On Wednesday when Scott was done with work we took a trip up the coastal highway towards San Luis Obispo. We were on the no-plan adventure plan which proved to be a win. We stopped at a beach in Cayucos and enjoyed watching the huge Pacific waves dramatically crashing onto the beach. We ventured northward from there to Cambria and were intrigued by the discovery of a beach called Moonstone Beach.

We were thrilled to discover that Moonstone Beach was a “shingle beach” which meant that rather than having sand, the beach was made up of only pebbles, stones, and rocks; all polished impossibly smooth by millions of years of wear. The variety of colors, textures, and types of stones was astounding. Intrigued by the strata of the shore as well as all of the people that we saw hunting for rocks, Scott struck up conversation with some beachcombers to see what they were looking for. It turns out that they were all looking for the beach’s namesake- moonstones.

The sun began to set as we sat on the driftwood littered Moonstone Beach and we watched the sun drop lower and lower until it dipped out of sight on the horizon. It was amazing how quickly it disappeared once it began to set. We made our way to the car and drank red wine from a Buellton vineyard as we watched the last bit of the light. As we were watching the sky we both witnessed a shooting star which was the cherry-on-top of what had been a fantastic day.