, vineyards in colorful autumn style and the Santa Lucia Mountains.We arrived at the coast in time to see the Pismo dunes, South of Oceano. No signs show the way the, we eventually turned to the small road leading to the entrance. Our search was well rewarded as we could enjoy the dunes almost alone.

After a night in San Luis Obispo, we spend almost the whole day in Montana de Oro State Park. Many hiking paths led up the mountains and along the cliffs of the Pacific coast with breathtaking views. Down at the water were many different stone formations. I could have spent easily a few days in that park. Here our animal highlights were brown pelicans and starfish.
Before night fall we had a look to Morro Bay and saw the sunset at Morro Rock. There, many sea gulls were fed by tourists and locals alike. In the water a sea otter family was floating on their backs, starting their good night's sleep. We also saw our first seals, who were curiously checking out the otters. For me, this day was one of the best during the autumn so far.

On Wednesday we had to drive all the way from Cambria to San Jose on route 1. A early wake-up would make sure that we had enough time to see many places along the way. Or so I thought. Our Inn was at the Moonstone Beach Drive and there a long boardwalk along the coast was inviting us for a morning stroll before breakfast. Did I mention my wife REALLY likes seals? We saw quite a few during the walk and - of course - spent a lot of time watching them. Ok, I also like them a lot :)

Getting finally on our way we drove towards Piedras Blancas, where a elephant seal beach was nearby. We stopped once before that beach and found by accident a small corner with dozens of elephant seals. It's so great and peaceful to find this spots where aren't many people around. This was our favorite spot of the day. Elephant seal beach had a lot of more seals but also equally more people. Realizing that we still had a long way to drive, we got into the car and route 1 started to go up the Santa Lucia Mountains. Behind each curve we had stunning views along this long and winding road (perhaps the Beatles visited here?). Once it got dark, we just made our way to San Jose.