California, the Beautiful Hope Travels ~ West Coast RV Adventure 2023 ~ Day 9


Sadly, we leave Paso Robles today. Mom told me to say “sadly” because she really liked Paso and says she’ll definitely be back. The way she said it leads me to believe Dad and I may not be included in whatever she’s planning though. Before we packed it up, we walked the RV park. In addition to RV campsites, they have cool looking studio, one and two bedroom cabins with double decker patios. 

Then we hopped in the LHOW and headed north leaving the pretty rolling hills of Paso Robles. We have to deviate from Pacific Coast Highway because part of it is closed due to storm damage from the unprecedented rainfall California inexperienced this past year.  So 101 took us through California’s rich agricultural valley floor towards Salinas. We saw workers harvesting lots of lettuce along the way. 


Then we traversed over the pretty foothills dotted with oak trees into the beautiful Carmel area. Hwy 1 curved around mountains westward until we caught our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean today. I’ve learned that Mom sighs whenever she first sees it. I thought it may just happen once, but no. Every day when we see it again, she sighs again quite contentedly.  


The landscape changed again to rugged cliffs with steep drops down to turquoise and white frothy turbulent waves crashing against big rocks in the water and along the shore. Then kinda randomly, there would be green pastures at the base of the mountains before the cliffs dropped down to the ocean. These fields would usually have cows in them. We saw lots of mamas and their babies together. And around the next corner, there would be breathtaking views again. We went over the iconic Bixby Bridge, but we’ll cover that tomorrow. Boy, the coastline is absolutely gorgeous! Dad keeps saying that California is whacko crazy, but it’s also crazy beautiful!










Mom and Dad were both borderline hangry, and they wanted to get to this cool place called Nepenthe for lunch, so Dad drove straight through. We’ll hit all the turnouts tomorrow, I’m sure. The building that is now the Nepenthe restaurant was originally built as a home out of local materials with the goal that it blend in with the land and maximize views. A family lived in it for awhile and then wanted to make it accessible to the public. So they opened Nepenthe as a restaurant. We got a great seat on the back patio overlooking beautiful trees and the ocean in the distance. The lunchtime entertainment were the French fry stealing blue jays and woodpeckers. The blue jays were that really dark blue with the tousled crown feathers. And the woodpeckers were black and white with a red head. They would perch on a nearby tree branch or light post, and then they’d swoop in to steal a fry or piece of bread quickly and gracefully. It really surprised us the first time it happened. After that, as a new table was seated, it was fun to watch the same thing happen to them.  










After lunch, we headed to our new home away from home, Big Sur Campgrounds and Cabins. Finally Mom said, real camping!! The campground was in the middle of a grove of really BIG and TALL Coastal Redwood trees. Did you know that their average age is 500 to 700 years old and many can live to be 2,000 years old? They also grow to be 300 feet tall and up to 20 feet in diameter! That’s crazy! 




Our campground also had a river running through it with a big swimming hole. Too bad my brothers weren’t there. They’d dare one another to jump in, and I bet at least one of them would have! 


We all loved the smell of the forest. I kept getting into trouble as Mom and Dad were setting up camp because I’d wander off. I couldn’t help it. There were SO MANY new and interesting smells. Dad built us our first campfire of the trip. Now that’s a really great smell! Mom and Dad sat by the fire with a drink and their books. They even ate their dinner by the campfire. Dad was ready to go to bed, but Mom wanted to stay out there until the last ember burned out. 






When we checked in they told us that there was only very limited wifi under one tree by the office, and there was NO phone service. We were really off the grid!! They also said that it’s supposed to get down to 45 degrees tonight, so we’re gonna honker down and snuggle. But first, Dad said I had to have a bath again. When you’re as low to the ground as I am, its pretty easy to get really dirty.  

#HopeTravels

#MakingMayoMemories

#WestCoastRVAdventure2023




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