Yesterday we decided to take a little walking tour of San Luis Obispo, or SLO as the natives call it. We walked around the picturesque and historic old downtown area and visited the Mission San Luis Obispo de Toloso.
We were told there was a vegan restaurant, Bliss Cafe, just across from the Mission, so that’s where we ate lunch. The courtyard was a pleasant place to sit, right on San Luis Creek. And the food was great! We’ve only been in CA a couple weeks but have already found three vegan restaurants.
We also went to the small but interesting Museum of Art (free admission) and checked out Bubblegum Alley, two 70 X 15’ walls of chewed bubblegum.
A rather strange form of art. And yes, it smells like bubblegum in there.
Then we drove about 10 miles for a change in scenery to the coastal town of Avila Beach, on San Luis Bay.
We could have camped close to the beach, but even with hookups it wasn’t very appealing, just a parking lot.
This was one of the dry camping areas, and only $40/night. Guess that’s not bad if you want to be right on the beach. And the town is small so you could walk to everything and launch your kayaks right there to paddle around the bay.
When we got back I took a walk over to the botanical gardens again to take some more photos of the flowers. I spent a long time watching dozens of hummingbirds at this bottlebrush tree and managed to get a few decent shots.
Also found a bird we haven’t seen before, a Nuttall’s woodpecker. Will have to go back and try to spot the red-crowned male, although the female was quite handsome even without the red.
Really cool pictures of those hummers. Not easy to get them like that. Camping right on the beach can be pretty expensive. Come on up to Oregon, it's a lot easier on the old pocketbook.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos of the birds. The hummingbirds are great.
ReplyDeleteBliss looks good.
Camping there sounds way too rich for our blood!
Great hummer pictures! Ours are always too far away to get a good shot.
ReplyDeleteWe love it when we find a vegan restaurant. Your photos are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness what gorgeous pictures. I saw a bottle brush on a paddle near the Crystal River in Florida today. It only had one flower in bloom. it will be as gorgeous as the one you saw in a couple of weeks but I don't know that it will have the stunning hummingbird. What great shots! Ahh California, Vegan Heaven.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures, especially of the hummingbirds. Great job.
ReplyDelete$40 for no hookups. I don't think so.
What a nice view for the outside dining!
ReplyDeleteYou got some beautiful photos of the hummingbirds. Those red blossoms are so pretty.
Welcome to CA$$$$$$$
What a garden spot…beautiful photos, love the hummer!
ReplyDeleteBox Canyon
Beautiful photos! I can only imagine how many you took to get those lovely clear shots of the hummers!
ReplyDeleteI have a love - hate relationship with California. It's expensive and crowded but also beautiful (in places) and progressive (in places). There are probably more vegan friendly places in CA than any other state!
Great Pictures!
ReplyDeleteLove the shot of Jim sitting in Bliss!
ReplyDeleteLove the shot of Jim in Bliss!
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