Day-40: Carlsbad to Morro Bay

Monday, November 4, 2013

After a leisurely breakfast with Diane & Greg we packed the car and after bidding them farewell, we were on the road by 9:45. We had a great visit and enjoyed being with them traveling through the parks and cities of the west coast. We traveled many a mile together and covered some of the most scenic and interesting roads in the country.

We headed north on the I-5 to the I-405 to the CA/US-101 to the CA-1 backtracking on our route from last week. Once again we passed through the Los Angeles metropolitan area without delay. Timing is very important in such a transit; just hours earlier or later would change the travel time dramatically.

Art in the Park
Ojai, CA

America's Shangrila

Near Ventura, we sidetracked from our intended route and traveled to Ojai, CA, Southern California's Shangri La, a city high in the hills, reportedly an artsy community. The city is quaint in appearance, loaded with shops to snag the wayward traveler. In that we were “passing through”, we made no stops but continued on toward Santa Barbara.

Vandenburg AFB, CA

NASA Lompoc, CA

Continuing along CA-1 we arrived in the Lompoc, CA area noted for two things best I can tell; Vandenburg AFB and the Federal Correction Center.  We actually drove out to the beach at Lompoc Surf where a coastal Amtrak station sits adjacent to the USAF/NASA facility about seven miles north of one of the primary launch sites. As for the prison, it had been one of the more famous ClubFed locations housing the likes of Nixon era crooks including Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman and inside trader Ivan Boesky. Today the prison is rated at a higher security level having shed the “club” moniker. Surrounding the base and prison are tens of thousands of acres of agricultural lands producing the salad fixin's for America's tables.

Lompoc Traffic Jam
Could Be Trouble For The Sign

Acres & Acres of Lettuce

Port San Luis, CA

Continuing north we came upon the San Luis Obispo area where we drove out to Avila Beach at Port San Luis. It’s a beautiful bay, loaded with sailboats and both commercial and recreational fishing fleets.

Morro Bay, CA

As darkness approached we decided to stop for the night at Morro Bay. With the change of clocks yesterday, the sun sure sets early. After check in at the Best Western San Marcos Inn we headed to the nearby waterfront for dinner. With Sheila’s quick look at the AAA travel book we selected Windows On The Water, a 3-Star (AAA) restaurant.

Morro Bay, CA

Dinner at Windows On The Water was great with the second floor setting offering great views of the well-protected harbor. Sheila’s salad looked like a flower, in actuality a head of Boston lettuce cored out and filled with a variety of salad offerings including bacon, we should have taken a picture. I had a Caesar Salad followed by scallops while Sheila’s entrée was a steak pizza. The dinner was finished off with a Smores dessert. To top off the atmosphere the restaurant had an acoustic guitarist playing in the background while in the bar one could watch the Packers vs. Bears game.

By the way, with all of our recent Best Western stays, tonight was free, though our net worth is now down by 25,000 Best Western points.

This was a long day, clocking over 370 miles. Tomorrow will have to be an early day if we’re to make our lunch date in Los Altos.

Morro Bay, CA