August 17-19, 2026
Destination today: North Beach Campground Pismo Beach, CA
We didn’t realize there were two separate state campgrounds for “Pismo Beach”. We thought we were in the one right in Pismo Beach but we had to go a couple miles further to the Oceano location.
Once again we were assigned a nice site (#03). No one was ever in site 01 on our patio side, and we had a full nature view in front of us.
Beautiful tree across from our front window! Reminds me of a Tree of Life.
There was a lagoon with a trail around it. It is only a little over a mile. We enjoyed the walk. Along the way we saw this little guy, a long-tailed weasel! He had the cutest little face, and posed for me till someone with a dog came along. Then he went into the ground faster than I could get a movie clip. It was incredible how fast he disappeared and without a trace! This weasel is supposedly quite elusive, so we felt good having seen him and able to photograph him.
I am amazed at how much people miss when they are out and about.
We also saw a black-crowned heron by the water.
This was not his “best side”. He hopped and turned giving us a great shot!
Then we came upon this bee swarming! How cool!! I recognized it because this happened a couple of times in our park in Yuma, AZ.
Honey bees will cluster together in a “hanging” cone shape on a tree branch to stay together in high winds. When a colony outgrows its home and divides half the bees leave with the old queen to find a new home, while the rest stay behind to raise a new queen. They cluster like a living blanket . The outer layer of bees packs tightly together to trap heat and protect the queen, who is kept safe and warm deep in the center! The cone shape is highly aerodynamic. As the branch sways in the wind, the bees actively shift their positions and flatten the cluster to lessen the impact of strong gusts. This cone is just a temporary. They usually move on to their new home within a few hours to a few days. Nature is truly amazing!!
A blue heron just before he took flight, and another black-crowned night heron
Mallard ducks that like to come by our site. I’ve never seen a male mallard with a whitish tuft crown on the top of his head.
We walked over to the dunes to see if we’d see a sunset tonight. It ended up being decent, just not spectacular.
May 18, 2026: We eased into our day.
A tree in perfect view from Sadie was a favorite perching spot for both the double-crested cormorants and the black-crowned night heron. It was pretty cool to keep watch right from my living room lounge seat, or from the “front office” seat. 🙂
We rode our bikes into Pismo Beach. It was an easy three-mile ride with a bike lane each direction.
We locked our bikes up using the wave-like bike racks at the pier.
The only whale we’ve seen:
I liked the whale details of rope segments for the baleen (even though some are missing), the barnacles on the whale tail and the unexpected fish carved INSIDE the whale’s mouth!
I appreciated the details of this play area from the fun, main attraction of the whale, to the rubbery walking surface with “wave mounds” to the clamshell slide and the kelp growing near it.
One of the things we remembered most about being here before is a significant area of the walking surface here at the pier that is made to look 3d–like the pavement is moving waves! It is really cool how it is an optical illusion. You would swear the surface is really with the pavement actually undulating as real waves, but alas, it is not! I still wonder if some people have a problem keeping their balance walking on it.
I enjoyed watching the surfers from the pier.
This mosaic below is best photographed when the sunshine makes the waves shimmer and shine. I had to be back further and zoom in to keep that effect.
The details were beautiful!
After taking the usual tourist photos and more, we visited a couple of shops as we headed up from the pier. I have always loved bottlenosed dolphins and this colorful guy caught my eye. We have no place for it, so I took a picture as I started doing when we lived full-time in Vinny. That’s my way of “buying” a souvenir. 🙂 Funny how that can satisfy “the need” to buy something.
I saw this mug…I thought it first said “Life is Better at the Palms”. Even though it didn’t, I’m thinking it still would have been a good one to get since The Palms is where we are moving to in December. 🙂 Palm trees have always make me smile. As a kid I loved Southern California, and hated to leave when we did. Palm trees have a way of transporting me back but also giving me joy and contentment in the present.
Splash Cafe was our destination for lunch. It was up at the corner. We were looking forward to their award-winning clam chowder sourdough bowls. It was easy to find with the fun, colorful murals.
We ordered one chowder-sourdough bowl “loaded” to share. “Loaded” meant topped with green onions, bacon, seafood, and cheese. OMG this was SO good!! Voted the BEST in 2026! Agree!
The outside mural that included clams throughout it was pretty cute.
Even the clam looking out the window…maybe wanting rescued?
Originally we thought we’d spent the rest of the day till sunset, but that was going to be another 5 hours. Maybe we’ll come back closer to sunset if it looks promising for a nice one. We headed back to the pier to get our bikes.
We stopped at a few more murals on our way back to the campground.
This mural was really cool because it seemed like the kids looked at you regardless of your viewing angle!
“OUR MEMORIES OF THE OCEAN WILL LINGER ON LONG AFTER OUR FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND ARE GONE”
And I loved the stone wall that was the finishing touch.
It has been so nice to stay in all these state parks with Sadie…and we have another one tomorrow in San Simeon near Hearst Castle!