The final leg of our California tour was a couple nights of camping at Big Sur. Steve and I were last there in 2007, just a few months before we moved to Boston. We completely fell in love with the place and have been wanting to go back ever since. The road is repaired post fires or floods or whatever calamity caused it to be closed so we could finally go!
The Central California coast is famous for a reason, and if you haven't been there, it's hard to describe quite how spectacular it is. The views of farm country as you head north give way to incredible ocean views at Morro Bay, and then the road winds north along cliffs through San Simeon, past Hearst Castle with dramatic cliffs and coves on the west side and forest and hills on the east. It's scary as all get out if you're a ninny like me, and I was glad we were heading north, on the inside of the road.
It was crazy windy when we stopped at San Simeon to see the elephant seals. We hopped back in the car fast and Grace conked out so we don't have many scenery shots from the drive. I'm sure you're actually glad, especially because the pictures really can't capture the beauty. We set up camp and Grace was soooo excited. Actually, we were all ridiculously excited. It had been a pretty stressful few months and although we really enjoyed the SoCal part of our trip, we were all ready to be in the woods and out of touch for a few days.
We did all the regular camping things - roasted dinner and s'mores over the fire both nights, did lots of hiking, napping, reading and eating.We are lucky that Grace loves camping so much - she hates bugs and doesn't care for birds, but somehow she's able to disregard all that and have a ball. She's gets very concerned about birds coming near our food so she does a great job of keeping watch and screeching when they come too close. I think, however, that the real reason she loves it is that she LOVES sleeping in a tent. It works out since I love laying in my cozy sleeping bag while reading (more Maisie Dobbs) and Steve just plain loves sleeping.
Before we headed home, we stopped a bit up the highway for one last hike out to the beach. The bridge was out so we had to cross the very cold river barefoot (good thing G was in the Ergo - I could never have balanced otherwise). We had a lovely walk through wildflowers to a beautiful beach and it was hard to leave. Then, on the river crossing back, poor Steve lost both his flip flops. They slipped off and floated away down the river. Boo. The drive back was incredible, but the weather was kind of stormy and Grace was asleep and we were tired so no pictures. However, the stretch between Big Sur and Carmel was totally amazing. It reminded me of Ireland (again with that - I guess anytime there are green cliffs dropping into the sea, I think Ring of Kerry).
It was a really good trip and very hard to come home. Well, home was fine - it was back to work and the routine that wasn't so easy. The last month has been pretty rough and insanely busy for a lot of reasons (hence finishing my May posts here at the end of June - oops, now it's nearly mid-July!). We squeezed in some good times and hit an exciting milestone... more to follow as I get caught up!
All the Big Sur pix are here.
It was a really good trip and very hard to come home. Well, home was fine - it was back to work and the routine that wasn't so easy. The last month has been pretty rough and insanely busy for a lot of reasons (hence finishing my May posts here at the end of June - oops, now it's nearly mid-July!). We squeezed in some good times and hit an exciting milestone... more to follow as I get caught up!
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