On Aug 1 - 3, 2001, me, my mother Donna, and my sister Cindy, went on a vacation to Cayucos and the surrounding area. Throughout my life, we had frequently gone on vacations to the beach. We used to go several times a year. However, this year, 2001, it had been four years since I had been to the beach. I did see the ocean one year ago when I went to the APS meeting but it had been four years since I had been to the beach. I wanted to go back very badly. One time, when they were eating dinner in the backyard, Cindy suggested we go on a vacation to the beach. My father Keith exploded with rage. He spent 10 minutes screaming that he would never go on a vacation with Jeffery again. My mother then said that we'd go without him, and he snapped that he would not allow it. My father said that he would never go on a vacation with me ever again, and that he would never allow any member of the family to go on a vacation without him, and so he was simply declaring that I would never go on a vacation ever again. I made up my mind that I would do whatever I had to do to make sure I went to the beach this summer. I persuaded my mother that the rest of us should just go anyway, and just not tell him that we were going. We're all adults, and if we choose to go on a vacation, it's none of his business. Besides, my mother was afraid to tell him that we were going. He was so angry when Cindy suggested it before, that my mother was afraid that he might somehow prevent us from going.
We had a surprisingly hard time finding a hotel in Cayucos. I looked up several places on the Internet but my mother said they were too expensive. She asked Uncle Mark and Grandma where they stayed but I couldn't find those places on the Internet. Finally, I found the websites of several moderately priced hotels in Cayucos, and printed them off. My mother suggested that we go to the Cypress Tree Motel. The rooms cost $90 a night. I called and made reservations for a week later, for the nights of Aug 1 and 2. Therefore, the vacation would be three days, Wed - Fri, Aug 1 - 3, 2001. The day before we left, I printed off several pages from the Internet about the central coast where we were going. The night before, I took a shower, and set up in my mind about going to the beach.
We had two cars, the tan Rabbit and the black Passat. The Rabbit was my mother's car, and she had never driven the Passat. Also, we thought Keith would be even more angry if we took the new $30,000 car that up until now had only been driven by him. Therefore, we were going to take the Rabbit. However, the day before we were going to leave, we found out that my father was going to take the Rabbit that day to take the dog down to be spade. For a short time, we were in a panic as to what to do. My mother suggested that we delay the vacation by one day but I pointed out that we probably wouldn't be able to make reservations on such short notice for Saturday. I came up with a plan. I suggested that after my father takes the dog down, while he's at work, we drive the Passat to his office. We then switch the two cars, leaving the Passat in parking lot, and drive the Rabbit to the beach. We decided that's what we would do. My mother decided to exchange the cars in the morning. She had never driven the Passat before. However, while driving the Passat, she decided that she liked it so much, that we should take the Passat to the beach. That's what we did. This was probably a good thing because the Rabbit had been having mechanical problems. The Passat was much smoother and more comfortable, and also made us look richer.
Donna left a note for Keith telling him that we were going to the coast. Then we packed everything up the Passat, and left. We left on Wed, Aug 1, at 9:30 am. I brought a pack of cookies to munch on in the car. Usually we stop on the way but this time we drove nonstop to the beach. We passed Kettleman City, and drove through the dry brown coastal hills. As we got close to Cayucos, I had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at the York Mountain Winery, and I used their bathroom. Then we went to Cayucos. We arrived at Cayucos at 11:50 am. We went to our hotel, the Cypress Tree Motel. We checked in but they weren't finished cleaning our room. We drove down to the pier. When you step out of the car, you are hit by the cold wind and the smell of salt in the air. You hear the crashing surf in the background. For other cities along the coast, the ocean is the setting, but for Cayucos, it's all about the beach. I remember this area by the pier so vividly from throughout my whole life. I remember playing on the play equipment when I was little. We walked along the pier. Cayucos has the longest pier on the central coast. There were people fishing, although they didn't seem to be catching much. In the past, my greater family would go on Beach Vacations where all the relatives would rent a house at Cayucos for a week. We had Beach Vacations during the summers after 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, Junior Year of high school, 1990, 1991, 1994, and 1997. I remember playing in the sand, making sand castles, walking along the beach, shell collecting, swimming, and fishing at Cayucos. I remember during Beach Vacations, seeing Grandpa or Mark's family fishing at the Cayucos pier. Then we walked on the beach for a short distance.
