-- Giant Slimey Things That Move...

Okay, we were all in agreement-- we need to get out of here.  Beautiful views of the coastline, but too many bugs.  They arrived in droves at sunrise. 

My mom took a couple of photos before we left:

...and then it was down the hill toward Highway 1.

My dad did the mountain driving.  When we finally got down to Highway 1, below the coastal fog layer, we could hardly see the road in front of us:

We stopped for breakfast at a roadside cafe. 

I wasn't allowed in, but my dad brought me a piece of toast.  Yum.

We continued down Pacific Coast Highway toward San Simeon and my dad pulled into a parking lot on the side of the road. 

We walked along a path and I saw some sort of rodents zipping to and fro, then they disappeared into the ground.  I was going nuts, but my dad kept me focused on the path.

When we got to the end of the path, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.  There were these giant slimey things lying all over the beach... 

...  And ...  then  ...  one ...  MOVED!

We headed into Paso Robles and invited our friend, Rhiannon, to join us for lunch--but it didn't work out.  We ate lunch in town at Senor Sanchos. 

The restaurant people wouldn't even let me sit on the patio.  Pfft.  Three old ladies sat at a table right next to my mom and dad, and they were smoking cigarettes like chimneys.  I thought my mom was going to have another one of her coughing attacks.  So let me understand this--they allow dirty cigarettes on the patio, but not doggies?  At least I don't pollute someone else's airspace. 

We drove into Nacimiento Lake--an old favorite camping spot of my mom and dad's from about a hundred years ago.  We asked the ranger if we could look around and check out the Internet situation before paying for a campsite, but she said we had to pay to go in and if we changed our minds, we could drive back to the ranger station and get a full refund.  Fair enough.  We paid the $30 and drove into the campgrounds. 

This looked promising--there were squirrels aplenty, as well as these strange looking animals who stopped moving when we looked at them:

My dad found an empty campsite with a view of the lake and a patch of grass for me.  We leveled out the Supervan using Bob Keeley's Lynx Levelers, raised the top, extended the canopy, unpacked all the rest of the crap, and fired up the Internet.  Uh, there was no Internet.

Now this was getting to be a problem, because I can't post on my blog if I don't have Internet.  Yeah, sure, my dad had his satellite access, and my mom's cell phone worked if you stood on one leg and pointed to the north, but no Internet??? 

There was another issue that was bothering my dad--the temperature. 
It was over 100 degrees at 4pm in the shade.  I had my eye on the lake, dreaming of splashing around in the water--but the outside temperature was making my mom and dad miserable, so we packed up all of our crap, dismantled the canopy, lowered the top, removed the Bob Keeley Lynx Levelers, and headed back to the ranger station to get our $30 back. 

The ranger station was now closed.  So much for our full refund. 

We drove back to Highway 1 and decided to camp at San Simeon State Park.  The temperature here was only 59 degrees!!! 

Here is a photo of our campsite:

Finally, it was time to relax.  We had full Internet access, full cell phone reception, clear satellite access, and a comfortable, cool temperature.  Okay, Mom, what are you waiting for???  Let's eat.

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