Traveling the Central California Coast

We recently took a short trip up the California Coast. It was perfect timing because Spring Breaks were over and the summer crowds haven’t started yet. This is a photo of Highway 1 near Cayucos, California. California State Route 1 is a major north–south California highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of California. At 656 miles, it is the longest state route in California, and the second longest in the United States after Montana Highway 200. We like to sometimes take Highway 1 up the coast from Los Angeles as far north as Cambria for a few days. At Oxnard, Highway 1 joins the 101 Freeway and shares the same route for a while. To save time we stay on 101 when Highway 1 splits off later for a while. Once you leave Malibu and get through Oxnard, Ventura, and Santa Barbara the traffic gets easier. You can travel further north on Highway 1 but the route north of San Simeon to Monterey becomes very narrow in parts with lots of curves, and there is a steep cliff on the edge of the road falling down to the ocean. I won’t travel that part anymore, there are just too many idiots on the road, but it is a beautiful trip. The road is often closed because of land slides after heavy rains too, the road just collapses and falls down the cliff into the ocean.

As you drive along the coast north of Santa Barbara on Highway 1 you can see houses and camping areas along the beach and sometimes, the usual California palm trees. As you look across the water, when the air is clear, you can see the Channel Islands. This is Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa or San Miquel Island off in the distance.

This time of year, depending on how much rain there has been, the California coastal hills are often full of California wildflowers and they are truly beautiful.

Drought in California is a common occurrence that can last for multiple years. The regional climate is characterized by a dry season (approximately May to September) and a wet season (approximately October to April). These green hillsides in the spring are brown for most of the rest of the year in this area. Since we have had several recent storms pass through the region the hills are really green right now but that will change and they will become brown again.

On our way north we sometimes stop a few miles off Highway 101 at Solvang, to get our favorite elephant ears at a local bakery ( and maybe some fudge too at another shop). Solvang has a rich Danish heritage. Founded by Danish immigrants in 1911, Solvang has authentic architecture and traditional windmills. It is a bit of a tourist trap now but it is worth a visit if you are in the area.

Highway 101 turns inland and when you pass through the Santa Maria Valley you can see evidence of California’s agricultural life with tenting protecting various crops.

While it was a bit cold, the weather cooperated, and we had lots of sun during our journey.

On our trips north we often stay at a hotel on the sand in Pismo Beach but this time we decided to go inland just up the highway to San Luis Obispo and stay at the Apple Farm Inn where we have stayed before several times. Unfortunately I can’t recommend it to anyone now. It apparently has changed ownership and the service and accommodations were not up to par. We won’t be staying there again, lots of other options in town. San Luis Obispo is a college town, and there are interesting shops and restaurants in the downtown area.

They do have a water wheel at Apple Farm Inn on the property though and that is always fun to see.

Every day we drove over to Pismo Beach and Morro Bay and then took Highway 1 up the coast to Cayucos, Harmony, and Cambria. I love driving along the coast and watching the waves crash on the rocks. Cayucos has a few antique shops and I always find something of interest there that comes home with me.

There are many places along Highway 1 where you can park and walk along the beach.

Hubby walking on the sand.

As we drove north on Highway 1 from Cayucos to Cambria we passed through Harmony just off the road and stopped. It is a cute tiny town with just a few buildings on a one block main street. Founded in 1869 around a burgeoning local dairy industry, Harmony served as the home of the Harmony Valley Creamery Association (closed in 1955) and de facto capital of Central Coast dairy production for nearly half a century, while also serving as a picturesque stop for the rich and famous on their way to visit William Randolph Hearst up the highway at Hearst Castle. 

Harmony has a Pottery Shop and also Harmony Glassworks. The Glassworks has gorgeous (and expensive) glass for sale but they have inexpensive items as well.

A few glass pumpkins have come home with me from here over the years.

We stopped along the ocean near San Simeon and immediately were surrounded by three squirrels looking for food. Apparently they are trained to appear when a car stops because people feed them. They looked well fed and they were not afraid of us at all. They really didn’t want to leave us alone!

I didn’t take any photos in Cambria (I was spending too much time shopping!) but I borrowed this photo from the Cambria web site. We had lunch here one day and enjoyed it so much we went back the next day for lunch too. They had the best Tuna Melt I have ever had with unusual ingredients. They are known for their delicious pies. We missed the gift shops behind the restaurant so we will have to go back again sometime. Cambria has many cute and unique shops and restaurants and I always find things to bring home with me from there.

