Friday, December 9, 2016

Lompoc, California

We got settled in at the Vandenberg Air Force Base FamCamp last Sunday. The campsites are paved with asphalt, but definitely are not level. Our motorhome is tilting a little to the left.

On Monday we headed to nearby Buellton to Andersen’s Pea Soup restaurant for lunch. We enjoyed sandwiches and a bowl of split pea soup. Andersen’s have been in business since 1924 and serve over 2 million bowls of spilt pea soup each year.
 
 
Tuesday we drove south of Lompoc along California Hwy 1 and US101 to El Capitan State Beach. Julie used to go with her family camping here when her Dad was stationed at Vandenberg. It’s a very nice state park with great views of the Pacific Ocean. We saw seals, dolphins and a grey whale just off shore while we were there. The weather was perfect, sunny and temperatures in the mid to upper 60s.



 
On Wednesday we went to The Hitching Post restaurant in nearby Casmalia for dinner. We went early, around 5PM, and it surprised us how busy it was so early in the evening. The restaurant specializes in Santa Maria style barbeque which is slow cooking with indirect heat over an open wood fire. The restaurant meals reminded us of an old style steak house where each meal included a relish tray, shrimp cocktail, salad, garlic bread, main course and dessert. The steaks we enjoyed were the absolute best we’ve ever had anywhere and they had a nice smoky flavor to them.

 
Thursday we drove about 28 miles over to Solvang. We enjoyed a late breakfast at Paula’s Pancake House in Solvang. I had the Danish pancakes which were thin, like crepes. There are many Danish Bakeries in Solvang and our mission was to find the best petit-fours (small two bite cakes filled with buttercream). The Solvang Bakery had a very nice selection of holiday petit-fours.



 
 
We head to Paso Robles on Sunday where we’re staying at the Wine Country RV Resort for 4 nights. We plan to visit a few wineries while we’re there. On Tuesday we will tour Hearst Castle, a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark mansion near San Simeon on California Hwy 1.   
Steve & Julie Cornelius

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