Redemption

Morro Rock

Given how our kayaking adventure in Hawaii turned out last summer, you might think that I would not pick up a paddle ever again. And yet, there we were at the marina in Morro Bay State Park at 9:00AM this morning, getting ready to embark on a half-day kayak tour with Central Coast Outdoors.

However, this time I was hopeful that our experience would be much better than the last one since the waters of Morro Bay are protected from the open ocean by a four-mile long sandspit. And I was assured that the sit-inside kayaks are much harder to tip over than the sit-on-top kind. 

For COVID precautions, the tour company required masks and physical distancing until we were out on the water in the kayaks, which we really appreciated. Since M was the most experienced paddler, once again he was stuck partnered with me. (Thanks for looking out for your mama, son!) The temps were cool and the skies overcast when we started out, so it was really comfortable.

 

Our guides Jen and Craig were great, pointing out various birds and sea animals as we paddled around the estuary.

Sea otter

California brown pelicans

Harbor seals

We eventually made our way over to the sandspit, where we beached the kayaks and hiked over the dunes to the Pacific Ocean. 

On our way back, the boys had a lot of fun jumping off the dunes (and capturing it frame-by-frame for the perfect shot). Then we hopped back in to our kayaks and set off for the short paddle across the bay to the dock. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, we all had a great time on this tour! Highly recommend it!

Having worked up a good appetite, after the tour we decided to stick around and eat a late lunch at Bayside Cafe, right next to the marina. Good seafood! 

Bubblegum Alley (ewww!)

Our last stop for the afternoon was downtown San Luis Obispo for (what else?!) ice cream from McConnell's and a photo op at...

Just want to add that I was really impressed with what we observed in San Luis Obispo regarding COVID safety precautions and accommodations for businesses. Everyone was properly wearing a mask - none of the "I'm technically wearing a mask, so what if it only covers my chin" crowd. Some streets had been closed to thru traffic so that restaurants could expand their outdoor seating. Salons and barbershops were cutting hair outside. And there were tables and chairs in the plaza in front of the mission, staffed by someone who wiped everything down after people left. Great job, SLO!