This slideshow continues from Central Coast, Rails, Whales, & Dunes-1. Day 2 (con't), Taking a break between boat rides. The sea gull is also taking a break.

The sea gull.

We will be taking the Flying Fish out on the Pacific Ocean for whale watching.

Passing a kayak rental with a walkway in need of repair.

Passing Morro Rock.

Looking back to the shore.

That is a gray whale sprouting water. Gray whales migrate north from mating and calf lagoons in Baja Mexico and pass the California coast on their 10,000-mile swim to Alaska from December to mid-April.

Close-up. Actually, we could see part of the gray whales--they are white and gray--as they partially surfaced but they did it so quickly that once you spotted one it was gone back under the water, so no great photos.

Another gray whale in the distance.

Close-up.

Another gray whale in the distance.

Close-up. A mostly disappointing whale watching boat cruise.

At night, the Thursday Farmer's Market in San Luis Obispo. In the middle of the photo, two people dancing to the music played by a band.

Most of the booths at the market were food booths serving the hungry students of the local university. There were very few other booths such as farmer's booths.

Day 3, Fog on Morro Bay.

Fog on Morro Bay.

Fog on Morro Bay.

Herons in a tree.

We left Morro Bay to go to the town of Guadalupe and the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center and saw an exhibition dealing with the filming of Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 "The Ten Commandments." The photo shows part of the film set which was built on the Guadelupe Dunes.

After filming was completed, the set that was 12 stories high and 800 feet wide were buried in the dunes. In 2017, archeologists uncovered one of the heads of the 21 sphinxes that was buried. The photo shows the body and paw of the sphinx that was recovered.

This photo shows the head of the sphnix. The sphnixes were made of Plaster of Paris and weighed 300 pounds each.

Driving through the town of Guadelupe, population 7,080 and established in 1840. It has a number of old buildings.

Guadelupe building.

Guadelupe house.

Guadelope field. There miles and miles of agricultural fields in Guadelupe. It is a farming town.

Entrance to the Rancho Guadelupe Dunes Preserve.

The Rancho Guadelupe Dunes Preserve covers 500 acres. It is part of coastal dunes that run for many miles along the Central California coast.

Our bus parked here. Sections of the dunes are blocked from March 1 to October 1 to protect the breeding and nesting habitat of the western snowy plover.

But you are able to walk down to the Pacific Ocean if you wish.

The dunes. Though the dunes at Oceano Beach farther north allow motorized vehicles on the dunes, here they are not allowed. Hence, vegetation is able to grow on the dunes.

Closer-up.

Closer-up.

Driving back through the town of Guadelupe--an old building.

The mural on the side of the building.

An old hotel.

A painted utility box in front of the hotel. The pink outside the box is a reflection from the sun.

On the way now south to Solvang, passing OstrichLand USA, where you can feed ostriches and emus. The pink color in the photo is again from the reflection of the sun.

Entering the Danish city of Solvang.

Not very Danish eatery. Other cultures are represented in Solvang, a town founded by Danes in 1911.

Passing Hans Christian Andersen Park.

Statue of Hans Christian Anersen in the park.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Storks for good luck on top of a roof.

An iron art gift and Scandinavian imports shop.

Scandinavian folk costumes.

This restaurant offered aebleskivers and I and a friend ate lunch here.

Aebleskivers are Danish puffed pancakes, served with powdered sugar and raspberry jam here. They are Easter and Christmas food in Denmark but available in Solvang year-round. A Danish sausge with Danish mustard completes a meal.

One of the Solvang windmills.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Murals on the building.

Replica of Copenhagen's Round Tower.

Close-up.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Danish architecture in Solvang.

Two ways to go south from Solvang: one is to backtrack to Highway 1 and travel along the coast or to take the San Marco Pass through the Santa Ynez Mountains, which we did.