We returned south again near Hearst Castle. My father was a security guard there after he retired in the 1970’s and we got a behind the scenes tour of it all then so we haven’t taken another tour of the Castle since then. Hearst Castle is an historic estate on a hill in San Simeon, California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his architect Julia Morgan, the castle was built between 1919 and 1947 and many movie stars visited the castle. Their guest list included many of the Hollywood stars of the period; Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable all visited, some on multiple occasions. A stunning showplace for Hearst's art and antiques collection, the castle is home to centuries old sculptures, paintings, tapestries and an ancient Roman sarcophagus dating back to about 320 A.D..

If you spend any time along the ocean you will see sea gulls and other animals and birds.

When we stayed on the sand in Pismo Beach in 2022 we saw two sea otters, one with a baby sea otter on her stomach. We were there at the perfect time for baby sea otters. A trip up the coast can be a bit off the beaten path but it is well worth it.

Bishop, California

This is not part of the California coast but I am including this photo to illustrate the different areas of this large and diverse state. I grew up in this small California town surrounded by mountains in the central east part of the state. It’s about as far as you can get from Los Angeles and Southern California, about 300 miles, and it’s 360 miles from San Francisco. An interesting fact, this town is about 70 miles north of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental United States and it’s about 180 miles away going southeast from Badwater in Death Valley, the lowest point in North America. This is a wonderful part of California to visit as well but that’s a story for another blog post someday.

I always find it interesting to hear what people who have never been to California think about California, the preconceived notions as it were. Some tend to think of California as Los Angeles or Hollywood or San Francisco only, with crazy people as well, and I have to laugh. I am a second generation Californian, my parents were both born in California, my children are fourth generation Californians and two of my grandchildren are fifth generation. My husband’s grandmother was born in California also as was his father. There is much more to this state than people realize. I could never imagine living anywhere else.

Storage Ideas for a Tiny Cabin Bathroom

We have been doing a bit of redecorating at our tiny cabin. This is a photo of the tiny bathroom. There is a small shower stall around the corner to the right. We started by replacing the toilet and the floor and painting the walls and buying a new window blind. The window blind is inside the window frame to save space. Because it is such a small space we really needed to take advantage of every bit of space that was available and create storage wherever we could find a spot.

Because we share the cabin with tiny creatures and insects we wanted an enclosed storage space so we hung a storage shelf on the wall above the toilet with glass doors. It was a small space so we were limited to a small shelf. We also have a medicine cabinet at the side of the sink.

The cabin is decorated in browns and greens with a pine cone theme. I found these pine cone hooks and decided to use them in the bathroom.

I placed two just outside the shower stall so the towels could be reached easily.

I added a few more hooks wherever I could find room for them.

These pine cone hooks are behind the bathroom door.

The shower stall is small and narrow but I was able to add a couple small metal shelves to add more space.

It’s a tiny bathroom but it has everything we need. For more information about the work we did on this tiny cabin please click here and here.

A Trip to Dinkey Creek and Monterey

Last month Hubby and I took a trip up to Central California and then the Central Coast. I wanted to go back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of my favorite spots. He wanted to see a hydroelectric plant in the Sierra National Forest. Yes, two very different objectives but we had a good time. We stayed in Fresno in the Central Valley because it was really the closest spot to the Sierra National Forest for easy hotels. As a child, Hubby’s family camped with his cousins at Dinkey Creek and he wanted to go back there again. He also wanted to see the Big Creek Edison Hydroelectric Power Plant because his dad worked for Edison his whole life but on the other side of the Sierras.

It was a pretty drive up Highway 168 out of Fresno and then we followed Dinkey Creek Road through Ponderosa Pine and other trees.

We drove past interesting rock mounds, pretty green meadows, and some logging areas.

Because of drought and bark beetle infestations logging is being done all through this area to clear out all the dead trees.

Hubby enjoyed visiting the Dinkey Creek General Store where he bought candy as a child and Dinkey Creek was beautiful and well worth the drive.

We stopped at the Jefferey Pine Log Round, a 532 year old tree that fell in 1987. It is amazing to think how long this tree lived. I looked at the rings and was in awe.

We stopped for lunch at Shaver Lake, an artificial lake built by Southern California Edison in 1927.

We then headed up a winding road to Big Creek and the Power Station.

The Power Plant was impressive as were the penstocks that deliver water to the plant from high on the mountain.

Big Creek was a bit prettier to look at!

This photo shows the penstocks coming down the side of the mountain on the left to the Power Plant at the bottom.

I must admit it was nice to head west toward the ocean after we left Big Creek.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium never disappoints, the exhibits and displays are always first rate. I loved watching the jellyfish, fish, and my favorites, the sea otters. I could sit there for hours just watching them move.

