March 5: Full disclosure: I’ve been home for over a week. I got way behind on this writing project and was so emotionally spent when I got home that I just haven’t had the chutzpa to get back to this project. But I’m back now! I’ve got a few days of work under my belt and a good measure of determination. So, hopefully, you’ll know the rest of the story soon. By this point, I’m almost finished. (calendar-wise, at least. The events were big and numerous at the end. Now you have to keep following along!)
This week was really so lovely. This was what I imagined being in California would be like. Ocean, sand, sunburn, the whole shebang. Read on!
February 7-13
Monday: We started the week by packing out of our campground near Sequoia and heading west, toward the ocean! It was too many miles to tackle in one day, so we set up camp for the night at Williams Hill Recreation Area near Bradley, California. This campground, that we randomly found while trying to find an adequate place to stop over for the night, turned out to be pure magic. Ike and I both agreed that if we didn’t very badly want to get to the ocean, we might have stayed another night. It was a bumpy drive up to the top of Williams Hill, but once there, we were in
paradise. A noticeable peaceful blanket seemed to lay over the area. Isaac went for a hike after we set up camp, and I sat down to play ukulele and do some writing. It was a dream. The view, the warmth, the nearly-empty campground. I was in awe of the blessing! When Ike returned just before sunset, we went out to gather some firewood. That didn’t take long. The low bushes surrounding the campground dry out quickly and thoroughly when they die, making firewood abundant and easy to collect. With just a bit of sweat and a few good scratches, we had a fire going and a pile of wood big enough to keep the flames dancing until bedtime. We made some phone calls, made some dinner, and chatted as we let the flames put us to sleep
Tuesday morning was a slow one. We were just a couple of hours from our next campground but couldn’t arrive there until 2 pm. Why rush? Isaac slept in delightfully late while I sat at the picnic table, writing. It was one of those picture-perfect mornings. Just heaven. When the sun was high in the sky, we packed up camp and plugged our next destination into Google Maps: Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. A campsite awaited us! We were happily driving toward the coast, looking forward to seeing the ocean again when we ran into a problem. The route Google was taking us on seemed to be unavailable. A road that should have cut through Los Padres National Forest was closed due to fire damage. Google didn’t know this, apparently and so we spent over an hour touring Fort Hunter-Liggett trying to find a way through. There was no way through. Even though the extra miles weren’t exactly the plan for the day, we made an adventure of it anyway. We wouldn’t otherwise have gotten to see Los Padres, but this navigation kerfuffle offered us a lovely tour of the land. Some communication challenges were overcome, and I even got in a little exercise when I ran up a very steep hill to see if the road ahead was passable. It wasn’t. After a few hours of successful navigation, we finally came within view of the shining sea. The beauteous Pacific. Hey there, lovely!
The drive along Highway 1 to the state park was crazy! The intense elevation gains and losses, and the extreme nature of the cliffs rising straight out of the ocean, were so different from the welcoming beached of SoCal. With camp set up in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Ike and I split up for a bit of solo adventuring. I struck out for a hike. It started out with a hefty hill climb, but that was no problem for mountain climber Abigail! …until I realized that trail was closed, and I had to find another trailhead at the opposite end of the campground. It was absolutely worth it, because the new trail I followed, Pine Ridge Trail, offered me the most incredible sunset view after I’d climbed a couple of dozen switchbacks. I was sweaty and out of breath when I reached this perfect sunset perch. From where I sat near the top of the ridge, I could watch, through a gap between the foothills, as the sun sank into the Pacific. Like, for real? I really got to see that happen? That’s crazy. It was so perfect. When I set out on this wild adventure, I didn’t think it would actually turn out as I’d imagined. A lot of times it didn’t, but in that moment, I was living the best adventure I could have imagined, and it was everything I was out there looking for. Thanks, God!
A fast-paced hike back down to camp had me arriving just after dark. By the light of our lanterns, Ike and I ate dinner and played cribbage and read and wrote. The camping dream, am I right? Goodnight!
Wednesday: Town day! Today was dedicated to visiting Monterey. We didn’t really know what to expect, but this turned out to be just what we needed. Monterey is a delightful town on the ocean, with a plethora of tourist shops and restaurants practically sitting atop the waves. We wandered through the town and sniffed the seafood. We picked sea glass on a little strip of beach between the buildings. We found and touched anemones and hermit crabs and starfish and sea urchins. We got sunburnt. (Okay, it was just me, Isaac doesn’t burn easily.) After some In-n-Out burgers (a MUST) we headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway back toward our campground. Along the way, we stopped in at Point Lobos State Reserve. From Lost Beach, we picked our way along the shore, climbing the rocks and dodging the waves. In the tidal pools, we found more start fish and sea urchins and hermit crabs and anemones. I took about a billion pictures, and Isaac climbed out to a rock island, narrowly avoiding a saltwater soaking. Sadly, we couldn’t stay on the water for sunset since the reserve closed at 5. How lame is that?
