SLO County

After finals, Minh wanted to get outta town for a while, and I'm always game for a trip of any kind. We thought going up the coast on the train and taking bikes would be sweet, and it's something we still want to try, but scheduling this sort of last-minute jaunt wasn't in the cards. We only had two days to spare, and the train takes for-freaking-ever, plus, to go as early as possible, we'd have to box the bikes. No go.

So yeah, it was looking grim. Minh's never been to San Luis Obispo, so he was surprised to see how cheap it was to drive. $60 in gas instead of $160 in tickets, 3-hour drive instead of a 5-hour train ride, full autonomy, sold.

That drive is one of my favorites.

Los Osos State Beach had some really great tide pools, and gives you that first taste of rocky California coastline. 

After hanging out with hermit crabs and starfish we checked in and hit the main drag for food. Firestone grill is where we ended up, thanks to a reddit thread listing yummy places and cool local spots. It's one of those casual family places where the food is ample but ends up exceeding expectations nicely, like Stonefire...wait...

Glad I ate before finding Bubblegum Alley. College town. Half ton of spitty gum. Shudder. 

"Don't touch anything!"

We made our way to the Mission just in time to catch the tail end of mass.

After the obligatory downtown swoop, we wanted to get back out to the coast. We took some wrong turns to the right place.

Morro Bay was quiet, and windy and a little wild. We rode out to the rock, got our feet sandy and listened to sea otters crack shells in their bellies with rocks.

We were still pretty satisfied from lunch, but the Great American Fish Company called to me.

Delicious creamy, chunky chowder, and fresh cold shrimp and crab cocktail with bracingly tangy cocktail sauce. Just what I'd hoped for.

There was inspiration everywhere.

The next day we started with breakfast at Louise's. 

If you look very closely you can see a pound of guac in my omelette :)

And had a lazy heart mocha to share.

Before leaving we visited the Elfin Forest on SLO's south side. That's a miniature oak grove. Biker fangs used to hang out here and party. I'd like to come back and have a sandwich.

With this guy.