Heading to San Jose with stops whenever something interesting catches our attention.

The scenery changed abruptly after entering the Los Angeles area.  From flat land to rocky outcrops atop smooth sided mountains, from lazy floating buzzards to precise surveying hawks and from sand and Joshua Trees to tall skinny palm trees, spikey green cypress and lazy fragrant eucalyptus.  The landscape left it’s sickly stick look and was replaced by huge full trees and the ground was covered with those succulent ice plants that my cousins and I used to use to color the sidewalks.   Instead of seeing dessert illusions of water on sand, we saw the blue and foamy waters of the ocean.   I love California…the weather, the smell of the ocean and eucalyptus, it’s my home state and I think it is a most magnificent state.  As soon as one of us wins the lottery we can afford to come back and stay for a while.

Our path of choice was El Camino Real aka Highway 101.   We weren’t sure if the markers were bells or lights but their  rusty presence marked the road every few miles.

First stop was Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove.  Awesome clumps of butterflies clinging to eucalyptus tree branches.  They winter here, not in Mexico as those that come from the Eastern states winter.

We overnighted in Paso Robles at the Rio Seco Winery.  One of the perks of belonging to Harvest Host is staying at winery’s for the night.   The owners gave us a bottle of 07 Zinfandel to enjoy for the night as a gift.  It was fruity and absolutely yummy!  The area was cool in the evening and we expected the roosters to crow in the am but not a peep.

In the morning, we spent some time talking with the owner who used to be a scout for  professional baseball. After having breakfast muffins and coffee offered by the owner’s daughter, we bought a few bottles of the Zin, one MVP and one Cab and again rolled down 101.  One stop at Flying J for diesel and a much appreciated long hot shower and then settling in for the night at the Santa Clara Elk’s Lodge RV site where we will spend the next week.