This is the fruit of begging my boss to re-arrange my travel so I can meet up with my primary school buddy in Pismo Beach. We had no particular reason in meeting up in this particular location (and I certainly haven't heard about this town before). But since neither of us have 7 hr to spare to drive (me from the Bay Area, my buddy from LA) we decided that meeting somewhere in the middle would be the most time-efficient way. Unfortunately all the places I know are clustered towards either one of the regions, like Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, etc. So I just went ahead and google-searched "Where best to meet between SF and LA" and there were definitely people who shared the same dilemma. The answer they received included Pismo Beach, situated ~3.5 hrs away from both cities. The southmost I've been on the Californian coastline was Hearst Castle (other than flying directly into LA) and driving to Pismo definitely set another record! We then promptly booked a seaside hotel (most of them in town are!)
The drive South for me was relatively smooth save for some congestion merging into 101. Unfortunately my buddy ran into traffic in Santa Barbara, so while waiting for her to come I got some snacks and settled down to do some sketches. The hotel offers a semi-private courtyard that extends a bit into the sea (apparently it is designed to be used as a wedding venue). The pavilion at the end of it offers good views to both sides of the coast and some good shade!
I threw in a quick one since there were so many pelicans resting on that particular rock face (maybe because it was warm?)
