Travels and Adventures: November 2005

On Saturday, I jumped into my car and headed on out to Santa Maria to see Chris. We headed on out to Avila Beach in the afternoon, but first we stopped off in Grover Beach to see the Monarch Butterfly Grove. The monarch butterflies stop off in Grover Beach on the annual migration to the north. Along the way, the females lay their eggs on milkweed plants which are the only plants the monarch caterpillars eat. Certain groups of monarchs migrate, while others stay in the same area their whole lives. The migratory monarchs can live up to 6 months while the other monarchs generally live only 6-8 weeks. You would think that such a concentrated group of butterflies would attract predators, but monarch butterflies are poisonous, and other animals generally avoid them as they will get sick if they eat them.

They like to hang out in groups in the eucalyptus trees. At first glance, they look like dead leaves fluttering about in the breeze. But as it warms up, the butterflies become active and fly around the grove. They can't fly at temperatures below 55 degrees, so they stay in the trees until it warms up. I could hardly believe that so many butterflies were in this one area at one time. There were some telescopes set up around the grove to allow a better view of them close up. I took some pictures and posted them below, also.

After the butterfly grove, we continued along the pathway which made its way out to the beach. It was a nice path and it went by a very nice campground as well. We took our shoes off and waded among the waves, which was something I hadn't done in years. The water was very cold, but it was still a lot of fun.

The next stop was Avila Beach. We walked out along the pier and saw a large group of very noisy sea lions. They sure were putting on a show. One large male seemed to be the dominant sea lion of the group. The others were on a constant state of struggle for territory on the small dock, which they had claimed to be their resting spot. Two of them in particular were pushing each other, taking turns pushing the other one off of the dock. They looked like little kids wrestling over a chair. There was another large group of sea lions taking up residence right below the pier. One large male was sitting there, not 10 feet below the pier, but he didn't seem to mind the people looking at him and taking his picture, although he did seem to mind it when other sea lions got too close to him. He would "yell" at them to let them know to back off.

After we walked the pier, we went down to Pirate's Cove. Well, we didn't go down on the beach, since it is a "clothing optional" beach. I suppose we could have, but I was more interested in the seals that were sitting on the rocks than naked people (hehe). Also, there was a nice cave in the rock...well, more like a big arch...which was very cool. As you walked up to it, you could see right through to the ocean. It was beautiful. Chris decided to be adventurous and climb on top of the cave, but I stayed down on the ground. I sat for a while and just watched the waves coming up below. It was quite a drop off to the ocean below, but I still felt pretty safe sitting there. There was a lot of poison oak along the trail, so it is best to stay on the trail than to go off and be an adventure-monger.

The next day, we went to Lake Osa Flaca, which is near Guadalupe. It is a nice trail that goes through a foresty-looking area, that leads to a boardwalk that goes right over the lake. There is also beach access, but you do have to walk about a mile to get to the beach, which we did. The trail is pretty flat for the most part, but there are areas where you have to walk through sand dunes. I got so much sand in my shoes. If I had been smarter, I would have taken off my shoes. The beach was pretty quiet there, but that was probably because it takes some effort to get to this beach, unlike others where you just park on the side of the road and go down some steps. Still, it was worth the walk. The day was beautiful, with temperatures in the low 80's. The sun was shining, and there was no fog. You could see out into the ocean for miles and miles.

After the beach, we went back to Santa Maria and went to Coldstone Creamery and got some ice cream, which was the perfect end to a great weekend. It was hard to believe that it was November, because the temperature was so warm. Of course, I took pictures and posted them below. Enjoy!