RN: Oso Flaco Lake is a California State Park about 20 miles northwest of Santa Maria. “Oso flaco” means “skinny bear” and legend has it that Spanish explorers came to the area and shot a bear that was skinny and sickly but they ate it anyway, and the next day, several of the explorers died.  It turns out that the Chumash, the native tribe that lived in the area had poisoned the bear to prevent it from competing with them for food.  At any rate, we went out there, not to see bears, but to enjoy a beautiful walk from the lake through the dunes on a boardwalk.  These dunes are huge and well-covered with vegetation and we ended up where the stream from the lake emptied into the ocean.

FE: The area between the Santa Maria and the lake is extremely rich in agriculture, so many of our strawberries must come from here. It was hot, but close to the coast it became a bit foggy, a welcome drop in temperature, and the added moisture allows many unusual plants to thrive. Here is a Evening Primrose

and our trusty guide Naomi on a boardwalk that looks familiar to us New Englanders

the usual duckies

Cormorants in the fog

Steep dunes

being carved by the ocean.

All concluded with a delicious family dinner in a fine local Italian restaurant.