Now THIS is a true OCEAN view! Not an HDTV peek-a-boo view, where you must zoom in for the view. LOL
OMG! Shortly after being all set-up, I happened to look out the window at the exact moment there were TWO dolphins side by side IN a wave before it crashed. I couldn’t believe they were right in front of me. So clear! I grabbed my phone and raced to the doorway. I never got another awesome view. No leaping through the water. But Barry and I each saw a dorsal fin here and there, so we weren’t crazy or dreaming. I kept hope with a watchful eye throughout the rest of the day, but to no avail.
No hookups here, but location, location, location! That’s what this place is all about. Parking parallel to the ocean is awesome! We love it here. You just can’t beat having an ocean view from “every room”. LOL. The waves are mesmerizing and hearing them all day long is wonderful!
May 16 was a beautiful sunny day!
Even our hula-girl likes the sunny beach! Justin and Erika brought us this solar-powered Hawaiian hula girl several years ago on one of their trips to Hawaii. She has since traveled everywhere with us. (We also inherited the male partner that they gave to Arlie.)
When Barry flipped his chair around to face Sadie he still had a view of the ocean via the mirror reflection of the exterior polished stainless steel strip!
Today’s HIGHLIGHT – A New Discovery!
On our walk along the beach we discovered a treasure we’ve never seen before. Velella Velella (from the Latin word “velum” meaning sail).
Velella-Velella are free-floating colonial animals that live on the surface of the open ocean!
They are related to jellyfish, but are not true jellyfish even though they supposedly have a sting. We never touched one to test that, but I don’t think the sting is anything to humans since a number of people and dogs continue going up and down the beach. No one seemed to be noticeably stung from anything. These velella velella have stunning, shimmering translucent hues of blue and green reflected from their cobalt blue “base”. They look like little sailboats! In fact they are also called “Little Sail” as well as “By-the-Wind Sailor”, and “Sea Raft”. The detached gelatinous “sails” look like plastic pieces littering the beach, and that’s exactly what we thought was on the beach. They quickly dry out, get brittle and will simply disappear.
Strong breezes are currently depositing Velella Velella by the masses on various beaches from southern California all the way up the Pacific Coast right now by the spring, westerly winds. This doesn’t necessarily happen every year. The water has to be warmer to have enough bloomed on the surface for the winds to blow them ashore. March 2026 was the warmest March in the US in 132 years! The winter was milder as well. This spring has been that perfect combination for millions of Velella Velella blown ashore.
The blue base will also deteriorate and leave a blue residue on the sand.
From the National Geographic website: “Each of these cerulean organisms is not a single animal, but instead a colony of thousands of polyps, called zooids, all working together. Each type has a specific task: stinging polyps (dactylozooids) catch prey, feeding polyps (gastrozooids) digest the food, and reproductive polyps (gonozooids) create more sailors. Their cobalt hue camouflages them against the water and may act like sunscreen, protecting them from the sun’s UV rays.”
The hair-like extensions (tentacles?) along the edge that are visible in the picture above were really cool. Wonder if these are the stinging polyps?! I hadn’t noticed them on previous pictures. Was this one more recently blown ashore than many of the others? These fascinated us both. That cobalt blue and how the gelatinous sail was iridescent made these a thing of beauty!
We felt very lucky to experience these beautiful creatures, and then learn about them. Timing is everything! We couldn’t stop taking pictures of them! (I know that is hard to believe. LOL)
Dinner on the patio.
Barry’s friend – NOT mine. I kept the perimeter sprayed with my vinegar/water that I use for cleaning after I saw this guy under Barry’s chair yesterday. Didn’t see one on our patio at all after I did that. Went to the neighbor’s instead. 🙂 But today this guy was testing us –or at least me. He was getting a bit too close for my comfort.
Don’t even THINK about it!!! When this squirrel came up near the edge of the pavement, I got the spray bottle and sprayed the pavement somewhat near him. He didn’t move. I sprayed closer and got him a little on him. He went over and rolled in the sandy dirt on the far side of the big rock to “get it off”. He never came back, although, I thought he might be plotting revenge and come back with his buddies. That’s how nightmares begin. LOL
We enjoyed a bit of a sunset…
…and a wonderful oceanside fire with our little Solo Stove as we watched the arrival of the 7-foot high tide at 9:30 PM. It was considered a “King Tide”! It was awesome with our front row seats.
Whoa–where did this fallen tree come from??
The roar of the waves was pretty exciting.
9:30–At the peak of high tide! The tide now begins slowing transitioning to low tide
When we woke at 7am – what a difference!
As I sat up in bed and looked out:
From the sliding doorway:
We both slept great here! I could stay here longer. The BEST place where you can go truly just sit in your RV, or sit outside to equally enjoy the ocean. And you don’t have to go through heavy, soft sand to get closer to the water for a beach walk. 🙂 Yes, I would come here again and stay a bit longer.
Awesome drone shots showing more of Rincon Parkway RV area.
Onward north to Pismo Beach!