Today is theme day for City Daily Photo Bloggers, and this month's theme is nature. That's a pretty hard topic to narrow down to just a few shots. Most of my posts on this blog are about nature. I will limit this post to shots of three of my favorite nature subjects: sunset, the Cambria coast, and trees.
I never get tired of sunsets. It's hard to choose just one to share here, but there are more in my other posts. See smoky sunsets during last year's Chimney Fire here. You can find photos of the Salinas River at sundown here. I took these shots during sundown from the Steinbeck Winery. The shots below were taken in my own neighborhood.
Sunset in my Neighborhood
This shot contains two of my favorite nature subjects -- trees and the sunset.
One can approach the ocean from Paso Robles in many ways. Probably the closest beaches to Paso Robles are Cambria, San Simeon State Beach, and Cayucos. Continue south on Highway 1 or take 101 to Highway 41 to reach Morro Bay. Just a bit farther south and you will be at Avila Beach and Pismo Beach.Each beach and coastal city has its own unique character, and most locals have a preferred beach where they like to access the ocean. My personal favorite is Moonstone Beach, and next would be Avila Beach. The photo essays I just linked to will show you an extensive look at each beach in photos and videos as I experienced them. I will introduce some different and more recent photos here. I'm glad the ocean is only a short distance from Paso Robles, and I can get to any of my favorite beaches quickly. One of my favorite places to access the ocean in Cambria is Leffingwell Landing. Below are some of the reasons why.
Leffingwell Landing is one place where I can go with Hubby, who has difficulty walking very far, where he can sit and watch the ocean while I walk the boardwalk and we are both happy. There are also restrooms easily accessible. I think the sun is in his eyes in this photo.
Leffingwell Landing is a place where children can be active while getting their own personal taste of nature. I remember how my own children loved to climb on the rocks when we went to a beach that had them. They would have loved the Cambria coastline.
If you watch my video, you can hear the ocean at San Simeon, as well as see it.
Now we will move south to Cayucos. When I think of Cayucos I think of not only the ocean and the beach, but also the seaweed and the patterns formed by the waves on the sand.
Time to move south to Morro Bay now. Morro Bay's most famous landmarks are its smokestacks and Morro Rock. Since I'm focused on the ocean, I'll show you the rock. Since Morro Bay is a fishing village, it is usually surrounded by boats.
It's time to move on to Avila Beach, which actually is two beaches. There's the one near town with a more typical sandy beach, and there is also Port San Luis. These photos were taken at Port San Luis because there is more wildlife to look at. Below is a gull on the rocks deciding whether to go fishing.
Our last stop will be Pismo Beach. It's a popular beach with people and seagulls. Don't leave your picnic food unattended. It will soon be surrounded. This is what happened to one ice chest left by itself on the beach. It's like an airport restaurant for seagulls.
Here's a glimpse of people enjoying Pismo Beach near the pier.
Here are some of my more popular Zazzle products made from photos taken at Pismo Beach, in case you missed picking up a souvenir last time you were there.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it. The sharing buttons are just above the comment box at the end of this post. The photo below is especially designed for pinning.
This is my fifteenth post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is Things You Can See or Experience in North San Luis Obispo County. Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.
I think I've had cabin fever. Yesterday was the first time in over a year that I did not write any blog posts or spend time online. It was almost as though my brain just wanted to rest. So I let it. I read three books on my Kindle which weren't worth my time, watched a bit of TV, and stayed in bed a lot. I think I may have been half sick. For sure I was depressed.
Today we decided to get away for a few hours and break the routines I felt trapped in. First we went for lunch at Touch of Paso. We were the last to leave, so I took this picture just before we paid our bill. Hubby is still double-checking it.
After we had eaten, we headed down Highway 46 West to Highway 1 to Leffingwell Landing. I wish I could have stopped along the way to take photos of the cattle on the green hills which stretched all the way to the sea. It was clear enough today to actually get a glimpse of the ocean from the highway, but all the viewpoints were on the other side of the road. I was hoping to catch some of those views on the way home, but it didn't happen.
It was a beautiful day to be on the coast. It was warm enough to enjoy without sweater. The sky was very blue and clear. The waves were large enough to make some high sprays as they splashed on the rocks. I made a video I may share later in the week. I didn't see the way to the boardwalk so I mainly took my photos from the parking lot and the stairway to the beach. Since it ended on a huge rock, I didn't think it wise for me to go down to the beach via the rock. My knees weren't up to the rough surface. I did, however, get this photo from the parking lot.
People were friendly today and open to conversations with strangers. We met some people who lived in Fresno and they offered to take our picture together. We talked for a bit afterwards.
Just as we were getting ready to leave, another man pointed out some otters swimming some distance away. I would have missed them -- especially since my camera battery had just died and ended my being able to see through my zoom lens. I seem to have misplaced my spare camera and I couldn't find it before we left home, so I didn't get all the photos I'd hoped to get, including those I wanted to take of the hills on the way home.
It's amazing what a large dose of nature can do to combat depression. It sure beats talking to a therapist, is more fun, and a lot cheaper. I highly recommend it.
Once again it's theme day at City Daily Photo Blogs. This month the theme is "Shelter." I thought this would be the perfect time to show you this photo of the beach shelter someone built on the Summerland beach.
Summerland is one of my favorite beaches. It's located in Santa Barbara County. The beach can be accessed from Lookout Park. It's right off Interstate 101 if you are coming from the north. It makes a wonderful rest stop near Santa Barbara, since it has restrooms, a picnic area, a place to wash your dog, a playground, and benches in a grassy area. There's even a hiking trail. Best of all, it's free, and that includes the parking.