Well, it turned out to be not so terribly lame. After a short drive, we pulled off the road to watch the show. This evening, I was feeling the pressure of time. I could easily count how many days I had left on this adventure, and my heart wasn’t ready for that glimpse of the end. So, I climbed onto the roof of my car where the sad thoughts obviously couldn’t reach me and ruin my sunset watching. Joking aside, I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I watched the colors spread across the sky. Look at all the places I’ve been, all the adventures I’ve tackled, all that I’ve learned, all that I’ve overcome. I was sitting in the middle of a miracle, and I hadn’t fully realized it. 365 sunsets ago I was heartbroken, confused, and lost. I didn’t know who I was, I only knew I needed to move forward. I didn’t know what made me feel alive. I had so much learning to do. I have done so much learning. I know what makes me feel alive. I know, more than ever, the One who makes me alive. I am moving forward in amazing and unexpected ways. I know who I am. I’ll forever be thankful for everything that led me to that 5:43 pm moment on the top of my car on the side of Highway 1 near the end of my adventure. My thankfulness streamed down my face and blurred the pastel pallet above me. And maybe best of all? In the week leading up to this event, God had begun to reveal tiny hints concerning where He was sending me next and I couldn’t believe the bounty! Oh, I am so excited!
But, back to the sunset. The dropping of the sun means the temperature drops, so it didn’t take long for me to crawl back through the window and buckle up for the rest of the drive to camp. That evening looked a lot like the one before, with dinner, cribbage, and reading by lantern light. The peace of a campsite without cell reception is a treat if you let it be. Give it a try. I dare you!
Thursday: I needed access to the internet for an extended period of time (longer than my phone’s hot spot could support) so we spent the morning in a café. It was a lovely little spot at Ripplewood Inn. The cozy cabin atmosphere and the yummy breakfast made the morning a lovely change of pace and scenery. After my tasks were complete, Ike and I drove down the coast to find a beach. Something you might be interested to learn: there aren’t really accessible beaches south of Pfeiffer Big Sur unless you go quite a distance. We tried first at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park but found that the trail there was closed due to a mudslide. Okie dokie. Next stop: ??? We didn’t really have any ideas, so we just drove until something presented itself. We didn’t have a schedule or plan for the day; we just knew we wanted to enjoy the ocean. I’m not even sure how far we drove, but after a few pull-offs, we finally found one that would be suitable. Entirely by chance, we parked at the Big Creek Bridge overlook, which I later found out is a fairly popular scenic viewpoint. The beach below isn’t exactly accessible, and it may not even be public. But, there were no “no trespassing” signs and we were feeling pretty competent after our excursions in Death Valley and Sequoia. The risky rock scramble was absolutely worth it and after a couple of sweaty minutes, we landed on an empty, sandy, sheltered beach. Bonus! There were rocks to climb. We walked around, got our toes kissed by the waves, explored the beach, then climbed through the natural tunnel, emerging onto another deserted beach. This one was cut in half by a huge, crystal-clear creek running down to the ocean. The scene was something straight out of a National Geographic magazine. Ike explored beach number two while I headed back to accentuate yesterday’s sunburn on the first beach. (Also, we’d left our phones and shoes and my camera over there and I was feeling a little nervous.) That afternoon was a delight! At one point, we got stuck on a huge rock while the roaring waves soaked us over and over again and made it impossible to get off the rock and to a higher spot. It was exhilarating and funny and a little scary! We eventually jumped off the rock in a rush and sprinted up the beach to avoid being pummeled by the oncoming waves! Adventure!! Once we’d dried off a little and brushed some of the sand off (Isaac decided to be a real man and go rinse off in the ice-cold creek), we climbed back up the very steep bank and headed back toward camp. The day hadn’t turned out at all how we’d expected, but it was totally perfect. And it wasn’t even over yet!
