Nice days here! Real friendly ladies at Le Sage Riviera RV Park. That makes such a difference...plus today there was a bowl of Tootsie Rolls on the counter...yum!
Laura, at the office, recommended some places for me to visit and I had such a wonderful day!
The view on the main street!
(and yes, I just HAD to talk like Grover to Greg...lol, several times!)
Then finally I found parking right by the ocean!
It was a sunny, warm day. Time to walk on the beach...have missed ours so much.
...sand dollars!
Pismo Beach is one of the places they migrate to for the winter.
They cluster for warmth on the eucalyptus trees.
The butterflies form dense clusters with each one hanging with its wing down over the one below it to form a shingle effect. This provides shelter from the rain and warmth for the group. The weight of the cluster keeps it from whipping in the wind and dislodging the butterflies.
There were spotting scopes set up so you could look at the clusters close up.
To my kids...
Hey look! It's Gloria's cousins!
He told me the milkweed plant is key to their existence. (And I always pull them out of my garden! Well, not any more!)
The butterflies who come here live 6-8 months!
They currently have 34,000 butterflies! They use these poles and lift the clusters off the trees, bring them down, and wrap them in some type of paper (I think) and each person counts a small group of them. They do it early in the morning when it's cold and the butterflies are in semi-hybernation. Then up they go again!
He showed me pics of the Monarch and Victory butterflies - very similar but the Victory one has a smile across its wings.
Scientists do not know why the Monarchs consistently return to some wintering sites. In North America, those sites range from the Central and Southern California Coast to Mexico. Some scientists speculate that the insects are equipped with genetic homing systems that lead them from their summer sites in the Sierras, Florida, Canada and the Great Lakes Region in North America back to their winter locations.
They have their own GPS!
He told the story of one Monarch that migrated, but showed up in Pueblo CO! (Ha! Been there!) The staff here scratched their heads, and thought, mmmm, maybe it took Amtrak?!
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The next day was very windy and very cold...
...and Greg rode until after 8 at night (it gets dark by 5 and Route 1 has no lights anywhere!). We kept close tabs on one another and I followed him once it got dark.
When he was packing up, two police officers stopped by to make sure everything was okay. Greg told them about the trek...one was very interested, and lol, the other one walked around checking to make sure we were legit and not two squirrelly people!
Found out the next day, that there is a military base nearby and only a couple of hours after we were in the area, they shot off a secret payload missile! So it all makes sense now!
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Lompoc, pronounced lom-poke, is the town of murals! When we drove through it the night before, we hadn't seen this, but today when going to Greg's starting point, we were amazed!
This couple was visiting a town in British Columbia that revitalized its economy by painting murals everywhere. They brought the idea home to Lompoc. It has helped to build the town culturally, brought in more tourism, and fostered community cohesiveness. Brilliant.
They now have annual events, including "Mural in a Day." A day! Amazing! And only some murals are front and center on buildings in the main streets...I found so many tucked in alleyways throughout the town. Must have spent hours here, hunting for them! Have never seen anything like this before! The whole town was filled with color!
Also found out Lompoc is the ideal place for growing flowers, and they have a festival every year at the end of June.
...and I didn't even find them all...
Heading north to pick up Greg...
love the town of murals. i think that is awesome. you must have been in your glory with all the art surrounding !!!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! SO want to start painting again!!!
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