Getting Out of Dodge


It was time that we had a break. Not that life was depressing. Quite the contrary. Things have been moving right along and the computer business has been prospering. There were a number of new clients in January and February. That added new gas to the van. So, we could afford to burn some for pleasure. Pleasure is good.
Sometimes you just have to blow out of the local pop stand and breathe some different air too. You know, that stuff that other people are tired of breathing so they come to your town to breathe. I do know that there is a different feel to the places that are outside of this area. I really do feel better when I’m not trapped in the confining spaces of the San Joaquin Valley.

Anyway….we climbed into the trusty lil’ Camray and pointed its dependable nose towards the west. In a mere three hours and some odd minutes of light traffic and dry roads, we were climbing into a nice booth at a restaurant in Morro Bay. Likely no one will have to guess what we had for lunch. Yep…fish and chips. There’s just something about eating a meal right on the ocean and watching the boats, seals, gulls, and buoys (yeah…I know. It’s a cry for help). It’s great to thrust a fork into a deep fried chunk of white flesh that was, only a few days ago, swimming peacefully off the coast of Iceland. And the French fries! Oh, my! What a wonderful pile of ketchup catchers!
Bright yellow kayaks from the shark bait rental place (I guess. Maybe not. It could have been just a boat rental place) paddled lazily by while the ever-contentious gulls whitewashed the rails of the restaurant. Small fishing boats and other small sailboats bobbed up and down in the near calm sea. The Morro Harbor tour boat eased by her deck loaded with others who desired to fill their lungs and eyes with something other than their native surroundings.
After stuffing the two tourists from Springville, we decided to mosey out to the monstrously huge rock sitting in the bay. Morro Rock is the last in a string of volcanic plugs that stretch from San Luis Obispo. They’re called the “Nine Sisters” and are greatly beloved by the “Sierra Club” members in that county (and who are a little funny themselves, I should say). “Morro” is actually just the Spanish word for “pebble” so you can see that the Spaniards had a sense of humor. It’s all the more evident when we eat their food but it really comes into light when you consider their dry craftiness in politics. Through treaty and purchase California became an independent state. However, those ever sly and humorous Spanish speakers knew that they would, by profound proliferation, soon have the state back in their possession. Gotta love those witty rascals (does this mean they’re sexy too?).
Back to the rock…the 576’ highly photographed hill was named by explorer (and part-time stand-up comic) Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo when he first charted this coast during his 16th Century voyage of discovery. We have been speaking Spanish and eating tacos and burritos ever since. These Morros have been silent for around 20,000,000 years or so. That works for me. I’m not into outrunning hot lava any time soon. A big eruption would also pollute the atmosphere and I’m here for the air, dang it.
We just happened to have a bag of uneaten pretzels with us so we decided to make friends with the zillion gulls on the beach. They are the ultimate guardians of humor at the shore. They are quite a hoot in the presence of tourists. At first we just tossed a few pretzels onto the ground and watched these coastal clowns slug it out for the prize. Feathers flew (yeah, I know, I know) everywhere as they battled each other for the smallest tidbit. Then, somehow emboldened, I decided to try to hand feed the flock. I shoved a pretzel out the window and, before I knew what had happened, a sharp pain engulfed my fingers. A gull perched on top of the car had snatched it and was gone! It was over in the blink of an eye and I was left laughing at the entire comical event. "Hey, look! My finger is bleeding! I'm in pain! Ha! Ha!" I think I'll do it again! Ho! Ho!"To make the provisions go further, Connie broke the thick long pretzel sticks into pieces. That way I could endure more pain while feeding the flying sea monsters.
That’s exactly what happened. We became the center of attention for most of the gulls in the county. One brave bird sat demandingly on the hood while chiding us through the windshield. He strutted back and forth slobbering all over the hood and windshield chiding us and demanding his dinner until I stuck a pretzel in his beak.

These ravenous creatures are quicker than David Copperfield when it comes to slight of beak. They can come out of nowhere and nab a tasty morsel from your paw. The Toyota must have looked like a four-wheeled feather covered ball to others as the gulls engulfed us. Some of the gulls simply soared past the window and took the goodies from my finger tips. Some even dared to hover while other highjacked them and stole their chow.
After awhile of the increasing pain from having my fingers ripped at, and after we ran out of pretzels, we noticed another happening nearby.

Much to our surprise and amazement, we noticed a fella feeding some small brown bushy tailed rodents. Their kingdom was the rocks along the shore and they were sneaking out to tempt tourists into feeding them. We just happen to have a nice big bag of peanuts with us! How convenient is that? We divvied up the goobers and sat on the rocks waiting to be solicited by the furry greedy grabbers. We weren’t disappointed. In almost no time these little guys were eating out of our hand. They would come up and snatch a peanut then haul it off to eat it. Some would even sit at our feet and munch away then fearlessly demand another. On some occasions the gulls mugged them and took their booty. It made for some cute pictures.
After running out of food for the critters, we headed back to town to knock over some of the shops there. Actually, we were just rubber necking, taking pictures, and checking clearance racks. There was one place that is mentionable. That’s a small museum and aquarium and rehabilitation habitat for sea creatures. For a couple of bucks you can go in and loll around looking at the strange and wonderful creatures of the sea. Some are alive and some are stuffed but they are all interesting. The most notable of these is probably the show off sea lion who definitely has his act together. He hams it up for tourists who have plunked down a buck for a chopped up sardine. They toss the morsels at him from every angle and he deftly fields the fly ball with precision. Even after a steady parade of fish tossers, his hunger seems to be unabated. He didn’t look overweight to me.
On Main Street, they just happened to have a Farmer’s Market event. They had blocked off a couple of blocks and let the venders set up shop. We did the taste test thing at a number of stands then rifled through the goodies at the nearby thrift store. After all of that walking and gawking, we had had enough exercise to drain a whale so called it a day. After the three hour trip back home we were all in. It had been a super day and we did get some different air. Life is good.

By the way, just click on the pictures above for an enlarged view.