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Summer Breeze Makes You Feel Fine — In November
Locals often refer to fall on the Central Coast as summer. They are not really right, of course, but they aren’t wrong either. Today (November 7th) in Pismo has a high of 79 degrees compared with a...
View ArticleHoliday Treats in SLO South County
One of the nicest things about the holidays is that everyone is welcome. The time brings out the best in us, when giving truly is more important than receiving. There’s also a lot of community...
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Is New Year’s Just an Excuse for a Party?
Here’s the key point: New Year’s Day is an arbitrary date. Someone had to choose it, and make it stick. Now, January 1 is our tradition, and it’s hard to think of anything else. But it wasn’t...
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Alert! There’s A Dinosaur at Your Birdfeeder!
Photo by Bill Bouton Can you believe this? That Townsend’s warbler feasting at your backyard feeder is a direct descendants of dinosaurs. Really. Our thoughts sometimes turn to birds and nature this...
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Did You Spring Ahead or Fall Flat on Your Face?
Jump Right Over That Hour I don’t know anyone who actually likes changing to Daylight Savings time. It’s a hassle. You forgot how many clocks and watches you have that need adjusting, and most of them...
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Save This Wine Event Calendar
As we are writing this, a lot of lucky people are descending on Paso Robles wine country for the Vintage Paso – Zinfandel celebration (March 20 – 22), and we are too late to let you know! That’s our...
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Crazy Skinny Men on Wheels Ride Amgen into Pismo
The world of professional cycling is more than a little bizarre. Young people, some of whom look like a strong wind would blow them over, sit on unbelievably narrow, hard seats pedaling at top speed...
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San Luis Obispo Biking: Easy to Off-the-Charts Hard
I don’t bike a hundred miles at a time, but I know a lot of SLO residents who do. This county is just the perfect place for anyone who likes to spend time pedaling a cycle, either on the road or on the...
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Can You Get Wine without Water?
Well, “no” is the simple answer. In most of California, you need drip irrigation or some other form of irrigation to supplement rainfall. But with our historic drought in California, maybe the better...
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Surfing Wind and Waves in Pismo
Surfing is in the lifeblood of California culture, and in the bloodstream of a lot of CA citizens. From Beginners to Pros Seems like California kids (boys and girls) get on a surfboard from the moment...
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Welcome to the Clambake
We’ve all heard the bad guy tell his nervous partner to “clam up.” Or have someone tell us that a cold, damp place has a “clammy” feeling. You might think this is all giving clams a bad name, but then...
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Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes: A Perfect Day Trip South of Pismo
Have you been to Pismo? We have lots of guests who have stayed with us over and over again, and many of them still don’t know about the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes complex (aka, the Dunes). They are missing...
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The Return of the Monarchs
Monarchs in Winter We’re spoiled living here for lots of reasons, but one of the most amazing is the annual return of a multitude of Monarch butterflies—you cannot look at thousands of these beautiful...
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Buried Treasure in the Dunes
There was a spate of stories in the LA Times and elsewhere in 2014 about the wind revealing the giant paw of a sphinx in the sand dunes south of Pismo Beach. With the work of fascinated archaeologists,...
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Wet and Wild El Nino, 2016 Version
El Nino 2016 actually appeared. We have had rain! The hills are turning emerald green almost before your eyes, and their echo of the hills of Ireland is only missing the stone fences. SeaVenture Beach...
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It’s For The Birds: San Luis Obispo Birding
Where did that bird go? Thinking of a birder, some people get an image of a slightly dotty, pasty-looking man or woman in tweedy clothes, with binoculars and high boots. They are gazing through the...
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Celebrating Romance Never Gets Old
Please forgive me if my cynicism goes too far, but whenever I run into something like Valentine’s Day my first thought is “gee, those candy makers-flower sellers-restaurants-card makers sure know how...
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Pismo, Pismu … Tar?
Remains of Oil Seepage on Rocks We don’t see it much anymore, but the whole area around Pismo Beach, including out to sea, has pools of oil below the surface. In fact, the name ‘Pismo’ comes from the...
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Oceano Dunes SVRA Has a Beach for Your Buggy
Did you ever drive on a beach? Or want to? I haven’t done it but it sounds like it could be a blast. SeaVenture to Dunes: 5 Minutes But the places in California where it is legal to drive on the beach...
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Ride the Romantic Rails to Pismo
The Coast Route Has a View Clickity-clack over the rails, countryside sliding by. Riding Amtrak from LA to Grover Beach, you can watch the scenery, or you can read, or get up and go to the dining car...
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