LOMPOC TO SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA

Looking back now - no wonder we needed to take a rest today - WoW! I'm just getting tired going back over the last few days…….

Saturday morning we hopped over to Lompoc following the 246 west. 

The day turned out much different than we expected - here take a look.

The ride over to Lompoc - obviously an agricultural area.

Vineyards and wineries. Lompoc has many wine tasting rooms - although we didn't visit any - located in the Wine Ghetto.

Lompoc isn't large but it is the main hub in the area with all of the services. Our first stop was Home Depot because it was the first thing we came to and we wanted to check on a few things on the internet. After breakfast we decide that not only did we need the internet - we were sinking fast with blog posts - but we needed to be able to plug in. We were in luck with the South Side Coffee Co. They offer free wifi plus electricity.

As we walked from the van to the coffee shop we passed many murals. Sadly, I didn't take more pictures of them. But here are a few.

Since I got two blog posts up we were at the coffee shop for quite a while - about 2 hours! In the end we didn't spend anymore time in the Historic District of Lompoc but I definitely think it would be worthwhile to spend the day. 

With all this city touring from the previous day we had something else on our minds….

Sand dunes! And you thought we had gotten that out of our systems with the White Sands - right?! Nope - as I said - the Wood Clan detours and stops - for sand dunes.

Today - the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. 

Hmmmm - looks familiar - right?! Only a little browner. The road in is VERY narrow - actually RVs are not allowed nor are dogs. Some how I missed that in my research. What are we to do now?

We continued in. Once parked we tied Rufus outside and were about to have lunch. Until the Ranger showed up. Really - no dogs. As in - no dogs anywhere - not even in your vehicle. Good to know - right?

It was VERY cold and VERY windy out there at the dunes. After lunch Cassia and I ran out and took a few pictures.

Then we left. Back to Guadalupe. Back on to the #1 north. We had planned to spend the whole day at the dunes and find somewhere close to overnight. On to plan B - keep driving.

Since everything is so close in this area it wasn't long before we were back at the beach. This time a warm and less windy beach. Funny how different it was from the dunes to here at the Pismo Beach.

We did come through Oceano and Grover Beach but really didn't see an opportunity to get to the beach until Pismo Beach.

Although it was really congested driving through  - our driver almost didn't stop. Thankfully, at the last minute we found a place to park on the street and so decided to go take a quick look.

It was very busy but since it is such a large beach there was room for everyone. Obviously everyone was taking advantage of the nice weather.

Rufus even found a friend.

Since we had already had a full day we didn't arrive to Pismo beach until the late afternoon. All too soon the day was winding down - and we needed a place to sleep. We didn't think that Pismo Beach would be open to urban boondocking.

So we found the van back and continued on. Next stop - San Luis Obispo. A large enough city - we figured we could get lost there - at least they had a Home Depot - somewhere. We had moved so much faster than planned for the day I had yet to finish my research!

Watching the sunset on our way.

Thankfully, San Luis Obispo was only 15 minutes from the beach so we arrived well before it was dark. The problem was that I had no idea where we should go. We ended up right downtown. We knew that there were a few craft breweries - maybe they were downtown was our thinking. As we were driving around I picked up a wifi signal from Barnes & Noble. Derek pulled over and I did some quick research. In the end we decided to head to Tap It because - first - someone had told Derek about it and second - you guessed it - they were out of town.

Another industrial section brewery and another place to spend the night.

Good thing too - San Luis Obispo may be the happiest city in America - it sure isn't the happiest city to have RVs visit. Every street into the city had a sign alerting travellers that RVs could not park overnight on any streets city wide.

Tap It Brewing Co.

A pretty lively atmosphere.

And music! Sadly, we didn't quite realize that they closed at 8:00 pm (on a Friday night!!) and only arrived at around 7:00 pm.

But we had a fun hour with some good beer and good tunes. Cassia fit right in! 

In the end we were glad it made for an early evening - we were done with the day.

Warm days but cool nights - brrrr………..

That makes for the second blog of the night - I'm catching up. Today is Sunday and we are sitting here in Cambria about to take on the curvy portion of the #1 over the next few days. We are so ahead of schedule and moving so fast it isn't funny. But here's the thing - rain - and lots of it is coming on Wednesday. We have a clear two days to get to Big Sur and beyond or wait maybe more than a week until it clears. Plus, it really is a little too busy down here for the Wood Clan…..

Teresa

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