We then went back to our hotel, and went in our room. The hotel was painted yellow with green doors. We had room 7. Our room had two separate rooms, each with a double bed, as well as the bathroom. My mother and my sister had the larger double bed, and I had the smaller one. There was door between the two rooms. The rooms looked small but if you combined their area, it was probably no smaller than the one room at a Motel 6. They had a TV and a VCR. They left four pieces of candy in the room each day, and had fresh flowers. The room had a huge nautical theme. There were paintings of ships hanging on the wall. There was a painting of a ship�s steering wheel on the wall. In my room, there was wallpaper with different types of knots on it. The lampshade in my room had ships on it. Not just our room, but our hotel, the city, and really the whole coast had a huge nautical theme. When we are on vacation, we like to buy snacks, and eat them in the room. Luckily, right near the hotel was a convenience store. We just walked down there. We walked past an insurance office that had a painting of King Neptune on the window. I remarked on how out of all the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, one of them continued to exist in contemporary folklore for millennia after the others became only historical. We went into the small grocery, and got treats. I got a Pepsi and hostess cupcakes. We got potato chips. We then walked back to our hotel, and ate them in our room.
Next we drove down to Morro Bay which is just south of Cayucos. The city of Morro Bay is dominated by Morro Rock which is 567 feet tall, covers 50 acres, and was first sighted in 1542 by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Less picturesque is the nearby PG&E power plant. There is still commercial fishing at Morro Bay, although today the town centers on tourism. The shore of the bay, which is called the Embarcadero, is lined with piers, fishing boats, shops, and restaurants. Whenever we go to Morro Bay, we just walk down this road along the harbor, and look at the stores. When we arrived, we first drove to the Rock. We drove past the place where I once went with Grandma and Grandpa when they had the barbeque with the Japanese veterans. We parked for a while, and then drove back to the line of stores and restaurants. We had a hard time finding a parking place. Then we walked along the main Morro Bay pier. There were people trying to catch crabs. Often on Beach Vacations, Mark goes crabbing. Usually he doesn�t catch anything but I remember one year, he got tons of crabs. Also on the pier, there were two pelicans. I walked right up to them. They were incredibly tame, and weren�t afraid of humans at all. I could have patted them on the head.
We walked down the entire street, past the restaurant with an eagle painted on the roof, and the Harbor Hut, a Polynesian restaurant with tikis in front. We passed the anchor. We went in the Shell Shack. They had tacky stuff like shells made to look like crabs in dune buggies, driftwood carved to look like old men�s faces, painted coconuts, and dolls dressed like hula dancers. In the front, they had the copper diver�s helmet. Later, we went in a new shop called Under the Sea Gallery. They had a dolphin lightning sculpture. They had beautiful fantasy art of faeries, mermaids, dragons, and other fantasy creatures. Nearby was my favorite store in Morro Bay which is the Southern Port Trader. The theme is that this is the cargo of ships returning from exotic ports of call. They had incense burning. They had long thin African masks, Buddhas, and statues of Hindu gods. They had all kinds of things from India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Polynesia, and Africa. They had scrimshaw, which is supposed to be carved whalebone, except that they bragged that they were fake. Perhaps, it was because their typical New Age customers would never buy something made from real whale remains. My mother bought a statue of the Hindu god Shiva who has many arms. Last summer, she had bought a statue of the elephantine god Ganesha. Later, we went in a music box store, and the art gallery where they used to have a long hair brown tabby.
We went in the British store. It was a store with all kinds of British memorabilia, and they�ve branched into anything European. While there, I bought this neat thing that had flags of all the countries of the world. On the back, it had a map of the world. It was called Hammond Flags of the Nations. It was covered with plastic, and may have been intended as a placemat. Walking down the street, we past the giant chessboard. I remember seeing people playing chess on it when I was three years old. At that time, I walked onto the board, and moved one of the pieces which came up to my waist. Later, when I saw it, I couldn�t believe how small it was. During Junior Year of high school was the only other time that I saw anyone actually playing chess on this chessboard. Before this vacation, I saw on the Internet, a reference to an even larger chessboard that was temporarily set up near Morro Rock.
