Coastal views, elephant seals, and monarchs...unexpected surprises continue!

There is no doubt that Hwy 1 offers one spectacular view after another...but good grief...it just gets better and better! Starting with perfect weather, we hugged the coast finding $1M campground spots right on the ocean along the way. Not only did we have the incredible coastal views and inspiring sunsets, we also stumbled on the elephant seals gathering near Piedras Blancas and the winter home of the 7500+ monarch butterflies near Pismo Beach! The elephant seals will continue to arrive until January when the birthing season begins and then mating in February. The guide convinced us that we would want to return, as what we were witnessing was relatively tame compared to Jan/Feb. Then we followed another volunteer guide's recommendation to stop by the monarch grove. The monarchs are just arriving to gather for the winter months in the eucalyptus grove 20' off the highway. (Some years there have been over 100,000 monarchs by the end of the winter season!) What appeared to be clusters of leaves were actually hundreds of monarchs gathered for warmth on this cool day. We ended up camping at North Campground right behind the grove! For date night (yes, we still do that!) we splurged on a beach site at Carpinteria Beach where we experienced a minus tide uncovering fascinating tide pools and then watched over 20 dolphins feeding and playing just off the beach. I am adding five more albums to the blog to reflect our experience! Enjoy....wish you were here!