The foaming brine

San Luis Obispo, CA – A steady beeping roused me from my sleep in the early hours of this morning.  Finally, I realized it was the refrigerator signaling that the power was off, so I got up and switched its power source from electricity to gas and went back to sleep.

It was that kind of a night – again. More great lashings of rain and buffetings of wind!  By morning, things weren’t looking so bad, but as the day went on, it rained again, several more times.  The RV park is littered with long pine needles and bits of palm trees, and there are puddles everywhere.

It was pancake breakfast day today at the park, so we went to the community building with our plates and cutlery and helped ourselves to sausages, pancakes and syrup.  They even had champagne chilling in a bucket in case anyone wanted to start the day with a mimosa!   We sat with Pat and Don, a couple from Washington state, and picked their brains about what was ahead of us to the north. It’s always fun to compare notes and hear others’ stories.

Before we succumbed to a bad case of cabin fever, we decided to head out and see what the surf was like with all these gale winds.  It was quite a sight – and quite a few others were doing the same thing, despite the chilly gusts.

Huge breakers rolled in to shore, crashing against rocks and sending up plumes of spray before spilling out on the sand.  Fluffy bits of salty foam quivered in the wind on the beaches as seagulls and plovers trotted about looking for special tidbits from the sea, and soared into the air when another breaker rushed up.  It was mesmerizing just to watch one wave after another, some smaller, some enormous, as they developed out at sea and rolled mightily in to shore.

Back at the RV, we got our laundry taken care of and took it easy for a while, and then headed out to the movies.  Half the population of the coastal towns around here had the same idea, but we were able to get in without much of a wait.  We watched American Hustle, nominated for Best Picture, and found it quite good, with lots of twists and turns and a nice dose of humour.  We also enjoyed the sound track with all its 1970s music.

The wind seems to have died down a bit tonight, although the rain has continued on and off.  We saw a few patches of blue in the sky today, so we’re hopeful that this weather system will be over with soon.