Day 11 started off in the sleepy little town of Lompoc California.  We had no plans for the day so we took our time.  After a nice hot breakfast we hit the road.

First thing we came to was the Space Force Base!  We didn't have the GoPro on and didn't see it in time to get a picture.

We didn't even make it an hour up the PCH when we started seeing beaches...and vehicles driving on said beaches. 

Wait a minute, are we still in California???  Out of all the places in the world, this was my last guess for this type of activity.  Sure enough it was true!

Pismo Beach

I'd read about this place a long time ago in some VW forums.  The guys would cruise their buggies up and down the beaches and I remember thinking how cool it would be.  Now we're here!

It didn't take long and we found signs for camping and a State Park on the Ocean.  California was really blowing our mind.  Not even an hour drive from where we started the day and we're stopping again.

We headed into the State Park and set up camp.  They even allow you to camp on the beach with your vehicle.  There are no restroom facilities if you do that. 

If you stay in the park with walking trails to the beach, you have modern restrooms and showers.  With 40mph winds, we chose the latter of the 2. :)

After getting set up, we took at trip into town for a look around.  Right outside the State Park is this Butterfly Grove.  We missed the season but still found a few hanging around.

A short stroll around there and we got back on the road.  In town we found the local pier.  The waves were crashing against it with help from the high winds.

Just off the pier was all kinds of sea life.  We saw all sorts of birds, sea lions and seals.  They allowed fishing off the pier too!

Day 11 was overcast and another great day to relax.  We sat around our camp and enjoyed not being in a hotel.  Having the Ocean within walking distance was also nice.

We ended up finding some sand dollars.  23 of them to be exact!  This is the first time either of us found these in the "wild".  After a good soaking in Peroxide and Water, they turned out pretty good.

Day 12

Day 12 was much of the same.  Beach bums for half the day and then back into town.  We did find some cool art and murals around the Pier area.

The RoadTrip Chariot even got to dip her toes in the Ocean!

Another long day of hanging out at the beach deserves some good food.  One of our favorite things to do is cook over the open fire.  This steak was cooked to perfection!!!

We decided to take a walk down to the beach after dinner.  Good thing we did because it was a majestic sunset.

A perfect way to end the day!!!  Back to camp we headed to sit by the fire and gaze out at the stars.  This is our "extended stay" camping setup.  If we're staying longer than overnight we use this.  Single nights are spent in a backpacking tent that's fast setup and takedown.

That's all for Day 12. Thanks for following along and stay tuned to see what we find next!