We went in the Shell Shop that sells only shells. They sold shark jaws and a wide variety of unusual shells from all over the world. They had a Christmas tree decorated with shells. Then we went in a store that sells very expensive art. They had a statue of a nude boy riding a dolphin. We went in a store that sells garden ornaments. They had a large rooster statue made of rusty iron. I asked my mother and Cindy to guess how much it costs. My mother guessed $50. I showed her the price tag. It said $1,375. They also sold cards with pictures of cats on them.
Then we drove back to Cayucos, and went back to our room. We watched Chris Matthews. We drove around Cayucos, and saw the beach house we stayed in when I was in the 7th grade, and also 1990, 1991, and 1994. We decided to have dinner at that place where we used to get frosties when I was little. I had a hamburger and a chocolate milkshake. We ate outside at one of their tables. We talked about the weather and the birds in the area. Then we went back to our room. I looked at the flags of the world, and noticed that the flag of Bosnia was not the one you normally think of with the fleur-de-lis but was totally different, and had a line of stars. We went to bed early.
On the 2nd day, I woke up at 7:30. I went to get a Coke from the vending machine. The machine only took quarters, and my mother only had two quarters but we got a third one from Cindy. Then my mother drove me to the southern end of Cayucos beach. There is fog in the morning. I had my jacket and the Coke. I walked down the wooden steps to the beach. I then walked along the entire beach from Bird Island to the rocks north of the pier. I remember walking along this beach during the Beach Vacations. I have every inch of this beach memorized. I remember every rock. I remember climbing on these rocks. I touched the water. I picked up shells off the beach. I didn�t have anything to put them in so I just carried them in my hand. I remember collecting shells with Aunt Linda. At the 7th grade Beach Vacation, we found enough tiny snail shells to make shell necklaces. I touched a sea anemone so I could feel it close on my hand. I loved the constant sound of the crashing waves. You watch the rhythm of the waves hitting the beach. There were people walking dogs on the beach. I saw many dog footprints. Often the dog footprints went in great loops because the dogs run around. There was a dog climbing on top of that really big rock. There were many seagulls, as always, and I found a large seagull feather. I walked north of the pier to those rocks that jut out into the ocean. Many rocks are covered with the California Mussel (Mytilus californianus) which are 2 � 10 inches long purple bivalves, larger than any other mussel. Then as I was walking back to the pier, I saw my mother and Cindy. We didn�t have anything to put the shells in so we put them in my father�s baseball cap in the trunk. We got in the car. I wanted to go to Cambria, but the stores don�t open until 10:00, so we decided to first go see the elephant seals, and then look at the stores in Cambria.
On the way to Cambria, we drive through Harmony, which is a city with a population of 18. It originally was a creamery. Then it was a hippie commune. Then it was set up for tourists. They sell pottery. They used to have a cat named Freddy. In 1999, my mother bought a triangular cat sculpture there for $200.
Then we drove through Cambria, although the stores were not open. They had a lens from a French lighthouse. We drove past the expensive hotels that are near the ocean. My mother pointed one out she had stayed in called the Sea Otter Inn. Then we kept driving north. We drove past the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. We kept driving until we reached a place called Ragged Point. I had never been there before. My mother had been there last May. Then we turned around and drove south until we reached the place where they have the elephant seals. We got out and walked to the lookout point. They had extended the lookout farther south than it had been originally. As we were walking down the path, I couldn�t see them. Then as we got closer, I suddenly saw a large group of elephant seals sunning themselves on the beach. You look down on them from up high. They used to go to a tiny uninhabited island near San Francisco. Then all of a sudden, for some unknown reason, they started coming here. Among the Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris), the males weigh up to 4,500 pounds, and the females weigh up to 1,500 pounds. They are the largest species of seal. The more famous smaller seals you also see at the beach are called Harbor Seals.
Then we continued driving south. We drove through San Simeon. The grocery that had opened in the 19th Century was closed for remodeling. We passed the entrance to Hearst Castle. We could not see the castle itself. Hearst Castle, filled with expensive artwork, was built by the wealthy publisher William Randolph Hearst who willed it to the state of California when he died in 1951. Construction took place from 1919 to 1947. On the Beach Vacation in 1994, we went on tour #4 where you see the wine cellar. The only other time I went through it was on the Beach Vacation during 6th grade. We also drove by the giant hotels where the international tourists stay.