We stayed in the most amazing room at the Spindrift Inn, right on the ocean. The view of Monterey Bay was amazing!

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Monterey, do it!

A Preview of our Cozy Cabin

This is our family’s tiny, old, and rustic cabin in the High Sierras of east central California. It is only 525 square feet and it was probably built in the 1930’s or 1940’s, maybe even earlier. It started as a rental cabin at a local resort and then was moved to its current location and remodeled a bit in the 1950’s. It is difficult to get a good photo of the entire cabin because of the fence, it keeps wild animals at bay for the most part. The cabin is definitely a work in progress but we want to keep it rustic and simple. (I wrote another blog post about some of the furnishings previously.)

We can drive to it year round even when the snow comes.

This photo shows the tips of the six foot fence this winter, we had a lot of snow!

This is what the front porch looked like before we bought it.

This is what it looks like right now, a work in progess still but much better than it was! Definitely need a new door mat! And the door will be replaced as well. Eventually the entire cabin will be repainted.

This is the view from just above the cabin, there are large falls at the top center of the photo.

In the spring there are several seasonal falls that appear when the snow run off is heavy and the large falls become even larger. We can hear the water’s roar sometimes.

This is what the kitchen area looked like when we walked through before we bought the cabin. A young man lived there with two very large dogs and a giant aquarium. We still can’t figure out why he had that large refrigerator but he left it behind so we are using it for now even though it takes up a lot of space. The kitchen floor was ancient linoleum. He was painting the cupboards so all the cupboard doors were off. That fish wallpaper border on the soffit was a question as well!

The kitchen space as it looks right now. We replaced the linoleum with engineered wood and redid the soffit, no more wallpaper. There isn’t an oven but we brought in a microwave and toaster oven. Hubby added lighting under the cabinets which really makes a difference. He probably will add some under the microwave shelf as well. We will get around to painting the cabinets eventually. At some point we may put the water heater (enclosed on the left) outside and relocate things so that the sink is in front of the window. The kitchen area is tiny, simple, and rustic but that’s the way we like it.

There wasn’t any space for eating so we found a small table that just fits on the wall in the kitchen area. It has two leaves that open up to seat four if we move it out into the living room area so that solved that problem. The chairs fold up as well so the extra two can be stored when not in use. The table can be used for food prep as well which adds counter space.

There was an old wood stove against a crumbling wall and dirty shag carpeting in the living area.

We added a new stone wall.

And replaced the wood stove with a more efficient gas stove so we wouldn’t have to worry about buying wood every winter. You can see the new flooring in the living area in this photo.

When we bought the cabin there was dirty paneling in poor condition on the walls and the ceiling was acoustical tiles.

Once we removed the paneling on some of the walls we found this, original half logs with daylight showing through between them in some areas.

We filled the holes, added new paneling on the walls, removed the acoustical ceiling tiles, and left the original wood ceiling. It looks rustic now, as it should. (Yes, under the nasty carpeting in the living area was more linoleum!)

That corner as it is now with new wall paneling and new flooring. My brother donated his old furniture and the lamp table and lamp came from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I bought the curtains at J.C. Penneys.

I found a 1958 topographical map of the local area on Ebay that actually has a small square showing where the cabin is located. I had it framed and it is a real conversation starter. People love to see what was in the area in 1958 and what was not built yet.

At some point a front porch area was added onto the cabin. When we bought it there was weird carpeting on the floor out there and a washer and dryer blocked a door that was in bad shape.

We put the new flooring out there as well and we are in the process of turning the door into a new window because we already have the front door on the other side of the porch. Hubby added electrical outlets in every room and replaced the ceiling lights in most of the rooms.

We replaced the carpeting with new carpeting in the two bedrooms. It can get really cold up there in the wintertime, we wanted the warmth! We left the wood paneling in the front bedroom and just added bunk beds with a trundle to sleep more people.

The back bedroom had dark paneling on one wall and thin wall board on the other. I was going to replace the ceiling light fixture in there but it is so funky I decided to leave it.

We replaced the wall paneling and carpeting in the back bedroom. We bought a new queen bed and the bedside tables came from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. We bought the lamps at Lamps Plus I think.

The bathroom is tiny. We replaced the accordion door (crazy!), painted the walls, bought a new toilet, added shelving above the toilet, and replaced the flooring.

Not much space in the bathroom so we added hooks and towel racks behind the door for towels.

At the moment, we are having a deck built onto the cabin. It will be so nice to sit out there, maybe even have a fire pit and barbeque.

There will always be something that needs to be done but for now, the cabin is perfect.

Read more about how I furnished the cabin at https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/blog/2018/6/7/pine-cones-and-pine-cones-1