We passed through the downtown of San Luis Obispo on our way to Morro Bay. Along the way, Ellen remembered having a brochure for montana de oro state park which is listed as the third largest park in the state. Since it was on the way, we decided to check it out. We were very pleased with this discovery. We hiked Bluff Trail which took us to high scenic overlooks of the ocean. There were fields of wildflowers all around us. It was very beautiful. We were able to get down close to the water's edge after climbing down some rock formations. The power of the ocean and the sound of the breaking waves was a sight to behold. 
We left the park and continued on to Morro Bay. We visited the shops there and had lunch at the same outdoor restaurant we ate at two years ago. The clam chowder is still the best and the outdoor atmosphere was unbeatable. 
We took the morning ferry from downtown Long Beach to the city of Avalon on Catalina Island. The crossing took about one hour and the boat had many more passengers then either of us had anticipated. 
We completed two great hikes today. However, being Easter Sunday, church came first. We went to the 8:00 a.m. mass at St. John Vianney this morning. It was a beautiful church with two large windows flanking the altar. The view of the red rock mountains was a continuous reminder of the existence of a Higher Being. We left church and drove directly to our first hike trail head. We hiked the Huckaby trail beginning at Midgely Bridge. This trail descended into the Oak Creek Canyon and ran along side the Oak Creek. The rushing water along this moderate rated 2.5 mile trail was very beautiful. We met a U.S. Forest Service ranger along the trail who took the time to point the local vegetation and especially the poison ivy. We asked him for a suggested next hike and told he us that West Fork was one of his favorites. As it turned out, we had plans to hike West Fork already and this only confirmed our plans. We completed our hike of the Huckaby trail and the drove North on 89A about six miles to Call of Canyon and the trail head for West Fork. This three mile trail was listed as an easy wilderness trail. This was one the best trails we have every hiked. It was located in a canyon with the Oak Creek running through the middle. The trail took us across the river 15 times on the way out and once again on the way back. It was very beautiful with many picturesque locations along the trail. We were very tired after this hike of three hours. We then stopped in Sedona for some shopping on our way back towards our hotel. We found a Mexican restaurant and had a very good meal. We got back to the hotel for a very needed hot shower.
We said goodbye to the Grand Canyon this morning at 8:00 a.m. What a beautiful national park. We got to Sedona in about two hours and stopped in at the Visitor's Center. We got a lot of good information from the ranger on the various hiking trails and area sights. We changed into our hiking clothes and hiked the Bell Rock Pathway and a portion of the Courthouse Butte Loop. These were listed as easy and moderate trails. The trails were not marked very well and at times we were not sure where the trail was taking us. We climbed up onto Bell Rock and had a great view of the area. 
