Hanging in the 805 - Day 2

For Day 1's shenanigans, click here.

When last I blogged, Chris and I made it to Pismo Beach via LA and Solvang, and we were tucked in bed after an evening of (over) indulging on strong beer.  Because of this, Day 2 of vacation dawned a little fuzzy.  Huzzah.  Time for foods.

On our way to breakfast, we strolled along the boardwalk and to the Pismo Beach pier.  Unsurprisingly, not many folks were awake and on the pier at this hour, so we had it pretty much to ourselves, with a few fishermen and pelicans.

On the way to the pier

J.J. Abrams envies my lens flare.

Eventually, we tired of wandering the pier, so we headed on to breakfast at Mon Ami, a local place known for its crepes.  Both of our picks were delicious, and they offered great coffee/tea drinks, as well as giving us a cute little courtyard for sitting and enjoying the morning.

A map of the area on the courtyard wall.

Oui, crepes!

We strolled back through Pismo on the way to hotel and made a new friend...

"Hey, girl, hey!"

Back at the SeaVenture, we unpacked our cruiser bikes from the car and put them back together, getting ready for our first real adventure on them.  We'd been eyeing the bike route on old US 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, which ran parallel to the 101, north to Avila Beach.  Fortified by crepes, we decided to give it a go.  The riding was pretty smooth, and the drivers on the road were respectful of the bike lane, which was a nice change from normal.  The ride was a bit hillier than we expected, but we covered the 5 miles pretty easily and reached our first stop, at the Avila Hot Springs.

Post soaking in the spring

The hot spring facility was pretty cool - a naturally fed and heated freshwater swimming pool and a separate mineral spring soaking tub - and since we were there early, we were only charged $6 each for the "early bird" pass (story of our lives, apparently).  It was a great stop, and we enjoyed relaxing in both pools.  After the hot spring, we made our way to the Bob Jones Memorial Trail, a 2.5 mile paved bike/pedestrian trail that ran from near the hot spring to Avila Beach proper.  The ride was generally flat, and it was fun biking through the wooded areas, then coming out onto a golf course and reaching the beach.

After locking up the bikes, we wandered downtown Avila Beach for a little while, then decided it was time for lunch.  We ate at the Custom House, and while the food was just okay (we had a BLT and club sandwich, respectively), the people watching opportunities from being right on the beach promenade were excellent.

During lunch, we reached the decision that biking back to Pismo Beach didn't sound awesome, so after we finished eating, we headed to a nearby hotel to look for a cab; we tried a public transport option, but none exists on weekdays in Avila Beach.  The hotel was happy to phone a cab for us through a new company, A Ride Awaits.  The cabbie was there in just a few moments, and we enjoyed chatting with him back to Pismo - although he was in Avila that day, he was actually from Paso Robles (keep this in mind, as it will be important in a later post).

Once he dropped us back at the SeaVenture, we hopped in our own car, headed back to Avila, grabbed the bikes and loaded them in the Prius, then drove back to Pismo once again.  After all that, it was time for a well earned nap in our room.

After waking up, we decided ice cream and a stroll around Pismo were in order, so we proceeded to do just that.  Thankfully, a shop I'd been eyeing on our walk to breakfast was now open, and that culminated in what is easily the best picture of this vacation:

Why yes, for $8.95, I will be more than happy to buy a rainbow squid hat.

Although it was windy, we wanted to walk along the beach a bit, since we hadn't done this yet on this particular adventure.  We watched the kite surfers having fun, and Chris even ventured into the actual water.

See how windy?

Ah, cold!

We wandered back to the SeaVenture, stopping to take a selfie near the creek that ran on the other side of the property.

Then, it was back to the room to rest a bit more; I finished grading some papers for my class that just ended and Chris headed to the bar to have a beer and watch the waves.  After awhile, we changed clothes and headed back out, this time to Rosa's Italian Restaurant for dinner.  Dinner there ranged from decent (the crab stuffed mushroom appetizer) to good (my dinner, the butternut squash ravioli) to excellent (Chris' halibut over pasta with summer sauce), but the service was great and we enjoyed it, overall.

On our way back, we made a few stops around town to take pictures with local landmarks:

Chris is so lucky this guy didn't fit in the Prius.

Eye to eye.

With a local Pismo clam.

We also grabbed a few shots of the sunset over the pier:

We made a quick stop by a local liquor store to grab some west coast beers we can't get back home, then headed back to the room and to bed.  

Later!

Amy