Monday, Jan 29, 2024 - Morro Bay CA to Sacramento CA

Deb here. Today we decided to turn inland and see what central CA looks like. Jake and Nath are talking about a move to the Sacramento area eventually, and we wanted to see what that area is all about.

After leaving Morro Strand State Beach we continued north on the coast, traveling through Cuyugos and then Cambria. We’d been told that Cambria’s a charming town, and Rafiki had mentioned Moonstone Beach (just north of Cambria), so we veered off of Rt 1 and on to business Rt 1 for a detour through town. I think Cambria was one of the prettiest towns we’d seen, with historic buildings and lots of apparent pride in their little town. Last night on the menu I’d seen a reference to olallieberry pie, a specialty in the

area, and I’d read that Lin’s in Cambria had the goods. We stopped there, had some great conversations with the folks working in the restaurant, and picked up a piece of olallieberry pie and 2 forks to go. We took our pie to Moonstone Beach and sat on a bench overlooking the ocean and eating our pie for breakfast. Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?!

We then backtracked a few miles south and picked up Rtes 41 and 46 east, which turned out to be an absolutely stunning road. Gorgeous green undulating hills, the ocean in the distance, and blue skies. Who knew that CA offered such vistas?

Once inland we traveled on Rte 101 for a while, eventually picking up Rt 5 as we headed north. John had been curious to see what agriculture there is in this part of CA and he had his fill today. Some citrus (lemons and oranges), some vineyards, but primarily nut trees. Pistachios, almonds, and walnuts all grown here as far as the eye can see. We got off of Rt 5 for a stretch, driving on a parallel road that passed through small towns, and saw some small towns in varying shapes of prosperity. We commented that the area looked a lot more like the midwest, with flat landscape and small towns, than it did California.

As we neared Sacramento we picked up some traffic, but fortunately we weren’t in any complete standstills. I’d booked us a room at the Arden Star Hotel, since I couldn’t find a lot of public campgrounds in the area. We checked in at 5:30, had dinner at the nearby Habit Grill (great beyond burgers), and went back to the hotel for showers and to watch a couple of more episodes of The Terminal List before bed.