Camping: Morro Bay Day 4

May 28th

Who doesn't want some squirrel art?

I wonder what's in it.

We decided to take Ta to the beach.

Dan took some artsy photos of this branch.

And these rocks.

It seems like a decent beach.

You can't tell, but Ta was pretty excited.

I went to explore the rocks.  I was looking for critters in tidal pools, but didn't have any luck.

Colorful rocks!

It was very windy.

We let Ta off leash for a little bit.

I think she had a good time.  

We left the beach and decided to do a little hike around the reservoir.

We spotted this guy having lunch.

It was pretty hot and still over here.  This brief shade was appreciated.

Dan looks like he's wearing lederhosen.  It's the straps to the hydration pack.

Pretty wildflowers!  I think these are a type of sweetpea. 

No one else was around, so we let Ta explore.

Close up of the sweatpea.

Some were not as pink.

Thistles!

Ta wanted to stop in the shade on the way back.  We didn't do the full loop as there wasn't one. There stopped being a path, so we turned around.

Big poof!

I dunno what this is, but it's pretty.

Inside and out!

I was with the flowers! 

Looking down on where we were hiking. 
I got this photo looking for a geocache.  I did not find it.  It was an unpleasant experience.

Ta was worn out after all her exploring today.  She made a nice heater at night while camping.

This concludes our adventures for today.

May 29th

We packed up the next morning and saw this crazy thing.  It's a Jerusalem Cricket also known as a Potato Bug.  They are not from Jerusalem, not true crickets, not potatoes, and not true bugs.

 I think Ta liked camping, but was happy to go home.

This concludes our adventures for today.

Camping: Morro Bay Day 3

May 27th

Let me tell you a story.  Cassey came camping with us, but only for two nights.  This morning she got up at like 4am to drive back home so she could meet up with another friend with whom she had planned to spend the day.  That's all fine and good.  Dan and I woke up at a much more reasonable hour and started to figure out our plan for the day.   We had breakfast and decided to go do a hike at Bishop Peak.  While getting ready, Dan asks if I know where his boots are.  I do not.  We look everywhere - in the car, tent, under Ta.  There are only so many places they can be.  We cannot find them.  We finally come to the conclusion that Cassey must have grabbed them by mistake in the wee hours of the morning when she was packing up her stuff.  It was very confusing.  Dan thankfully had another pair of shoes to wear; he put those on and we headed off.

 A gazania!  It's pretty.

At some point on the way down to this hike, Dan's phone got signal and he had a message from Cassey confirming that she accidentally stole his boots.

 Map! 

 Rock crevice.

The trail started out in a sort of woody area.  

It then wound around some pasture and then up past a rock climbing area and then did switch backs to get to the top of the peak.

 I am out of shape.  It was a little rough going for me. 

I stopped a lot.

Ta helped me get to the top. 

 Tired Ta.

 Ears up!  We ate lunch at the top of the trail.

 The view is amazing. 

 Somewhere down around this peak is San Louis Obispo.

 We spotted a little bi-plane.

 The vultures are having a meeting.

The trail ends, but you can go scramble around some of the rocks to get better views.  We were limited on our rock scrambling by what Ta was comfortable with.

Dan selfie!

We worked really hard to get up here, so I thought we should sit for a bit.  I really like this photo of me and Ta.  Good job Dan.

Victory selfie!

Okay, time to work our way back down.

Here are some of the switch back trails we went up.  Thankfully we're now going down them.

It was a good hike, with a great view, but I definitely need to work out more.  I was huffing and puffing and sucking down water, and other people were jogging up, not breathing hard, and had no water.

This concludes our adventures for tonight.