God's Glory in the Pismo Sky

Confession time.  These past few months have had some real low points.  Days of melancholy have been aplenty.  Annoyance with one another has been real.  Being a leader and making decisions that are essentially lose-lose has been challenging.  But, in watching the Pismo sky this week, the Lord settled my heart and spoke words of reassurance through well-known songs and scripture passages.  He reminded me of His care.  His faithfulness.  His power.  Song lyrics, like those from The Love of God or Oceans or This is My Father's World, kept running through my head.  We returned home to another set of stricter gathering guidelines and all the hard decisions and sacrifices that come with that.  But, I returned home also with a more peaceful heart and reminder that our world, crazy as it is right now, still belongs to God.

"This is my Father's world.  I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas.  His hands the wonders wrought."

"Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the sky of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade?  To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.  Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky."

"I will call upon Your name.  Keep my eyes above the waves.  When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace.  I am Yours and You are mine."

"The heavens declare the glory of God.  The skies proclaim the works of his hands." Psalm 19:1.

Dunes, Dinosaur Caves, and Donuts

Here was another day spent doing little hikes that were not far from our hotel.  

After walking through a fragrant eucalyptus grove where 30,000 some monarch butterflies migrated last winter, our path led us out to a neat, dune covered, deserted part of the beach.  It was fun to run down dunes and climb twisty trees here.

After that, we checked out the nearby Dinosaur Caves park.  The many arched rock formations and tops of caves are where hundreds of pelicans land and call home.  We'd been watching these fascinating birds fly in packs, ride the waves, and dive bomb the fish they were hunting all week.  We spent a long time observing their colony and trying to spy their fluffy gray chicks.

There was a cool playground here too that was actually open!  Love that my kids are not too big for a good old "floor is lava" challenge across the obstacle course equipment! ;)

 Another local hot spot is Surfside Donuts, so we couldn't leave without trying their unique take on donuts-- we savored banana cream pie, apple cheesecake and French toast flavored donuts!  And we got to the shop by walking there across the beach!

Avila Barn and Cinnamon Rolls

This just made me smile.  As our girls get older and now do things when we travel like, post their own vacation stories on Instagram, or text their friends updates, or watch certain episodes of The Office in bed with us at night, it's fun to see their still innocent and playful side!  We spent a long time feeding each of the many many farm critters healthy greens at the Avila Valley Barn.  Ella and Delia may even tell you this was a vacation highlight!  

  

All week, we'd observe the around-the-block line at a famous local bakery each morning.  We had a stop here on our list, but thought afternoon might be better timing.  So, after our time at the barn, we had to see what the big deal at the Old West Cinnamon Rolls shop was all about.  We tasted and immediately understood the long lines!!  We ordered one of each roll type to eat around a fire pit at our hotel.  I did not get a picture because theses most delicious treats we ate all week were gobbled up that quickly!

Boogie Boarding

Possibly the best $10 we spent on this trip was to rent Delia a wet suit and boogie board for the day.  She is the girl who would return from each walk we took soaking wet because she just couldn't resist those waves!  She was dying to get in the ocean, but we knew she'd freeze, so this was a happy discovery!

Dave wins the best parent award for braving that cold water to take her out and teach her how to catch waves on her boogie board.  She was a good student and learned quick enough.  Her screams of joy each time she rode a wave in resounded over the beach, delighting us watching from the sand.

Do you see those two tiny dots with that WALL of waves behind them?  

(Insert any Beach Boys surfing lyric of your choice here. ;)

Ella and I were happy to be spectators, bundled up in sweatshirts and dry towels with our books on the beach!

Cambria to Cayucos

We took small trips each day to local hiking paths and parks I had researched and found open.  On our first day, we walked the coast-hugging loop at Fiscalini Ranch Preserve in Cambria.

The path was easy and super scenic and had a great perch from which to watch a whole rock full of entertaining seals.

