Pismo, July 2-10th

For the past 10 years or so, almost every summer Josh and I spend a week in Pismo.  We have only missed two summers, the first when we were remodeling our house and the second was last summer when our close friends got married on the 4th.  Thirty-five years ago Josh's grandfather purchased a share at Pismo Coast Village, a resort where people take their RV's, travel trailers and tent trailers and "camp", well we like to call it "fancy camping", anyway the share get passed down to Josh's dad and we get to enjoy it too!  We have all the comforts of home, fridge, washer/dryer, wireless internet and what makes it a real vacation is cable TV.  We spend lots of time outside by the fire, the beach and this time we brought our bikes and the bike trailer so we went riding a lot!

We got the car packed up Friday morning the 2nd and hit the road.  While packing Abi was going through things in her room and wanted to wear a winter hat.  She was being sooooo goofy running around the house in her PJ's and her hat. 

We couldn't get to the beach fast enough!  This year David and Denise joined us for the weekend and we all got to the trailer at the same time.  Josh's parents were staying in a hotel for the weekend, and Randy, Monica and the kids were at the trailer all week but then stayed in Santa Maria for the weekend to make room for the rest of us.  We spent some time at the trailer then drove to San Louis for dinner and a trip to BevMo to get some good stuff for our vacation.

We took it pretty easy on Saturday, went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner, and just spent the afternoon relaxing at the trailer during nap time.  I made chicken tortilla soup for dinner and it was nice to enjoy soup in the summer but since it was only 65 degrees that day, soup hit the spot.  Below are a few pictures of our home away from home, at 38 1/2 feet long it is pretty roomy but can get a little cramped when a lot of people are there.

Sunday morning we went for a bike ride to the outlets.  The outlets are not that far and it was a nice ride.  After lunch we again stuck around the trailer during nap time and prepared for our yummy dinner of grilled pizza.  Everyone else joined us that afternoon and spent time together before the fireworks started.  In Pismo on the 4th, you don't drive anywhere if you can help it and if you do you can't find anywhere to park.  In Pismo Coast Village there is very limited parking so the days leading up to the 4th we try to move any cars that are staying into other parking stalls in the park to free up space at the trailer.  This year we had no luck finding other parking but we were successful in fitting 5 cars at the trailer, I think that was a record!

Around 9:00 the "official" fireworks started but before that all the illegal ones were being launched from the beach.  The pre-show was pretty good and Abi got to enjoy it, but once the fireworks started from the pier Abi was fast asleep in my arms.  She slept the whole time, it was great!  Denise, David and Aaron all said that they plan on being in Pismo for the 4th next year and we're working on getting my parents there next year too!
Monday morning Josh, Abi, and I wanted to take Denise, David and Aaron to Montana de Oro State Park to hike around and enjoy the beautiful coast line.  We parked the cars at a trail head that follows the cliffs and takes you down to a cove with tide pools.

Abi had so much fun riding around in her backpack and spending time with her daddy!  The tide pools were pretty cool, I found lots of crabs and quite a few sea stars.  The rock formations around Montana de Oro are really unique, it's amazing to see what God has created for us!
After hanging out at the tide pools we went to a burger joint that Josh and I were introduced to 10 years ago called Sylvester's in Los Osos.  It serves up great, huge burgers and is a local favorite!  Everyone else enjoyed it too and I think we'll all eat there again together.  Denise and David headed home after lunch and Aaron went back to Pismo with us.  Aaron stayed for dinner and drove home that night.  It was so great to have some of my family around this year but was also nice to enjoy part of our week just Josh, Abi and I.
Tuesday morning we went to Availa Valley Barn to see the animals and enjoy browsing the farmers market.  After wondering around a bit we drove to the beach and spent some time at the play gound at Avila Beach and ate a picnic lunch.  That night we walked to the pier and watch the sun set.

Wednesday we went to San Louis and just enjoyed walking through downtown.  That night we drove to Santa Maria to see Josh's cousin Paul and his wife Allison.  They were getting ready to move to a new house and we thought it would be better to go to them since they were busy moving.  We had a great dinner, time hanging out and talking about their upcoming baby that will be coming early next year.

Thursday we spent time on the beach in Pismo, Abi LOVED the beach.  We have taken her to the beach a few times in her short life and most of the times she hasn't truly enjoyed being on the sand, but this time was different.  I think she is the right age, the weather was perfect and she wasn't in need of a nap.  We played in the sand and tried to build a sand castle, ran in the water and just had a blast as a family.

Thursday afternoon my Mom came over to spend the last 2 nights with us before heading home.  That night I finally got to eat at a restaurant that I have wanted to eat at for the last 10 years, The Cracked Crab.  We haven't eaten there before for 2 reasons, first Josh doesn't like seafood and second it isn't the cheapest place to eat.  We finally got to eat there for 2 reasons, first, my Mom came and second she was treating.  I have always wanted to eat somewhere that serves food directly onto the table, no plates needed!  They served awesome snow crab legs, jumbo shrimp, muscles, sausage, corn on the cob and red potatoes all steamed together in a huge pot and dumped onto the table ready to eat!  It was delicious, my Mom and I shared the bucket of seafood and Josh ordered a steak.  Abi had lots of fun watching us crack crab that she decided that she wanted to "crack" her face.

Friday morning my mom and I set out for the outlets to get some shopping done while Josh stayed back at the trailer to get some work done.  We got some great deals and had fun, just us girls!  We met Josh for lunch and he took Abi back to the trailer for a nap.  Then my mom and I headed to Morro Bay to shop at The Cotton Ball.  It is much easier to look at fabric without Abi and it was nice to hang out with just my mom.  After an afternoon of shopping we went back to the trailer and enjoyed a yummy pasta dinner and a night by the fire.  It was a great last night of vacation!
Saturday morning we packed everything up and drove home to the HEAT!!!  We had a great time in Pismo and it was so nice to spend some as a family but also spend it with most of our extended family too!  Can't wait for next year when more family will join us there.