My first stop in the Morro Bay area was at the Islay Creek Campground. This was my favorite campground in the area. It was right next to Spooner’s Cove, which is a beautiful area to explore.

The first day I was there was the best day for sunset photos. Thankfully I was there in time to photograph the sunset. And it didn’t dissapoint!

As the sun set, the shore got more and more beautiful.

The next morning Maddie and I were eager to explore the cove. The day dawned beautiful and clear even though it rained during the night.

This was Maddie’s first visit to the ocean. She wasn’t sure about the waves coming on to shore. She decided she didn’t trust them and didn’t want to get caught by them.

That afternoon I hiked a trail nearby called the Bluff Trail. It is about 4 miles roundtrip and follows the coastline cliffs south from the cove. This hike was beautiful and enjoyable. I loved the rocky coastline that changed at every curve.

All along this trail, I was serenaded by the song of the Song Sparrow. They are very plentiful here.

If you look at the photo above, you can see a hole along the bottom of the wall on the left. When the waves came in contact with that hole, it shot out of it with extreme force. Just beautiful!

I was so impressed with this feature, that I took a video of the hole in action. When I watched it back, I laughed at myself, because I recorded me saying “good one!” at the end.

I decided to explore the left-hand side of the cove where it had a rocky area. The tide was way out allowing me to explore far out in the rocks. This was to be a lucky thing for me because I found a very large and pristine abalone shell. I was so excited when I saw it tucked into the gravel between the rocks. I shouted with joy and quickly climbed down to get it before another wave came in.

Another thing I found among these exposed rocks, was a stingray egg case. The baby had already hatched, and this was the casing left behind.

Since the tide was out so far, it exposed caves I had no idea were there when the tide was in. I had so much fun exploring these caves. I had hoped there would be some great shells hiding in them, but no such luck.

One day on the beach, I was inspired to create a sculpture of Maddie and I out of the natural debris on the beach. I had a lot of fun creating this masterpiece.

Maddie had fun digging in the sand and playing with a large rock. She would bury it and then dig it up and then repeat again. She was too cute!

Every day on my way to and from the shore, I passed this grassy area. More often than not, there would be black-tailed deer enjoying the green grass.

I had a fabulous time visiting Montana de Oro. I stayed in the area almost 2 weeks and loved every minute of it!

My next post will be at Morro Bay itself!