California Central Coast Treasures

Venture to Morrow Bay

I just returned from a trip to the beautiful Central Coast of California.  A good friend of mine from Ohio (Thea Brigham) just moved to Arroyo Grande and she invited me for a visit.  Thanks for the great time Thea!!

Saturday we explored the beaches at Pismo and Grover.  It was part stormy, part sunny - but beautiful!  At Grover Beach there is a Monarch butterfly grove. The butterflies migrate from the Rockies and even as far away as Canada each year to this same area.  There are thousands of butterflies grouped together in the trees. During cooler weather (which it was when we visited) the butterflies stay huddled in large groups - but when the sun is out and the temp is above 55 they fly around in the woods.  Quite a sight I am sure!  There were telescopes set up so we could see into the clusters - and view all the individual butterflies.  It was pretty amazing!

We then headed to Santa Barbara to explore all the sights, shop and eat at a few of the many, many wonderful restaurants.   It was beautiful, refreshing, and uber cool.  We both decided the pressure to be "cool" would be exhausting if you lived there.  But maybe "cool" comes with a Santa Barbara address? Who knows.  But it was fun and not possible to see it all in a two days.  I would love to go back.

As always, when I travel, I look for bead shops, yarn or fabric stores and off-beat galleries.  This time I found a very cool place in a very unusual location.  On my way to Thea's I stopped off to visit the Santa Inez Mission.  To get there I had to go through the little Danish down of Solvang.  It is totally Danish in every way - from the architecture, the food and the atmosphere.  After visiting the Mission, I took some time to drive around the streets of Solvang.  One store caught my eye - it was filled with extremely bright colors - red, pink, orange, yellow - it was called Knit Fit, A Creative Community.  I parked on Copenhagen Street and walked to the store.  When I opened the door I fell in love!  Fabric, yarn, art supplies, papers, felt and more.  All in the most beautiful bright colors!  It filled my heart with joy!  Take a look for yourself.

There is so much more to tell, but I promised I would keep my posts short(er).  So you can see the rest of the trip in pictures.  It was a full five days!

Thanks again Thea, for showing me such a wonderful time!

In the spirit of adventure and friendship,  Cindy