Picked up our snacks to go,,
Spittin' rain, folks in open cars really bundled up,,,
Or even more bundled up,,,,,
Those of us with tops, less bundling required,,,
Mustard in bloom everywhere, beside the road, on the sides of the mountains, really pretty,,,
Vast fields of snow peas, strawberries and cabbages and unidentifiables. The fields we drove thru had thousands of workers, I grabbed this quick picture on the fly.
Our destination for the day, Oceano Dunes State Beach.
Our group (Santa Clara) had to get the full experience, so down the beach we went, 6 little T's all in a row, for miles I might add. My thought, as long as the cars in front of me don't get stuck, I will keep going, despite the voice I kept hearing, "I think we should turn around, this is scary!!"
The sand was packed down pretty hard, not bad at all, but the state does groom it for the vehicle traffic. David led the group, I was third. Eventually we came to the end of the hardpack sand and I saw David sink in. I immediately tried for a U-turn with the following result,,,,
The second victim of the soft sand,,,,, a little deeper, more people required....
Our fearless leader was stuck so deep, we couldn't push him out by hand, so a quad driver volunteered for a tow,,,
That didn't work, so a big gun arrived,,,, 4wd and a big engine,, no problem,,,
Freed from the sand, our intrepid group of beachbums went off to find lunch. Where else but a vintage railcar diner?
Good burgers, fast and reasonable, happy group.
Rest of day was uneventful, no major problems, just don't ask me about Lost in Lompoc... Gps vs iphone vs map vs local advice,,,,,, We found a coin wash to wash the salt off the cars, and a little parking lot maintenance was conducted. I'm sure the stories will get bigger later......
