We are up in the forest nearly 1000' above the town of Morro Bay where we have some sightseeing planned for this weekend. We are going to have to choose what to see and what not to see in the area, thanks to the rapidly rising price of gasoline and the world's declining economic situation.
I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of the sub-$5 gasoline for a while. Our Gas Buddy app claims to have found gas in Morro Bay at $4.99 a gallon, but I'm not sure that'll be the case when we visit town tomorrow.
Here's a little dashcam video of us arriving at the entrance to the National Forest campground.
Keep in mind that the 3/4-mile entrance/exit road is only 1-lane wide and if we encounter another vehicle exiting the campground there is no way for us to reverse down this winding curvy road to let them pass us. There are only three locations along the road where a small compact car might be able to sneak by us.
I guess the U.S. Forest Service's thinking is that if everyone leaves their campsite by the official NOON check-out time and no one arrives earlier than the approved 3pm check-in time, that should leave a 3-hour window of no traffic complications on the road each day. That only works if you're not dealing with people like The Kelley's who like to arrive early!
When it's time to leave on Monday morning we will have to deal with a more critical situation.
Our campsite is near the middle of the campground, with no where wide enough to make a u-turn except at the very end of the road, another 3/4-mile away from our site.
That means I'm going to have to drive 3/4-mile further into the campground, drive around a tight loop at the end of the road, then drive 3/4-mile just to get back to our campsite facing in the proper direction to leave. Then drive the 3/4-mile to the entrance before we have an area where we can safely pass oncoming traffic.
Don't worry though, we've got a near foolproof plan to make that happen! Maybe I'll share another dashcam video of that?
Morro Rock is one of thirteen 23-27 million year old volcanic plugs along the California coast between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. Along with being the northernmost volcanic plug it's also the largest of the thirteen in this area.
Today, Morro Rock is part of the Morro Bay State Park and it's also protected as the Morro Rock Natural Preserve, therefore it's off limits to rock climbers and other visitors.
MORRO ROCK
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Even from miles away it's easy to spot Morro Rock off in the distance.
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There is a walking path that goes about 1/3 the way around the south side of Morro Rock.
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The southern side of Morro Rock is quite steep, unlike the rest of the rock.
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The southern side is also where the harbor entrance is and the sandy beach.
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A favorite pastime of visitors here is to build large and small rock cairns.
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We are runnng out of dry ground and about as far around the rock as we can go.
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At low tide, this is where you'll find the tidepools.
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Here the dominant sea life in the tidepools are Sea Anemones.
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On higher ground, at low tide, the rocks are completely covered with Mussels.
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This was one of the more precariously balanced rock cairns.
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The same rock cairn as seen in the previous photo.
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If you're thinking that's a fake seagull on top of the other car, you'd be wrong!
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These three 450-foot tall smokestacks (decommissioned in 2014)are part of a 1950s-era PG﹠E power plant and are scheduled to come down by 2028.
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Here you can see the eastern and northern sides of Morro Rock.
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The plant is commonly called the foxtail, lion's tail or the swan's neck agave.
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From downtown Morro Bay the size of Morro Rock is still pretty impressive.
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From farther outside of town it's still easily found on the horizon.
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Tricia posed in front of all three sets of butterfly wings, this was my favorite.
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After enjoying an outdoor lunch at Dorn's Cafe we heard loud noises coming from the harbor.
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Since we began we've tried to be frugal with the money we spent on camping and instead spend the bulk of our money on trying new foods and experiences we haven't had before.
For 7-years and 9-months we've proudly kept our overnight camping costs to less than $20 a night on average. That all quietly changed a few weeks ago when we crested that $20 barrier with multiple day stays of 6@$40, 4@$73, 4@$68 and 3@$49. We are now at a $20.02 nightly average and that number will rise over the next 8-months while we explore this beautiful Pacific Coast in California, Oregon and Washington.
I can't imagine where our nightly cost will be by mid-October, but I'm not going to worry about it and just enjoy the scenery.
Earlier I spoke about the price of gasoline here in Southern California. We did manage to find gas at $4.95 a gallon yesterday, which by the way shattered our old all time record high ($4.79) for gasoline purchased in the lower 48-states, and was the 3rd time in a row for us pumping over $100 into the tank.
Our average until today was just $3.14 a gallon for the 7-years and 9-months we've been on the road. Also not sure where this average will be in mid-October, but the current highest prices in the United States can be found in 1) California, 2) Hawaii, 3) Washington, 4) Nevada and 5) Oregon. We will be traveling exclusively in 4 of those 5 states for the next 7-months.
Wish us luck in finding the least expensive gas at each one of our stops.
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