We took the 154 inland a little bit and came across a lovely regional park on the shores of Lake Cachuma with a camping site right beside a playground. So we stopped early and the boys went nuts 'making new friends' as Indy calls it - playing in the park and Indy riding his bike around and around with Dashy running behind on his little legs.
Nearby campers who hosted Indy for dinner accidentally told me about a great little town nearby called Solvang which we resolved to check out the next day.
That afternoon, I went for a jog along part of the Sweetwater Trail and the next morning, Nath did the same but took it all the way to Vista Point and back.
After more morning play, we set off again and sure enough, Solvang was an absolutely pearler.It was established a century ago by three Danish guys who wanted to preserve their heritage in their new homeland and Solvang doesn't do things by halves - the entire township is a spectacular homage to Denmark.
We wandered through, checking out the windmills and architecture and made sure to sample some traditional Danish pastries and sausage.
Our name "Larsen" is actually Danish, so it was nice from a personal perspective to check it all out.
Next stop was a beautifully-themed Danish mini town playground, back from the main road, called Sunny Fields (which we understood to be the translation of the Danish 'Solvang').
After having a ball, the boys piled back in the RV and we made it as far as Pismo Beach where we found a great site right beside a lagoon in the State Park there.
Indy learnt the hard way that you don't tease geese and recounting the tale of the goose that nearly bit off his you-know-what is giving us fits of giggles every time we mention it.
The boys practised their casting again (with no bait), both of them rode the bike (Dash with the training wheels on and the seat VERY low), and I took a walk over the soft sand dunes down to the beach.
The beach was unbelievable - so many cars down there. It's a recreational vehicle area and it reminded me of Rainbow Beach with the number of cars parked down there and driving back and forth. But there were two subtle differences - there were sedans down on this beach (not all were 4WDs) so that was a surprise - maybe they were bogged?! And the other difference was the huge number of ATVs. Americans seem to own them and trailer them around to spots rather than take the 4WD itself across the sand. Indy has taken to calling them 'Doon Buggies' (in the American style, rather than with our poshy sounded 'y').