Then we got back to Cambria at 10:00 which is when the stores supposedly open, although some didn�t actually open until slightly later. Cambria is made to look like a quaint English village. Many of the buildings are painted to look like half-timbered cottages. They have a green for lawn bowling. Cambria is like a fine oil painting where the colors cascade through each other in harmonious serendipity. The art galleries and boutiques jostle each other in a dynamical poetry of architecture amid herb gardens, hand-made crafts, and flapping windsocks. Jerry Hulse, Travel Editor of the Los Angeles Times, said, �Cambria is a poem of pine-covered hills and crashing surf, of velvet headlands and peaceful pasturelands, a symphony of sights and scent and ocean rumbling.� We walked down the street and looked at the stores. The Soldier Factory was not open yet so we decided to look at the other stores and come back later. We went in a new store called Artifacts that had a large amount of expensive artwork. They had prints of famous paintings. They had artwork from Disney and Warner Brothers. They had an ugly thing with �I Love Lucy�. They had paintings of American Indians. There was a picture of three cats whose whiskers were different colors. They had sculptures that looked like masks. They had a large ceramic frog statue that cost $6,000. It was the most expensive thing we saw on the trip. The Passat only cost five times as much. Also, it was very precariously balanced on the edge of a table. We wondered what if a small child accidentally knocked it off?
We went in a store called Reining Cats and Dogs that sells cat and dog memorabilia. They had more dog stuff because people make dog merchandise for each breed. The woman that owns it said, �Are you a cat person?� Cindy mumbled, �yeah�, and she said, �I heard yeah, that�s good.� We went in a coffee shop. Last May, my parents were here, and my mother had coffee with whipped cream on top, which gave her food poisoning, so she was sick for the rest of the trip. We went in several other stores. We went in the toy store. They sold old-fashioned toys. They sold a terrarium to keep frogs in. Then we went to the Soldier Factory. Actually, the current name is the Soldier Gallery. They sell pewter figures. Over the years, we bought their entire collection of Lord of the Rings figures. It used to be during Parkview and high school that whenever we went to the beach, we would get a new Lord of the Rings man. Of course, now they have so much other stuff. They sell books on different battles and armies. They have pictures of different battles from the Civil War and World War II. They had small dragons from the Summit Collection, which is the company that made by dragon and mermaid statues. They had a faerie like the one we ordered through a catalog. We also past by where the Golden Lion used to be. I remember I used to love going to the Golden Lion. It was as close to a British pub as you can create in the United States.
After that, we drove to Cambria beach which is called Moonstone Beach. Before you get to the beach, there�s a park. It�s not possible to swim at the Cambria beach because of the undertow. Therefore, they built a swimming pool at the park. There were kids starting swimming lessons when we were there. They also have play equipment in a sandy area. Then we walked down to the beach. Instead of sand, it�s more like gravel. During 6th grade Beach Vacation, Uncle Rick and us looked through those rocks for agates which are semi-precious stones. Milk-white agates are sometimes called �moonstones� which is the origin of the name of the beach. We walk along the Cambria beach. There was a fat woman flying a blue and red kite. Like all beaches, it was strewn with seaweed, and I pop one of those floater things on it. We go back to the car and leave Cambria. We go back to Cayucos. We get treats at that small grocery, and take them to our hotel. I get a chocolate milk and fig newtons.
Next we drove to San Luis Obispo. The city of San Luis is the only city at the beach that doesn�t actually border the ocean. It has one of the California Missions, which is now surrounded by Mission Plaza. I remember walking through Mission Plaza before I knew what it was or where it was. It was just the place where on the ground you have these squares of cement outlined with small squares of red tile in a grid pattern. We parked as close as we could to Mission Plaza and walked to it. We didn�t come in the front so I had to first walk to the front and start there. Near the front is a fountain with a bear statue, and there was a group of Mexicans sitting at it. We walked along and past the place where you have the steps cut into the hillside. We reached the thing with American flags on it. We then went in the art museum. They had a wide variety of artwork, including watercolors and abstract sculptures. There was an abstract sculpture that had a motor attached to it that caused parts to spin around. Another sculpture was supposed to be a bra. The artworks had prices on them so you could buy them. We went upstairs where they had some paintings that weren�t very good. One of the beach looked like it was painted by Keith�s mother. Another looked like a painting of flowers my mother did in high school. We then left the art museum and walked down to the creek. There were kids playing on the rocks. We went in the glass store that used to be a toy store. Outside there used to be a bear that blew bubbles. Inside there was a cat that had both ears cut off. I didn�t look at it because I didn�t want to see it. We walked by a restaurant called The Network where there was a woman singing. In the breezeway were studios where artists did nude portraits. Then we continued walking around downtown. We walked by trendy restaurants and clothing stores. We went in the toy store. They had wooden trains were the cars were connected by magnets. They had Legos. I went upstairs. They had equipment for sports such as Frisbee golf. In one section, they had children�s books and a Raggedy Ann. It had a striking resemblance to a dream I once had, and I wondered if I got it from there. The only other store we went in was a store that had cat and dog stuff, meaning products for the animals themselves. They had cat furniture in the front. We had a hard time finding our car. Finally, we found our car and left.
