We found many excuses to visit one of the wonderful little coffee places ON THE PLANET in Baywood. It is nestled among the pines and right on a beautiful bay. Ken and I started many a morning here, sipping coffee and reminiscing about the months gone by.
One morning, Andrew and I woke up early to walk the cliffs of Montana D’Oro. This is a heavenly place, untouched by humans and home to many paragon falcons. Our mission was to find some of these wonderful birds. Andrew has dreamed of seeing one in flight as they are the FASTEST thing alive on earth! While we didn’t encounter any falcons, we saw a heck of a lot of vultures which were quite fascinating. We walked along a dirt trail, with the long sea grass blowing in the light warm breeze. We looked on as the sun rose over the mountains in the background and watched as the ocean changed colors from dark blue in the shadow of the sun to a bright tealish blue in the bright morning sun. A very memorable walk indeed.
One day, my mom, the girls and I went into the great town of San Luis Obispo (SLO. This town has just the right balance of funk, fun and fashion. We passed a little pet store and at that moment, we decided my mom needed a CAT!! Her wonderful husband, Jim, passed away on October 3 and my mom has been in need of companionship. Dear Jim was always deathly allergic to anything with hair so my mom never had the option of having a pet. Nikki, Lauren and I took my mom to the local animal shelter where she visited with four different cats. Finally, the bond was cemented when my mom met “Mr. Lucky” as we call him. We first were told he was a girl and mom named “him” Lucy but after finding he was a male, my mom changed his name. He is a wonderful 3 year old cat that looks a lot like “Morris”. My mom loves having him hang around, even if he does push the pen out of her hand for more attention!
After a week of being on our own, our Canadian friends joined us. We are so fortunate to have found this wonderful family. They are really great and we all get along famously! After their arrival, Ken and I didn’t really speak any words to either Nikki or Lauren as they were off on their own, so happy to have buddies. Andrew was having a bunch of fun being the only boy in the pack. Helene and Roch had us over for dinner one evening while the kids all camped out in our RV watching movies. We had such a wonderful evening of wine, delicious food and great conversation.
All the girls, (Helene and her two daughters and me with my two daughters) went for a day of shopping that was such fun! It was a whopping 90 degrees in SLO, the warmest I ever remember. We all bought some fun t-shirts ($5 a pop!) and had fun walking in just about every clothes shop in town. My how girls can shop after being in the woods for so many months!! Of course we all had stick our ABC (already been chewed gum) on the side of “Bubble Gum Alley!” Poohnut wanted SO badly for her gum to be “unique” and stand out so she could recognize it next time we visit. Seconds after she placed it on the mushy wall, she lost sight of which one was hers. Oh well!!
We also enjoyed warm days on Pismo and Avila Beach. The kids ALL went in the ocean and laughed so hard as they tried to hold onto each other, forming an amoeba of sorts. One morning, Ken made his world famous cinnamon buns and found a new lifelong customer, Roch. I think he will follow us anywhere to have these buns on a regular basis!! Our last night included a picnic on Morro Bay with my Mom and our Canadian friends. Ken cooked up a BOAT load of mussels, full of garlic and lemon juice. Oh how yummy! My mom was her usual humorous self and impressed our french speaking new friends with her fluency in the language. After asking “voulez vous couchez avez moi ses soi?” (loose translation – “Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”), she was a hit with all!
We left Morro Bay with so many great times and our memory banks full. We look forward to coming again one day and relaxing at this wonderful area of the central coast of California!
