Day 1I was up and ready to go at 2:30am. But the scheduled time was 5am so I stayed in bed till 4am to meet up with Laura to help her load things into the car. Why didn't she choose to do it last night? I don't know, she must have had a good reason to want to load 4am in the morning instead of sleeping in for another hour. We didn't roll off till 5:40am.
I drove so Laura and Elaine can sleep in the car. We pulled over and had breakfast at Standish-Hickey State Park. This is our usual pull over for breakfast or lunch. We made it in before the ranger showed up for entrance fee. The park was full of campers. This park is filled with redwood trees and has a river nearby. We tried to be quiet as possible but we weren't sucessful or more like I wasn't successful. I am sure to have woken up many campers.
Here is Laura trying to warm up with my hot pot stove. We heated up pita, sesame, and oregano breads and lots of stuffing I made last night. Hot breakfast is better than cold breakfast. Glad we pulled over for tea and hot food.
We crossed the Oregon border at 11:30am and decided to pull over for lunch at Harris Beach State Park. The seagulls eyed our picnic table and ended up pooping all over our table when we went on our walk. Our neighbors shooed them away for us.
We were so stuffed from lunch that we had to take a walk.
I think this is the first amazing sand castle and city I've come across at a beach that is this amazing.
Elaine and Laura both went on a hike around this boulder.
I decided to take a rest on a rock and listen to the waves.
After our walks and hikes we got tired and decided to lay on the sand. I don't recall who's fabulous idea it was to pour hot sand on each other and bury our body on the beach, it turned out to be better than a deep tissue massage. We somehow just took it upon ourselves and took turns to pour hot sand over and over, keeping fresh hot sand on and on. We continued this process until the winds picked up. No one kept tracked of the time. We made it back to the car and realized we took a 4 hour lunch break. Oh, well, none of us complained, it was well worth it, no regrets.
Sisterhood, it's a beautiful thing! I feel so blessed and fortunate. Every year we do this road trip together in the same car. It wouldn't be quite the same without it.
I continued to drive. Since I have been ill for the past two months, I wanted to know where my body was and this would let me know how much work I can put out this week. I ended up driving the whole way. We made it to camp site at 7pm. Every year, we try to get there before that but some how we don't and it was always for good fun scenic reasons.
There was plenty of day light to pitch the tent. Pitching the tent wasn't hard. Eric drove a leveler onto to the campsite this year and helped to level some of the sites for us. That was very smart move and so nice of him. Great, this mean we get to cut down an hour of racking the grounds. All we had to do now is pitch the tent.
I am so happy to pitch my new Hard Mountain tent. I can even fit my packs in it. I can even sit up. Ha! I shall stay dry this year along with my stuff. I can even meditate in it without hunching my back. So excited to test out my new tent! I think it will even keep me warm and mosquito free. Crossing my fingers!
