The Central Coast of California is full of swaying palms, sea breezes, and an orchestra of waves. But, if you travel inland a little on the 101, you're going to see some pretty amazing 'fields of gold".
On our way up to San Francisco from Los Angeles, we stopped at many a community park to....
.............have a "Zekie go high in de guy" ride......
........have a "Zekie guyming lada" opportunity.......
........have a "Zekie see woodsips" exploration.........
(and were we ever inrigued by those wood chips.......)
.......who thought they'd be so interesting? Especially when they're mixed with runny noses.
..................have a "Zekie side fast" occurence........
As we ventured up the ever popular 101 we realized that Central California IS ravishingly beautiful and vividly brilliant. There are few landforms as dramatic, as varied, or as replete with attractions and visitor opportunities as the central coast of California which stretches from Oxnard (just outside of LA) to Santa Cruz (about 2 hours South of San Francisco).
Wine, Wine Eveywhere is what you'll see when you travel through Santa Barbara County & San Luis Obispo County - Central California's Wine Country. Otherwise known as the Santa Ynez Valley. There were oodles and oodles of pictures like the one below. Vineyards as far as the eye could see........just imagine the grapes! Food & Wine Magazine once published that the "Central Coast will rule America."
There was not enough time or patience when you travel with a two year old who is awake 10 hours and in that 10 hours wants to see animals and trucks. One day, I will travel back solo or with a few friends to do a little more wine tasting.......trick or treat anyone?
Salinas evokes a small town air that remains the heart of one of the leading agricultural regions in the entire nation. In fact it is known as the Salad Bowl of the World. If you eat:
romaine lettuce......
white or yellow onions...........
or spinach............
and you live in North America, chances are they came from Central California. Andy Boy romaine lettuce ring a bell?
Pismo Beach is truly classic California. It's pretty much locatedhalfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It's a cozy beachside community and the only beach in the state that visitors can drive on.
Zeke crusin' down the boardwalk pier. Wide open spaces to run, run, run!
Relaxing on a bench watching the faced paced action to total relaxation.
Pismo is ideal doe tidepooling, shell collecting, kite flying, and sandcastle building.....
Did I mention cozy beachside community?
For the adventurous there's surfing, body-boarding, kite-boarding, and beach biking. Here we were watching the surfers. Zeke REALLY took a liking to them.....hmmmm?
We walked to the end of the pier (which was quite a long way for little legs - 1/2 km) while the sun was setting..........
And there we saw................
More surfing and body-boarding.........
I made the mistake of asking this guy as he was walking down toward the end of the pier how he got down to the water from here. He responded, "There's a trap door with a ladder.
And then we saw this.............
And the boys were hooked................
And then we saw this...........
and it wasn't a pleasant landing either!
I came across a quote by Erma Bombeck that really makes one think.....
"On vacations we hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings."
