World United States California Buellton

Vince & Sue's Travel Homepage 2011 Triangle Tour

"It never rains in Southern California..." Nov 20, 2011

The song says it never rains in southern California. Well it rained all night and was raining this morning when we left the campground.

Our first stop was in San Luis Obispo to see the "World's First Motel". It may not be standing much longer as it is closed and fenced off. We couldn't get close enough for a picture so I included the sign and one of the motel from Roadside America.com. As you can see the most recent name was "Motel Inn," it opened in 1925 as "Motor Hotel," and by fate or economy it became the first to squeeze the words into "motel."

In downtown SLO is the "Bubble Gum Alley" and as the name suggests it's two 15-foot high and 70-foot long alley walls are covered with bubble gum. It apparently started in the '60's and has millions of pieces of chewed gum stuck to it. We drove by, but I couldn't find a parking place big enough for Winnie so no pictures.

On the way out of town, I saw a place called the British Sports Car store so I had to stop. We drove arounf SLO for a while until I found a place to park Winnie. It was about 4 blocks from the British Car Store. It was pouring, but I walked the 4 blocks to the store. Sue decided to stay with Winnie. Smart move on her part. When I got there, it turns out that they are closed on Sundays. Too bad because there were some neat cars inside. They sell, repair, and restore old sports cars.

On the way back I decided to stop at a place I passed on the way to the British Car Store. Fosters Freeze is a frozen custard stand. According to the web site, it has been a California tradition since 1946 when George Foster opened the first Fosters Freeze in Inglewood, California. The one in SLO looks like its been there since the 50's or 60's based on the design and the sign. Foster introduced the soft serve cone and a line of soft serve desserts. I got a vanilla dipped in chocolate. I figured I eat some and take it back to Sue. As I started on the way back to Winnie, it was clear it might melt before I got there so I picked up the pace. By the time I got back, I had eaten half the ice cream and most of the chocolate coating. It was pretty good. It was supposed to be low fat, but it taseted very rich.

The next stop today was the Madonna Inn. Another relic from the late 50's that has survived and prospered. After driving by the entrance twice, we drove in and pulled over next to a fence to survey the parking lot for a place to park Winnie. As I pulled away, the wheels of the tow dolley swung into the fence and took out the lower rail and 2 posts. No damage to the dolley, tire, or car. We decided to stop for lunch since we had to go inside to report the damage. This may be the most expensive lunch of the trip. I'll know when I get the estimate for repairs. The main reason for stopping was to see the men's room. It is well know for it's waterfalls urinal. Step up to the edge and water runs down faux rocks into the place you pee. Because of close quarters it was tough to get a good picture with perspective. Some people suggest that you bring a friend in to take a picture as you step up. Sue wouldn't go. Some friend. The rest of the place was interesting, but the lunch was ordinary (no pictures). The motel part has 109 theme rooms ranging from a Caveman theme to a 2 floor cupid theme.

I had originally thought we'd make it to Simi Valley to spend the night, but with the extra time in SLO and the rain we stopped in Buellton. All was not lost because we were able to get some pea soup for dinner from the original Pea Soup Andersen's which was about a block away fro the Flying Flags RV Park and Campground. Hopefully the rain will have stopped for the last leg of our trip to San Diego.