Were still keeping things local as our toddler is yet to be vaccinated. This is helping me find gems in driving distance. This holiday season, were headed to San Luis Obispo area for some animal fun!
We stopped by Casa de Fruta to chop up the drive. It is this that has Casa de everything from hotel to gas station. Weve passed by it gazillion times but never occurred to us to even give it a tryuntil a tot joined us. This is the second time for us and it turned out to be an amazing place; amazing for the and not too painful for us. First of all, there are peacocks, ducks, and roosters roaming around. We didnt see them this time but there were tons of turtles in the pond in June. Second of all, this place is lined with antique tractors and farm equipment. Although not my speed, there are also Casa de choo choo train and Last but not least this carnival has no entrance fee. Impressive since the pumpkin patches of this caliber are charging $10 just to enter these days. But Ys favorite
is the red caboose hands down! Hed been asking about the red train since June. But now that hes connected this to the red caboose from the Berenstain Bears book, this has gained some notches in his world. We went to check out the steam engine train on the other side of the parking lot but he wanted right back to the caboose. So much so that he ran, tripped on a slight ramp, and his cheek landed on the metal steps of the caboose! Scary. The trip is beginning with bruised cheek but so glad it didnt go beyond that.
The crowd was spotty and it was a good time to hop on the train. It was a long journey for $5 through fallen leaves, mural buildings, rail crossing, and even a tunnel decked up with Christmas light. All this while the conductor gave a guided tour on the microphone. We had lunch while peacocks and roosters roamed around. The time flew by. It was past noon. Time to head south.
Y napped through the stretch to Paso Robles. We arrived at Capaldi Ranch shortly past 2 pm. Our home for the
next two nights, aka trailer, was hard to see at first as it was tucked away behind the walls. It is super private and the deck had a grand view of the hills, wow! A friendly cat greeted us and stuck around during our stay. Initially, Y had a hard time figuring this new place out and surprisingly acted terrified of the cat. But after playing on a cart for a bit, Y jumped off of it when V decided to go see alpacas close. The flood gate was wide open. Y started feeding hay pieces and half of his body was inside the fence. Do you want more? Eat this. Please eat this. Aww. When alpacas were full, Y moved on to the junkyard and had a ball. We had a full moon view from the deck and the longhorns up to the gate right in front of the parking.
Capaldi Ranch RV was super stocked with amenities. It even had toys that Y was crazy about! For me, you cant beat the convenience of having the kitchen for a hot drink. We didnt get to see the
sunrise in the thick fog but we went on for a morning stroll. So amazing to be able to say hi to the longhorns, alpacas, horse, pony, ducks, chickens, goats, sheep, and one big turkey. This turkey was hilarious! He was the only one out of the pen and followed us all around the pen with watchful eyes ?
We grabbed breakfast back in the trailer and headed out shortly after 8 am. Destination: Piedras Blancas Friends of the Elephant Seal. It was a nice 45min ride up the hills that dropped into the coast. The view point parking lot was still just 5 cars deep. started right at parking. The sight of the first elephant seal was shocking!! I mean these guys are ginormous, nothing like the seals at Fishermans Wharf. The viewing deck extends south along the beach and there are so many more seals laying around. Amazing! Right off the bat, a bully guy boink boinked his way to the crowded area and chased them awaywow.
Y had so much energy that he started running, continued on Boucher Trail, almost all the way to the lighthouse. That makes it ~1.
