Out West Trip: Day 15 (Morro Bay, CA to Capitola, CA)

Today’s Highlights:
Bagels and wi-fi at a coffee shop overlooking the Pacific, listening to a kindie band at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, ice cream in the no longer flooded coastal town of Capitola.

We woke to the sounds of the ocean. Once we were changed and packed up in the drizzling rain, we headed to a nearby coffee and bagel place to have some breakfast and use the wi-fi for a while before hitting the road for Monterey. We couldn’t head up 1 because of a mudslide, so we headed back to 101. We arrived at Monterey around noon and went right to the aquarium. It was World Oceans Day, so there was a lot going on! We went to most of the exhibits; Chloe loved the touch pools. As we were leaving around 3pm, we came across a concert by the “Banana Slug String Band”, a band whose music I’ve played on the radio station in the past!

cannery row - 5 jun 2011

After a couple of phase starts, we found a nice Italian seafood restaurant for our “lupper”. Rob got clam chider and seafood. The girls and I had pasta dishes. From Monterey, we headed up route 1, stoping for photos at the giant artichoke on our way to New Brighton State Beach just east of Capitola. We found our campsite then went for a long walk on the beach. The beach is littered with driftwood, much of which has been turned into art and structures on the beach; there were lots of people with fires burning as well.

giant artichoke - 5 jun 2011

After our walk, we got into the van and headed into the village. Apparently, the village was flooded a few months ago by a broken pipe and is just now starting to come back to life. THe girls got ice creams to eat while sitting on a bench by the beach. When we got back to the state park, we got ready for bed and then watched a movie.

new brighton state beach - 5 jun 2011

My reviews:

• Yelp review of Blue Bean Espresso
• Trekaroo review of Monterey Bay Aquarium
• Trekaroo review of New Brighton State Beach
• TripAdvisor review of New Brighton State Beach

Trip Stats:
Roadside Attractions: Giant artichoke (Total: 16)
States: California. (Total: 10 – GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, CO, CA)
State Plates Spotted: None. (Total: 46)
Miles: 196 (Total: 4043)
Gallons of gas bought: 13.2 (Total: 2414.1)
Poptops Spotted: 3 (Total: 14)
National Park Stamps: None. (Total: 6)
Miles walked: 3 (Total: 33)
Dollars saved with NP pass: None. (Total: 85)
Continental Divide Crossings: None. (Total: 3)
Time Zone Changes: None. (Total: 7 – EDT, CDT, MST, MDT, CDT, MDT, MST, PDT)