Back at camp, we changed clothes, Ike headed out for a run, and I followed in my car a few minutes later to meet him at the trailhead. Destination: Buzzard’s Roost Viewpoint. The plan for the day was to explore more of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, but that obviously hadn’t happened. So, we took advantage of the last of the daylight and climbed to the summit. Holy moly, that was a tough hike. It was continuous climbing at a very steep grade for nearly the entire two miles. Thankfully, there was good reason to pause along the way: wildflowers, California Redwoods, neat bugs, and killer views. We were toast by the time we reached the summit. That was no problem since we planned to hang out until dusk. This was, after all, a perfect sunset vista, and you know how I feel about sunsets! While we waited for the show to begin, I got caught up on posting my Instagram stories. Sadly, the sunset was one of the less spectacular. It was beautiful, and I don’t think I’d ever get tired of watching the sun sink into the Pacific, but this just wasn’t one of those breathtakingly colorful displays. I thought maybe if I waited just a bit longer, it would get better. And then maybe just one bit longer. It didn’t improve much. What did improve? Our chances of hiking back in the dark. And you know how I feel about hiking after dark.
We ended up hiking in the dark. It wasn’t so much hiking though, as it was running. We full-on ran down that mountain. Two miles, with our water bottles and my camera. Two miles running down that steep trail in my hiking boots. Two miles! Why? I’m not totally sure. It was really super dark under the Redwoods, so we were trying to reach the car before full dark. (We failed.) Isaac had just gone for a run before the hike and maybe thought it sounded fun and easy. Who knows? We also didn’t have flashlights, aside from our phones; just an un-awesome combination of facts. So, we felt the need to expedite the return trip. Thus, we ran. We somehow made it to the bottom of the tree root-threaded trail without tripping. We did not, however, manage to take the correct trail. We ended up in the empty group campground without a clue where the trail was. We tried to the east. Nope. We tried to the south. Nope. We walked up the trail (past the correct trail) to the west. Nope. Maybe if we just follow the river? Nope. I thankfully had the park map. It didn’t show a lot of details, but it was enough. We finally found the correct trail, resumed our running pace, and made it back to the car, sweaty and gasping. A quick perusal of the lodge store yielded some souvenirs and essentials and the short drive back to camp nearly put us to sleep. We had just enough energy for dinner, cribbage, and some conversation before bed. Wow, what a day!
Friday: The schedule was tight this morning because we had a big-time special event planned for the day. We were packed up and rolling by 9:00. Why? We had to get back up to Monterey for our SURFING LESSON. I have been wanting to make this happen since I first started dreaming about this trip. AND TODAY WAS THE DAY!!! So excited! We found the beach, parked, and walked over to meet our instructors. For real? For real. With wet suits on and surfboards in hand, we marched down to the beach and set up on the sand. We had to learn some basics before taking to the waves, of course. It was basically a mini yoga session, with all sorts of stretching and balancing and planking and lunges and downward dog and savasana. (Nah, I’m kidding. There was no savasana.) I felt like I knew absolutely nothing by the time we got the boards in the water. But hey, it's an adventure! Have you ever had an ice cream headache? Have you ever had an ice cream headache from water? But not from drinking water, from being in the water? Yowza the ocean was cold. I thought the Pacific was supposed to be warm! Apparently, in February it is not. Ignoring the frozen brains and toes and fingers, we had an amazing time. We paddled and floated and surfed and chatted and sunburnt and rode waves for two magical hours. I managed to squat surf a couple of waves, but I never managed to successfully stand on my board. Isaac got the hang of it and surfed for real a few times. That was awesome!! We had so much fun and worked so hard. I was exhausted beyond anything I’d felt before. Actually, I called it quits and sat waiting on the beach for the last few minutes of our lesson time because my muscles were so spent that I couldn’t walk through the shallow waves. Every time I tried to get back out to the instructor, a big wave would come through and knock me down, sending my surfboard back to shore. I decided I was better off waiting on the shore, enjoying the last few minutes of the experience from there instead of pushing myself to do something that probably wasn’t safe to be doing anymore anyway. So, yeah. We took a surfing lesson, and it was amazing! I highly recommend Carmel Surf Lessons in Monterey to anyone looking for that sort of adventure. The instructors were professional, kind, fun, and encouraging. Ike and I both had an incredible experience and left feeling successful and satisfied.
