Hanging Out With the Family

Once again we started the day without specific plans. We knew we'd spend the day with Jim's cousin, Beverly, and her parents, Ruth & Wayne. Jim and I went to Beverly's house and we all piled into Ruth & Wayne's van to go to breakfast. We decided to drive over to Cambria, a little town on the coast. We'll be having dinner at a restaurant there for New Year's Eve, and we wanted to check out the restaurant.

Here's a picture of Morro Rock - it's the little lump in the middle of the picture. This was taken from the "summit" we passed going west on 46 from the 101 to Highway 1.

First, we had to check out the shops in the little downtown area of Cambria. I found a bracelet in an antique shop that I liked so I got that. Bracelets don't weigh much, and they don't take up much room. Living in a motor home does require some adjustments to my shopping habits!

After the shopping excursion, Beverly instructed her dad to drive up to a place called the Nit Wit house. We saw the sign yesterday for the "Nit Wit' ridge, and wondered what that was about. It turns out to be a wacky house built into the side of a hill. I have no idea of the history of the place, but it definitely looks like it was built by a Nit Wit.

Here's the mail box - 881 Nit Wit Ridge

Here's a shot of part of the house, the whole thing wouldn't fit in one picture. There are shells worked into the rocks, toilets sitting everywhere, and just a hodge podge of stuff everywhere. It looks like it might have been built piece meal by a group of 1960's hippies indulging in a little of the culture of the times.

Then we wanted to go see the elephant seals again, so up the road we went. Here are a couple more pictures of these fascinating creatures.

I think I counted at least 20 seals in this picture.


From the elephant seal viewing area we could just see the Hearst Castle in the distance. We didn't have our 300 mm lense with us today, of course. But if you look closely, you can make out the castle on top of the hill. This is as close as we'll get to it this trip.

Back to Cambria, past the Sea Chest restaurant where we're having New Year's Eve dinner, and then to a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. By this time, we realized the dogs had been alone for about the limit of time we'll leave them, so we headed back. Wayne dropped me off at the motor home so I could take the dogs out. Jim had to go back to Atascadero to get the car. Oops, he's missing the beginning of the Patriots and Giants game. Thank goodness we have a dvr satellite receiver so we can rewind it.