San Luis Obispo is the home of Cal Poly state college. My parents and my sister went there. Whenever we go to the beach, we drive through Cal Poly so that�s what we did next. I remember going to the Poly Royals. We past the library which is unpainted concrete. Hanging from the ceiling in the entry hall of the library is a large knitted sculpture of DNA. We drove past the old wooden dorms my father stayed in. We passed the engineering building where my father was a janitor. We drove up to the agricultural part where we saw horses and pigs. You could take your horse to college and board it in the stables. When Cindy was there, she joined the polo club so she could ride the horses, although she never played the game. Then we left. After we left, I remembered that I did not see the letter �P� on the mountain. Then we drove back so we could see the letter �P� on the mountain. Then we left Cal Poly, and left San Luis Obispo. Also in San Luis Obispo is Bubblegum Alley, which is an alley where the walls are covered with used chewing gum.
After that, we continued driving south. We went past Shell Beach, where artists paint the ocean. Then we went to Pismo Beach. It was by far the most crowded place we would go to on the vacation. The number of people per unit area on Pismo Beach is probably ten times that of the Cayucos Beach near the pier, and the rest of Cayucos Beach usually has no one on it, except an occasional person walking by. Also, the average income of people at Pismo Beach seemed much lower. You could tell these people spent the entire day at the beach. There were kids jumping around in swimsuits. We walked along the pier. At the beginning of the pier was a compass painted on the ground. You think of the beach as running north-south but actually the longitude lines are about 45 degrees from the beach. The sides of the pier at Pismo Beach aren�t straight. At several places, they stick out like the sides of a diamond. There was a place selling cheap popcorn. There were Islamic women in full costume. At the end of the pier was a pile of fish. Some were flapping around still alive. We walked back. There were people surfing. Most of the people in the water were wearing wet suits because the water is actually quite cold. Near the bathroom, there was a girl bending over while putting shorts on, and her one-piece suit hung away from her skin, exposing her bare breasts. I remember on the last Beach Vacation, in 1997, my sister Cindy was playing in the waves at Cayucos wearing a black one-piece swimsuit, not noticing that her right breast had come out of her suit.
Then we got in our car, and drove north. On the way back, we drove through the city of Los Osos, which translates as �The Bears�. We drove through Morro Bay State Park. We went back to our room where we watched Chris Matthews and Geraldo.
I suggested that we go to the Polynesian restaurant for dinner but my mother said it was too expensive, and suggested we go there for lunch on the 3rd day, and that for dinner we should go to a pizza place she saw near the beach. I wanted to have a real dinner at restaurant but I agreed. However, when we reached the pizza place, it was tiny. It was just a counter that sold single slices of pizza for people to eat while walking on the beach. Therefore, instead we decided to go to Schooner�s Warf. The last time we were at the beach, during the 1997 Beach Vacation, we had lunch there. Schooner�s Warf has a huge nautical theme. It�s filled with thousands of ship or ocean related things hanging from the ceiling and covering every surface. We first walked through the courtyard. There was a turning waterwheel. They had a fake whale skeleton. We went upstairs. First my mother accidentally went in their bar. Then we went inside and went downstairs to the restaurant. We sat at a booth. The room was filled with all sorts of nautical paraphernalia. There was a potato sack hanging from the wall next to our booth. There were oars on the wall. There were three dimensional skulls and crossbones on top of posts. Near the front door was a statue of a sea captain. There were ropes and nets hanging from the ceiling. Places with this sort of ship theme are not representing any specific time period. They have stuff from medieval Europe to the early 20th Century, as well as pure fantasy elements. I ate their garlic bread. I had fish and curly fries. My mother paid with a credit card. I took the left over curly fries back to our hotel. When we got back to our room, we just went to bed.