 

A little ways south of Cambira is the tiny town of Harmony.  Blink and you will miss it and its 18 residents!  Harmony is known for its artists, though, so we made a pit stop to admire the pottery and glass blowing studios.  Delia and I got some pottery souvenirs.

 The last stop on this string of coastal towns was Cayucos, where we found the only open pier in the area.  Good to see the girls still love each other enough to naturally choose to walk like this, even though they endured non-stop togetherness since March! ;) 

A Walk on the Beach

Because this trip to Pismo will end up being our big vacation for the summer, and because it really was so lovely, I took a million pictures and will stretch the experience into several blog posts.

The best thing about our hotel was that we could walk right out onto a miles-long stretch of beach.  Every day we took at least 2 walks.  We came back often with soggy jeans cuffs and a bucket full of shells and sand dollars.  Dave and Delia count their steps with devices and after our morning walk on the beach each day, they blew their goals out of the water!

Our beach had cool caves to explore and rocks to climb.

It had treasures galore!  Above, Delia holds half a sand dollar, which we got a kick out of calling "50 cents".  Below, Ella holds a big crab, which surprisingly helped clip one of her fingernails!

Our beach had mounds of sea spaghetti that, when unraveled, made very fun jump ropes!

It had the Pismo Pier as a landmark for us to walk to each day.

And our beach even had swings! 

We were getting so familiar with our beach walking path that Dave suggested we do a late night hike on it one day!  This was SO cool.  We grabbed some flashlights and walked to the lights on the pier.  As we walked we listened to the waves roaring in the blackness.

You might think a simple walk is not that big of a deal, and taking a vacation centered around a walk sounds silly.  But one thing I've learned this season is to appreciate the little things in life.  An otter sighting, the fireball sun sinking below the horizon each night, the sound of waves, winds that make us snuggle together, a handful of artistically-painted shells, and squishy sand in my toes were SUCH tremendous treats.

The SeaCrest

If you caught my post a few weeks ago, it is no secret to you that we were dying for a getaway.  Dave's job has had extra challenges this season and the girls and I have literally been looking at the same living room scenery for months.  A break was desperately needed, so I started researching.  I learned two things that led me to Pismo Beach on the Central Coast.  One article I read said this summer "California was for Californians" since no one is really able to travel here from other states or countries right now.  Another travel tip I read from a favorite blog advised us to "travel small".  So, we looked local, at beautiful places not far away and at spots where the daily activities being something as simple as a walk on the beach would still be very satisfying.  

A bunch of church friends love the SeaCrest Oceanfront Hotel in Pismo Beach, so I grabbed a 5 day reservation there.  This hotel was AWESOME.  It now ranks in my top 3 all time favorite hotels-- gorgeous grounds, right on the beach, and a different cozy fire pit around every corner you turn.  Because of Covid, it was not busy at all and with the changes and precautions they had in place, we felt totally safe.

Many things about staying in a hotel during a pandemic were a little different, but nothing we didn't get used to right away.  For one, we had to make a reservation to use the pool.  This was easy and ensured our family got the whole thing to ourselves!  Also, there was no housekeeping service, and our free breakfast each morning was a grab-and-go style.  We had to wear masks whenever we were inside, but that was rare because 99% of what we did was outside!

Pismo is chilly!  With highs in just the upper 60's each day, we bundled up in sweatshirts and took advantage every day of those many fire pits!  I was totally in my happy place reading, warming my toes, and listening to the pounding surf.




We did try to patronize small business for our meals, but sometimes dinning rooms were closed.  No problem!  We just got carry out and ate it on our hotel's rooftop garden...where there were, you guessed it, more fire pits, and amazing views!


Our hotel had a 97 step staircase (yep, we counted) leading right down the beach.  We climbed these stairs multiple times each day and watched sunsets from the lookout deck off of them.



Anyone looking for a beach vacation, we'd definitely recommend Pismo Beach and the SeaCrest!!!