Today was nice. I mean, sit back and see what happens nice. I was up fairly early after a wonderful night of sleep. In fact, I think I may have slept a bit too hard as I woke up with a stiff neck. To me, that is a sign of a great sleep. I ventured to the lobby and had some juice while I let the girls sleep in. Around 8 or so, I went back to the room to see if anyone was stirring. I really think that the entire family needed the chance to sleep in and recharge the batteries a bit. We slowly got moving and then went down towards the Patisserie from yesterday to grab a few goodies for the road. Around 10:30, we set off from a cool and overcast Santa Barbara.
We had no real plans but had heard from a friend that the Los Olivos area would be worth our time. So up into the hills we went and eventually we managed to break free of the clouds and see some sun as we descended into the Santa Ynez Valley. We had plans to go to Los Olivos but since the girls were with us, we decided a town with tons of wine tastings wasn’t the best idea. Instead we went to Santa Ynez and walked around there for a few minutes. We found a wine tasting store and had a fun few minutes with the owner talking wine and sampling a few as well. The girls were cool while we did this and after purchasing some wines to share with friends, we ventured to the wine guy’s suggestion of visiting Solvang, Solvang is a town built in a very Dutch style and was kind of cool. It was very crowded so we didn’t do too much there other than grab a bite to eat and have a little chocolate for dessert. It would have been easy to spend more time there.
Around 1ish, we started to make our way towards Morro Bay. The scenery remained spectacular and I watched the temperature drop from near 90 to around 70 as we went. At times, it felt as if we were the only ones on the road. After lots of farms we made it to our destination of the Pleasant Inn Motel in Morro Bay. Our room wasn’t quite ready so we looked around town for a few minutes. It was necessary for someone to do laundry and I volunteered for the task. As the family rested in the room, I took my chances with the laundromat here in Morro Bay. The washing was fairly painless and only an hour later I was back at the room ready to tackle the night.
Since we are facing the ocean, it only seemed appropriate to have some type of fish. The Galley Restaurant was close by and the food looked great. The girls decided on fish tacos and the grilled fish sandwich. The boss went with the sole and I had the rockfish. All of it was wonderful and our bottle of Pinot Gris was the perfect compliment to our dinner. In addition to how good the food was, the view was even more spectacular. The restaurant looked out over the bay and the rock and pretty much made the meal.
After dinner we trekked to the rock. My initial impression was that the rock was bigger than I expected. We were kept company by sea otters as we waked to the point. On one side the water was placid and on the other side, it was rougher. On both sides, the water was cold. The girls played in the surf for a bit and had a good time just being kids. Too soon, it was time to head back to the hotel.
Today was a much needed day. We saw lots of things-many unexpected. But it was done at a slow pace. After letting the family sleep in and by taking it easy, I feel our batteries are recharged for the balance of the trip. Tomorrow, we get to travel more of the pacific highway and I look forward to that as well.