The next morning was the 3rd day. I got a Coke from the vending machine. I ate the rest of the curly fries. I wrote down the names of the knots on the wallpaper in my room. We transferred the shells from the hat to a small paper bag. We checked out of our room. We got gas at a gas station near the pier. The gas station attendant was a fat man with tattoos. My mother didn�t know how to work the gas pump so he did it for her. I had no yet walked on the beach without shoes so I wanted to do that. I took off my shoes, and left them in the car. My mother and sister came with me. We walked along the beach north of the pier. We reached the rocks. I rolled up my pants to my knees. It was great to be able to walk through the water, and have the water come up around my feet. I looked at the tidal pools. We saw many hermit crabs. I climbed out on the rocks. I saw a sea anemone with a hermit crab in the middle of it. I touched it, and it started closing, and the hermit crab scurried out of it. We then started walking back. We saw several sand pipers which are shore birds with very long beaks. They stick their beaks in the sand to eat insects. I chased one of them, and it squawked and flew away. When two others saw it leaving, they squawked and flew after it. I washed my feet off in the showers near the bathroom. We went back to our car.
Then we drove south. We went to Morro Strand which is a campground near the beach. We past a check point. People were camping in tents and old trailers. This is probably the cheapest way to stay overnight at the beach. Once Grandpa stayed there when he was 18 years old. We then drove into Morro Bay. When we first entered the city, we saw a brown tabby in the meatloaf position in a vacant lot. We drove around Morro Bay. We saw the Tiger�s Folly. We drove up to the Rock, and we saw people surfing on the beach just north of the Rock. We then drove south to a park at the southern end of Morro Bay. We got out and walked around. We watched kids play on play equipment in a sandy area that included a large pirate ship. I had never seen it before but I remembered reading about it when I was looking at Internet sites about the central coast. They had information plaques for people to read. You could see fishing boats in the harbor, so there was one about fishing boats. The fishing boats that have a large spool on the back are called siemers. There was one information board about sea otters that claimed that sea otters were the most intelligent animal in the ocean. It was almost as if it had been written by Aunt Linda. It was ridiculous.
Then we drove back to that new store called Under the Sea Gallery next to the Southern Port Trader. I wanted to buy fantasy art. I looked through their pictures. They had many good ones so it was hard to choose. I finally chose a picture of a faerie that also had a giant face made of leaves. I also got three blank greeting cards with fantasy art. They were a dragon, a unicorn, and two nude little girl faeries building a sandcastle. Cindy got a pewter seal. Then we drove through Morro Bay State Park. We drove through the golf course and the camp ground. This is the only California state park that includes a golf course. Then we went to an antique store that used to be an old house. In the main room was a fireplace with a roaring fire, and two birdcages. One had two bright yellow canaries, and the other had a brown and yellow canary. In the main room was a rocking horse made to look like a carousel horse. Then we went to another store that had arts and crafts, and all kinds of junk. It looked like a yard sale. They had old toys. They had used books. I looked at a used book on how to get your kids into modeling and acting.
Then we drove back to Cayucos, and went in their largest antique store which was called Remember When. It was three stories tall and filled top to bottom. In the past, we got a plate of Princess Diana there. Cindy looked through old records. My mother pointed to an ugly handmade doll that looked like something she had once made. We also saw a mouse that looked like a mouse cookie jar we had once had. Then we went and got chocolate covered frosties. I remember getting these when I was really little. However, the last time we were at the beach, which was the last Beach Vacation in 1997, we didn�t get them. They are vanilla covered with chocolate but you have to eat them fast because they melt. My mother didn�t finish hers but threw it away because it was getting too messy. A man asked us where we got them. He must not be very familiar with Cayucos if he doesn�t even know where the frosties are sold. We walked by the beach, not on the sand, but on the other side of the wall. On the beach, there was a guy trying to do parasailing. He had a light blue parachute attached to himself and was trying to lift off the ground although he couldn�t do it when we were there. We popped into a shop where the woman who owned it was saying how it�s so expensive a bed and breakfast that you have to charge so much that few people will pay that much, so it�s very difficult to make a profit.
