Just in the NICK of time

I know there are those of you out there having difficulties.  Our friends Bob and Linda are still playing the  "Norcold not Cold" game, and poor Nick can't find seat straps for his kayak, and even Howard can't find anything to write about.  But all of these pale in comparison to our difficulties.

Just over a year ago we discovered what may be the best way to make coffee.  It's called an AeroPress.  Yes, I am addicted to coffee.  But not just any coffee.  It has to start with good beans, then made into an espresso strength elixir, and finally diluted with hot water.  In coffee circles it's known as an Americano.

Our beloved Aeropress has served us faithfully for over a year.  But lately it has been showing it's age, although I will admit I expected it to last longer than a year. The chamber wall became rough and the seal on the plunger started to leak and no I'm not talking about our toilet. Actually we had the seal replaced on our toilet last year, but I digress.

By now I'm sure you are saying, "no problem just get a new one, or order one on Amazon".  Therein lies the problem.  The Aeropress is hard to find, and as many of you know unless you are staying in an accommodating RV park, getting things shipped is a hassle.  As a last resort we even hauled out an old French Press, but it just isn't the same.

We are currently at a wonderful Santa Barbara County park about 10 miles from the little towns of Solvang and Los Olivos, so this morning we headed out in search of the elusive Aeropress.  We soon discovered that the Danes in Solvang are not serious coffee drinkers.  Oh they drink coffee with all their wonderful pastries, but not the kind of coffee I'm wanting.  We moved on to Los Olivos, another wonderful little town full of wine tasting rooms, but again no Aeropress.  After a detour to support the local wine making economy we stopped at a little grocery store in Santa Ynez named El Rancho Market to pick up a few things for our upcoming feast day.  As Judy was looking for a few special ingredients I wandered over to the coffee isle and what did I find?

There sitting all by itself on a shelf, my shiny new Aeropress.  So tomorrow morning I can make myself the perfect cup of coffee, and peruse my blog list and find out all the important stuff going on in the world.  You know the really important stuff, like is Bob and Linda's Norcold cold? And who's "moochdocking" with whom?  All is right with the world once again.

Until later.

ELEPHANT SEALS, AND ZEBRAS, OH MY!!

Every year thousands of Elephant Seals arrive at the Piedras Blancas beach in San Simeon to give birth and breed. The males begin arriving in late November and the females in December, with the first birth usually  happening somewhere between the 15th and the 20th.

We have visited the Elephant seals on previous visits to the Central Coast but never in December and we were curious to see if any pups had been born yet. So we loaded ourselves and Mollie in the car and headed over to the coast for the afternoon.

Highway 46 West is the most direct route to the coast from Paso Robles and is an absolutely beautiful drive. But most of the time when we head to the coast we take a detour and go the road less traveled route.  Driving on Santa Rosa Creek Road can take 2-3 times longer but we love the back roads and the scenery is breathtaking as the road climbs up and over the mountain range and down into the small coastal town of Cambria.

John stopped to photograph some old farm equipment and as he was taking the picture he heard some galloping in the distance. He looked up and was startled to realize that a horse was running directly towards him.

He just wanted to say Hi!

After driving through Cambria and getting onto Highway 1, we headed north where we were surprised to see this group of Zebras grazing along the fence.

The beach had a few adult seals resting and basking in the sun but there were no baby seals yet. The docent I spoke with said that pups have been born as early as December 14th but they were still waiting for the first pup to be born this season. Thousands of pups are born here each year and by late January the beach will be covered with seals.

We stopped and had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in this area, Moonstone Beach Grill.

A fish and chips platter for John and carnitas tacos for me. Delicious food and a priceless view!

After a quick stop in Cambria for some coffee to go we made our way out of town and headed home. 

Highway 46 East is again the easiest and fastest route back to Paso Robles but we were still feeling adventurous, so after a few miles we detoured off of the highway onto the Old Canyon Road, headed south towards Whale Rock Reservoir, keeping an eye out for Santa Rita Road which heads east back towards town.

Slow, one lane and at times unpaved, it is a feast for the eyes and the soul.  We slowly drove along and at times going no faster than 15 mph, carefully watching for oncoming traffic. Of course on this road there isn't much traffic.  I think we only encountered 3 or 4 vehicles in the 11 miles of twisting, curvy roads.  Fun!

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.

- Judy