Pismo Beach, CA

Views of the dramatic coastline and cliffs of Pismo Beach, CA are accessible by driving along U.S. Highway One and then dropping down through little neighborhood streets to the road that fronts the cliffs.  Surprisingly, there is parking to be found here along with benches to sit on or parks to stroll through.  Here you can pull over to view the waterfront for miles in front of homes that one could easily lust after.  (Winning the lottery would be a nice option in order to acquire one of these homes.  I'd choose the one on a point with what resembles a light house adjacent to it.)

The coastline here runs to the dunes in the south that we were playing on two days ago.  Today the wind is blowing the sand of the dunes up into a fog-like cloud above the dunes that we can see from miles away.  The cold front brings these winds and rain with it too for which the locals are grateful.  Getting the coach rinsed off is nice for us as well.  Puff was starting to look like we should rename her Pig Pen from the Snoopy cartoon series but our kitty vetoed that idea!  There is a new bloom this week to be seen on trees that is a remarkable red color.  In spite of researching for it, I am unable to identify what this tree is called.

The wind has been utilized in California in a number of ways both in the past and present but the windmill we saw today at the edge of the sea seemed like it was brought over from Holland (maybe a decorative rather than utilitarian function for one of these luxury waterfront homes?)  We have no idea of its age or function, but it was photogenic.

The coastline here is interesting with rocky, flat looking ridges visible at low tide that emanate from the bottoms of the cliffs to swirl out into the sea creating tidal pools that shelter star fish.  Caves have been gouged out of the cliffs by the tides and huge outcroppings of rock rise out of the sea just off shore creating islands solely for the seabirds.  What caused these ridges?  I wish I was a geologist!

And so I have left us with mysteries today.  Maybe we will learn the answers together.  We'll throw these questions out into the world and see what comes back.  In the meantime, I'll keep researching.