Then we drove back to Morro Bay. We had lunch at the Polynesian restaurant which is called the Harbor Hut. They had four tikis outside, and what looks like a cast iron cauldron. The rafters are painted to look like angry fish. There was a gray cat sleeping on one of the wooden outdoor tables. It was a fat gray cat that let anyone touch her. I walked up and petted her. We had to wait a long time for our food. We sat outside at a table overlooking the bay. We had a great view of the Rock. I got a hamburger. We all shared an order of curly fries. We could see seagulls and pelicans nearby. While I was eating, I saw a harbor seal pop up out of the water. I pointed it out but it was gone before anyone else saw it. Then two brown harbor seals came up, and stayed above the water long enough for the others to see. A little blonde boy inside the restaurant was very excited to see them. He ran outside to get a closer look but by the time he came out, they were gone. I deeply treasured just being there. There were a bunch of curly fries left so I took them back to the car when we left. Then we left Morro Bay. We drove through Atascadero.
In the hills just east of the beach are dozens of wineries. Going wine tasting is one of the things we do when he go to the beach. When we stay at Cayucos for a week, we usually spend one day doing nothing but wine tasting. Uncle Rick is obsessed with wine, so when he�s there, he�s in charge of the wine tasting. If we go to the beach for a shorter time, we usually go to at least one. Therefore, I wanted to stop at a winery. On the way back, we stopped at a winery called Martin-Weyrich. They had the main wine tasting room, a room filled with merchandise, and a room with a table and barrels. Outside they had a courtyard. They had all kinds of wine paraphernalia for sale. Obviously, the whole place had a wine motif. They had a bunch of books, on such subjects as how to run a wine bar, or about ice cream and sherbet. They had a book about basal olive oil. My mother and Cindy did wine tasting. I never taste wine personally. I ate some of the little pieces of bread they had sitting out. There was a little girl eating it also. The men�s restroom was out of order. There was a sign on it saying to use the women�s restroom. My mother bought two wines. Then we left. After that, we drove home. We arrived home at 4:00 pm on Friday.
On the vacation, we went in a lot of art galleries. Some of them were stores but you would not be any more likely to buy something than when walking through the Fresno Art Center. On the vacation, we saw a lot of pelicans, more than any previous time that I remember. Many were not afraid of people at all. We saw a wide variety of other birds including seagulls, sand pipers, black birds, black birds with white chests, and two types of canaries. We saw two cats, the brown tabby in the meatloaf position, and the fat gray cat at the Harbor Hut. I am not counting the cat with no ears since it was too gross to look at. There were lots of dogs everywhere. There were dogs running on the beach. We also saw horses, pigs, elephant seals, harbor seals, squirrels, a deer, and a rabbit.
On both evenings, and the morning of the 2nd day, my father called us on the small black cellular phone. It would ring by playing "The Entertainer" in the form of little beeps. My mother had a hard time hearing what my father was saying. He would call, and my mother couldn't make out what he was saying so she would hang up, and then he would call again, and this happened over and over again on both nights we were there. There was a telephone in our hotel room but for some reason, my mother didn't see it until the 2nd day. When my sister first suggested that we might go to the beach, my father flew into a hysterical rage, so much so that my mother was afraid to tell him that we were going. Now, when he was on the phone, he said that he might take the Amtrak to San Luis Obispo, and then take a local bus to Cayucos. I think the real reason is because he just didn't trust my mother being there without him. He had a very low opinion of her driving ability, which I thought was unwarranted. He kept saying that he was "worried". Worried of what? Why should he be more worried if she was staying at a hotel without him, then she would be if he was staying in a hotel without her, which he did all the time? This could be interpreted as sexist. He also said that he hated Cayucos. He had such a bad attitude; he would have ruined the vacation if he had been there. My mother managed to convince him not to try to come.
When we arrived home, my father was still at work which was good. I put the stuff away. I put the thing with the flags of the world in front of my closet near the Soviet flag. I put the fantasy art on my dresser. We took out the statue of Shiva which had been wrapped in bubble wrap, and we put it with the Ganesha statue. I then wrote this paper on what we did on the trip.