July 2, 2010  

           We are writing from a quaint little coffee shop in Shell Beach, from a friends laptop. This morning we walked into town from our beach front property at Pirate's Cove. We've been there since Wednesday night and are probably going to stay for the fourth of July. Hopefully our friend Chris will be able to meet up with us for some good times on the holiday!
            Our trip has been very fortuitous so far. We left Gaviota state beach with Morris and Melissa and hung out for the day at San Onofre Nort. After they left we decided to camp out there and leave in the morning. The beach was beautiful! We found a perfect little outcropping on the side of the bluffs which was really nice, just enough room for are tent and we didn't have to worry about high tide taking us out in the night.We had the privelage of seeing many dolphins, seals and sea birds. Unfortunately they are doing off shore drilling and there was tar all over the beach, very sad. The place was infested with ticks too. It was awful! they were everywhere! We're still finding them here and there, but at least we know Mai Tai's frontline is working because we're finding them dead.
            In the morning we took off on foot along the railroad tracks with our packs. It was very romantic, like something out of a movie or a dream. We stopped at Gaviota State Beach campsite again to stock up on supplies, and take showers. A nice lady working the store there let us charge our phone and told us about the surrounding area. She gave us directions to the hot springs right up the road and we decided to set off there. There was a rest area only a half mile up so we walked up there and started hitching for a ride. Ty started making some balloon art and a half hour later we had a ride with a guy who happened to be going to Gaviota hotsprings, right where we were headed. He walked us right to the spot, stayed for and hour and left. We stayed the night next to the springs, very beautiful setting, but a little scary at night. There was something walking right around our tent at night, I'm sure it was just a deer or coyote, but still a little creepy!
           The next morning we soaked in the warm pools and met a young biker from Florida named Bryan who was traveling South along the coast. He had started traveling in Vancouver, and was ending in San Diego. He ended up being good company and we chatted for an hour or so. We packed up after he left and hit the road again. We picked up a ride after an hour or so going North on the 101.
           This next ride was a young guy named Aaron who was working, and had to go to Santa Maria to pick up a part at a shop. Luckily for us he believes in karma and couldn't pass by our friendly waves. He drove us the 50 miles to Santa Maria and dropped us off at a gas station. I was very happy to see fresh strawberries being sold on the side of the road near by and bought a square for us to indulge upon. In Santa Maria we stocked up on top ramen and granola bars and grubbed on some delicious mexican food. Then we were off to the truck stop nearby to hitch a ride. I was nervous about hitching because we were right in the middle of town and there was a cop in the restaurant next door. We had good luck though! A nice forest ranger offered us water and gave Mai Tai a smokey the bear bandana, our first souvenir. We just started making a sign when a truck driver walked up with a bag of treats for Mai Tai and inquired about our destination. He offered to give us a ride to Pismo, which is where we were headed. Ty and I both wanted to see the sand dunes because we never have had the opportunity to.
          The truckers name was Richard and he was a friendly old hippy guy. He told us there was a spot in Pismo that he knew of that would be perfect to drop us off at. As we got more comfortable chatting it up he mentioned we could drive to Fresno with him to drop off his load and we'd be back in the morning. He obviously wanted some company! We just kind of laughed it off, but next thing we knew we were passing by Pismo beach and he was pointing out the spot he was talking about earlier. Then all the sudden we were passing by Avila Beach dr. the exit for Pirate's Cove in San Luis Obispo! I asked him where he was planning on dropping us off at, and he said "Oh, I thought you two were going to Fresno with me! Why didn't you say something? I'll go ahead and turn around for ya." (Little wierd) He was nice though and turned around to Avila Beach exit, we stopped and smoked with him until he was silly and then we were off again.
          We started walking the couple miles along Avila Beach dr. trying to hitch a ride. We had no luck, but before we knew it we were almost there, so we just continued walking until we got to the bottom of cave landing road. We were dreading the hike up, but before we even had time to stop, a cool cat named Nick came around the corner and told us to get in. We were stoked to get a ride up that hill after walking all that distance! We set up camp for the night and slept like babies! In the morning Nick treated us to pancakes and coffee at his mom's house. It was delicious, but when mom came home she wasn't to happy to find some random hitchhikers at her house and we had to leave. We helped Nick out with some gas, and he helped us out again with a couple gallons of water.
         Nick left and we spent a day in paradise. Ty blowin blues on the harmonica under the blue sky and sand was beautiful. He also drew an art piece on my back of a tree and landscape, it was very beautiful. We'll post pictures later. The water was incredible in the cove and the sun was bright and shiny all day! We went to bed early again, exhausted from playing in the sun. And here we are this morning, in town with our local friend Billy. Soon we'll be back at the beach doing it all over again! This is the life!!!!! Happy 4th of July to everyone, we love you!!! You'll hear from us again next time we have adequate internet access.
Love,
TTT