Cal Poly

Kicked off a few days of college tours with a visit to Cal Poly SLO, home of the mustangs. This school has been pretty high on Bean's list because it has the program she wants and it's such a fun town, but we'd never been to the campus with her, and it moved way up her list after getting to see it. It is a pretty nice place with lots of newer buildings and just had such a great feel. It didn't hurt that the weather was gorgeous, which it often will be.

We drove down Friday afternoon as soon as the kids got out of school, grabbed dinner at Firestone Grill and then drove around the campus to get a feel for what it's like at night. I think the kids playing beach volleyball and basketball in the dorm courtyard right as we drove onto campus were a perfect glimpse into college life.

Next morning, we came back to walk around and really see the campus. Nice, big pool. She's hoping to get to play water polo at some level while she's in school.

And this rock climbing wall made the pros list.

I was really impressed by how nice the students were. We had a couple different ones stop and ask if we had questions about anything and one of them even let us join the tour she was doing for her sister and her friend and took us into one of the science buildings so we could see a college lab.

Hanging out with Einstein.

I think we wore these two out. Or they were just trying out one of the beautiful lawn areas. There were so many great outside spaces, some with couches and tables and chairs, some just like this, to study or hang out. I used to spend a lot of time studying on the grass when I was at BYU, but up there, you really only have a few weeks at the beginning and end of the school year that you can do that since it gets cold, and snowy, for a few months in the middle. She won't have that problem at these coastal schools!

Morro Bay and Goldrush Apples

We made a quick trip down to the central coast to pick up our favorite apples. I didn't think we were going to be able to squeeze this in, but when I realized that Mike Cirone, the one guy I've found who grows Goldrush apples in CA, comes to the Morro Bay farmers market on Mondays. Bean had Veterans' Day off, the apples were ripe, and we decided to drive down Sunday afternoon for a 24 hour vacation.

We walked around downtown San Luis Obispo that evening, visiting Bubblegum Alley (notice Bug isn't in the picture--still not his favorite).

We found a fun soda and candy shop--Daddy-o picked up a few new root beers for his collection.

We walked along the creek and the restaurants there.

The mission looks pretty at night. It isn't open then, so we just saw it from the street, but we've already been to this one anyway.

We stayed in a hotel about a block from the Morro Bay harbor so I got to run along the water the next morning. It was so foggy--absolutely beautiful!

It's not a great picture, but the little dark spot in the water is an otter. I saw a couple of them swimming back and forth.

 After everyone else got up, and we had breakfast, we went to Morro Bay State park for the morning.

We started near the visitor's center, exploring the hill.

Grinding hole from the Native Americans

View of Morro Rock from across the bay.

It was such a beautiful day!

The boys worked on the Jr. Ranger badge for the park.

Bean sketched, Daddy-o just enjoyed the view.

Then, we did a short hike along the wetland area.

The thing I love about the Jr. Ranger booklets is that they help us look for things that we might not notice otherwise, like these pickleweed plants that were everywhere, but if you don't look up close, they just look like some green and red plant. Up close, they're pretty cool.

So many different birds--this is a great spot for bird watching.

 

 We watched huge flocks maneuver at the edge of the estuary, and lots of birds searching for food in the mud. It was perfect weather for sitting out there, just enjoying the beauty.

Last exploring stop was further down the coast--Spooner's Cove in Montana de Oro State Park.

The beach was beautiful with amazing rocks--it was a couple hours before low tide, so not the best tidepooling, but we did find a few crabs and limpets and barnacles.

I love this family of mine who are pretty good about letting me drag them around to all the places.

The rock layers were incredible--so defined.

And then the smooth rock down at the water's edge.

There's a cave,

with a fun (and small) exit out the side. I'm surprised Daddy-o and I didn't get stuck leaving this way, but we all made it through.

So many pretty rocks! I'm not usually tempted to bring home rocks, but if this hadn't been a state park with no collecting allowed, I think we all would have had pockets full when we left. 

We could have spent a lot longer here, exploring all the different areas of the rock and beach,

but it was afternoon and the farmer's market had opened, so we headed back up to the Baywood-Los Osos Farmer's Market and bought a box of apples, got a late lunch, and then it was time to head home. It was a quick trip, but completely fabulous (way better than the trip I made with the kids a couple years before!)

What Will You Do For an Apple?

Not just any apple, but a Gold Rush apple? Apparently we will drive 7.5 hours round trip, endure more whining and crying in 24 hours than anyone ever should, and spend enough money on hotel, food, and gas to make those apples almost $10 a pound.

But along with the apples, we did get to check out San Luis Obispo.

Another mission,

This is our 9th one this year. Only 12 more to go.

A stop at Bubble-gum alley:

The gum-hating kid didn't love it.

The gum-loving one was excited to leave her mark.

And it went downhill from there. This guy had a stomach ache that was causing all types of problems. We got dinner at the farmer's market, got our apples, and then he and I sat in the car while the other two kids went to pick out their desserts. And while he fussed, I may have eaten an apple or two for my dessert. And then a couple more.

The next morning, we went to Morro Bay for a couple hours.

We walked on the beach (where Peanut complained a bunch more),

found a bunch of snails,

 We checked out the natural history museum at the park there--it was actually very impressive for the size, although the kids were kind of tired by then and we probably could have just gone home. Not our greatest overnight trip, but at least we got some apples out of it.