Marina Dunes RV Park. Monterey CA Wednesday 26th March 2008
I was up at 5.45 am & it is still dark due to day light savings, I could not sleep as I am getting to excited about moving on today saying good-bye to Pismo Beach, I just loving travelling & checking out new places it is so exciting not knowing what the day will bring.

Wayne took a few photos before we left Pismo Beach/Oceania Dunes & then we headed up to Pelican Point Restaurant car park to check the emails on the way out & then we headed for San Luis Oeispo about 30 miles away.

San Luis Oeispo Library is where there is a political meeting this morning where Arnold Schwarzenegger the actor from The Terminator movies, will be attending this meeting as Arnold is now Governor of California & lives in Los Angeles. There is talk about cutting back allocation of moneys & it is being said they may have to cut back on National Parks money as there is not enough to run the parks & then the other side is - this will then bugger up tourism. There are a lot of National Parks along the Californian coastline for instance they have roadside areas near the beach areas where you can camp & there is a charge of either $20- or $25- per night & they have rangers who patrol, collect the fees & have a ranger box in some of these areas. Also there are the National Parks which are in the forest areas where camp grounds are also available & fees apply. There are no facilities only the beach view & 'drop dunnys'.

Anyway we found the library & Arnold was already inside & two black Lincoln 4x4 with blacked out windows & bullet proof were in the lane way of the library & people were hanging around waiting & some even had signs written on cardboard protesting. The streets around the library had many police cars & motor bike police & two TV camera vehicles were there. We drove around for a while but unfortunately we got sick of waiting & decided to move off & leave Arnold to do his job 'without our assistance'!

As we drove up the coast we were quite surprised at how many National Parks & beachside camp areas there were. Hopefully none of these areas will be closed. It is amazing how you notice things when they are brought to your attention.

Along the coast we came across this very big building with razor wire around it & guard towers which looked quite eery & scary & then we could see the sign it said - California Mens Colony - we think that means a jail for men.

Also there are business's called 'Bale Bonds' everywhere & advertise on TV & we are still trying to find out what these business's actually are for. We presume they are places that provide bale for people to get out of jail pending their court case??

Then we passed the 'Original Home of California National Guard' with heaps of Hummers, trucks, firing ranges & an assortment of military equipment. This area appears to be a huge military training area. We have been surprised on how many military camps there have been while we have travelled across America.

We called into a seaside village called Morro Bay & its claim to fame was the Morro Rock which is a large rock mass which has been used for many hundreds of years for a navigational point for the boats out at sea as it can be seen from miles away. There was also a very large power station right across the road from the beach but why it was built there we do not know.

The villages & towns along the central coast of California all have very long jetties out into the ocean, but once again we do not know why they were built, we presume it was for ships to pick up & drop off goods years ago & the sand on the beaches are dark brown or black, unlike the white sand beaches at home. Another question we can not answer why the sand is dark?

This area of the coast has a lot of flowers in their gardens & the wild flowers are just beautiful at the moment.

Another surprising thing is that there are many 9 hole golf courses along this coast line.

As we came around a bend overlooking the ocean we could see 'these things' on the beach & stopped to check it out & they were 'Elephant Seals' which were asleep sunning themselves in the sun. Now & again you could see a flipper move & then see sand flying as they would dig in the sand. Unfortunately the lazy buggers did not move as they were enjoying the sunshine to much & the wind had picked up & would have been about 30 knots but the elephant seals were smart as they were in the sheltered area of the beach & all the silly tourist were on top of the cliffs being blown away trying to catch a glimpse & photos.

Another thing that has surprised us is the amount of erosion on the cliffs & there has not been any attempt to rectify & this one day the cliffs will slip into the ocean.

The drive from Pismo Beach to Monterey had a mountain area to drive through which mainly overlooked the beachside which was beautiful & once again a lot of National Park camp sites & I thought it was very similar to driving along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. There were two extremely deep gorges with bridges to cross & a lot of Redwood pine trees were in this area. There were homes below the road on the cliff side overlooking the beach, you would have to be a mountain goat to walk around & at times they had huge locked gates which was not very welcoming with signs 'keep out guard dog on duty' & the guard dogs had uneven legs!

Another thing we need to find out is why these towns we drove through have Mexican names. Maybe the Mexicans lived here first before the likes of Kit Carson & the other American explorers came along.

Anyway we made it to Monterey Bay late in the afternoon after a wonderful drive & having a good look around the areas we drove through. We stayed at the Marina Dunes RV Park & across the road were a number of big sand dunes which you could walk across to reach the beach.

We could not help but look at one of the vehicles parked in the RV Park. It was an old type ute with a 'slide on camper' & it was being held down by 'tie downs & oky straps', but we were to late to get a photo of it. It was a beauty & I would not like to be in it on a windy night.

The RV Park was great & very private with shrubs up to the height of the motor home & a little patio area with tiles beside the motor home & a fire pot with table & chairs, but unfortunately it was far to windy to even enjoy this which was disappointing.