The ocean had emptied our stomachs in a big way, so we obviously needed burgers in a big way. And since we had the option, the only real answer to the problem was In-N-Out. "Animal-style" fries and burgers cured the hunger deliciously. And what better way to continue with the Pacific life vibes than to spend the afternoon reading and relaxing in our hammocks? After a quick stop at Target and a short walk, we were resting in our own little pods, soaking in the warm and saltwater air. It really doesn’t get more perfect than that. The afternoon went by way too quickly and soon it was time to move on. We’d decided we were going to do something very different tonight: street camping. We were close enough to our next destination that it didn’t make sense to travel far. iOverlander told us that the bay-side streets of nearby Pacific Grove are a popular spot for van lifers and RVers looking for a place to overnight. We knew we wouldn’t be able to set the camper up, but we had a solution. I would rearrange the cargo in the car and set up a bed for myself in there. Easy peasy. Isaac would set up a bed on the floor of the folded-down camper. Lemon squeezy. There was enough space and our self-inflating camping mats made the setup simple. With the details taken care of, we set off down the street to grab dinner. Our restaurant was up-scale and oh, so delicious! It was a little bit more expensive than normal, but it was worth it. What an incredible day of adventure!
Saturday: I woke up after a long night of mediocre sleep. I’d never camped in a car like that, and my subconscious was not in favor of those vehicles cruising past all night. But there were more important things to think about. I got the car converted back into a travel vehicle, with all of our bins in their proper places, and headed down to the shore with my Bible and devo book. I hope you have a beautiful morning routine with Jesus. There’s really no better way to start the day than by studying His word and chatting with Him for a bit. These weeks of warmth and sunshine in California have made my morning devos an extra level of delightful. You should give it a try! After putting my books away, I wandered away from the snoring camper (or maybe that was Isaac snoring) in search of coffee. Gotta have that morning coffee, ya know? I found some. And some rocks to climb and some waves to admire and some splashing kids to smile at. The sun was just double extra sunny that morning!
Isaac was awake by the time I got back to the camper and gratefully took the iced coffee after crawling out of the stuffy, sun-baked camper. We watched for a while as a few seals swam and splashed and blubbered around in the cove. Did I mention how delightful that morning was? But, the road was calling and we had to answer. We needed to be in Fresno by noon the next day, so we had some driving to do. The day’s miles took us to Panoche Hills Recreation Area where we set up for a night of wild camping. The afternoon was spent writing, napping, walking, and dinner-making. The evening was spent dishwashing, game playing, music listening, and fire building and gazing. The weather was perfect, the fire was perfect, the silence was perfect. It was all so perfect, in fact, that Ike decided to “cowboy camp.” What is cowboy camping? I asked the same question. It is simply sleeping on the ground in whatever you’ve got on, next to the fire. I thought that sounded incredible, but I made some modifications to the concept. I grabbed my camping mat, my sleeping bag, and my pillow and hauled them all out next to the fire. From there, Ike and I enjoyed the magic of the desert night together until we drifted off to sleep.
Sunday: I learned a few important things while cowboy camping.
1: a single sleeping bag is not enough on a February night in the desert. So cold!
2: Mosquitos live in the desert too, I guess, and get hungry at the night.
3: It gets a little creepy after the fire burns out.
4: I’m not a huge fan of cowboy camping.
What I am a huge fan of is watching the sunrise from start to finish while snuggled into my sleeping bag, warmed by a crackling fire. I could get used to that. Maybe I’ll just do that last part without the sleeping-outside-all-night part. Regardless, I know that night, its emotions, its soul-soothing peace, and its intimacy with nature will live forever as one of my favorite adventures and one of the most beautiful memories with my brother. What a treasure. That magical bubble was difficult to pop, but we had to get moving. We had adventure buddies to meet!
On the road again, we cruised toward Freson. We had just over an hour to go, so we held out for some higher-quality coffee from a real coffee shop. Not that I have anything against gas station coffee! It’s just that we both were craving something sweet. Dutch Bros was the answer and oh boy did it hit the spot! And then it was time to head to the airport! I had some mixed feelings about the week to come since I knew it was the grand finale. [Edit: I thought it was the grand finale] But overshadowing that sadness was my excitement at having Bethany and her boyfriend Owen join us for adventures in Yosemite National Park!
With the hoodlums happily loaded into the car, we headed toward Oakhurst. But first, grocery shopping and lunch. With lunch happily loaded into our bellies, we headed, again, toward Oakhurst. A couple of hours later, we had the camper parked and set up and camp was made. We enjoyed some tacos together as the sun set and played Uno until we could take no more. An early bedtime seemed like a good idea since B and Owen had been awake for nearly twenty hours and we had big adventures planned for the week. See mom, we can take care of ourselves!
What a week, huh? I am so astounded by the unbelievable adventures we keep managing to find! You’d think that with so many already completed, we might run out. But no! They just keep happening! And next week will be just as incredible, if not better.
Until next time!
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