Day 1
Drove down to Big Sur for a weekend of birthday camping. Met up with the kids at Fernwood then cruised on over to Andrew Molera for a little hike out to the beach.
Practiced the art of rolling mud balls to the sea.
Climbed the hills and watched a hippie family surf in the estuary, then back to camp to get dinner ready before dark.
Tin foil makes everything look like astronaut food.
Camping always means lots of snacking. It also winds up making for a lot of drinking, wine and whiskey being the favorites.
Eddie was King of the Harvest.
A Happy Birthday of Hostess cupcakes.
Started off with a tiny-speakered Stevie Nicks sing along and ended up in a full on Beatles cover band.
Someone even thought so far ahead as to bring a trumpet. Can't believe no one came and yelled at us. Maybe we're actually as amusing as we think we are.
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Day 2
Cue soundtrack to "The Big Chill". Packed up camp and said our goodbyes then headed up Highway 9 for another night's camping (yay for school district holidays!) Stopped off in the town of Felton and hit up a great thrift store called The Abbott's Closet, while watching an officer of the law give out a DUIin the parking lot.
Drove into Henry Cowell and, even though the campfire ban was still in place, decided to stay since it was just really pretty. Lots of campsites all separate from each other with lots of room to spread out in the trees, some even overlooking a huge drop down into the valley. Lacking a campfire to mellow out around we went for a more exciting option and packed up sandwiches, wine and a little whiskey then started off on the 3 1/2 mile trek through the park back to Felton.
Such a pretty walk with the sun going down.
Made it out just as it started getting really dark and walked down to a bar we'd seen while driving through town. Once again we were rewarded, as Monty's Log Cabin was just as you'd expect with a firepit outside and a bunch of mid-to-old-timers regailing us with stories of lime kilns and steam engines rotting out in the hills and a mausoleum for a six-toed baby. Needless to say, by the time we left the moon was high and I was too tipsy to be really afraid as we stumbled our way back up through the park.
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Day 3
Woke up early and packed up Old Bluey in hopes of meeting our aquaintance from the night before and finding the talked-of steam donkey. Waited outside Monty's for a while, but either we'd missed him or he felt as rough as we did and decided to sleep it off. Either way, it got us up and out early enough that we figured we'd take the scenic way home and stop off at Castle Rock State Park to try our luck with the six-toed baby.
Lots of neat stuff along Highway 9.
Made it to Castle Rock in no time, passing by a house that'd been split by a giant tree two nights before.
Castle Rock got its name from all the crazy rock formations there. In 1886, well before it became a State Park, Castle Rock School was built there for the local children (about 6 in all) and its teacher lived for a while in one of the large caves. Though the rocks became quite a tourist attraction by the early 1900's the area didn't become a State Park til 1959.
Started out on the trail leading to the falls, knowing only that the supposed mausoleum was lying in a creek bed just past where the two waterways merged into one and a rock slide had occurred. Feeling very Nancy Drew I spotted my first banana slug. Climbed all around where we though it must be (again with the No Trespassing signs) and were about to give up and check out the falls when Franklin saw the corner of what appeared to be a concrete slab hidden under piles of felled tree limbs and boulders.
August 4, 1922. WRS age 2.
Don't know if it was actually a mausoleum or if that's just a smudge on the 5th toe, but its kind of unbelievable that we even found it.
Poked around for more hidden treasures and noticed a chimney sticking up between the trees.
Climbed up to find more rubble laying about and the remains of an old house.
Went off exploring the neat rocks and had ourselves a fine afternoon.
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Scenic Loop? Big Sur's only a couple hours away depending on how you go and, as I'm sure everyone and their mother knows already, its very pretty down there. Less-known (at least to me) is the area along Highway 9 which spans between Santa Cruz on the coast and Saratoga inland. Lots of small towns and a gorgeous canopy of trees make for a really nice drive and it seemed like there were plenty of places to stop for snacks or libations (Monty's for one). I'll definitely go back to Henry Cowell, especially once the fire season's passed, and I think its about time to give Big Basin a try...Thanksgiving anyone?