long time no see.
Sort of not sure where to begin this post. I feel like I've been away forever, and I really want to do an update, but I feel so... inadequate where it comes to words lately. So uneloquent and inarticulate. I don't even know where or how to begin, so I guess I'll just jump right in.
Things have been okay. There's not a lot of things going on outside of work with school wrapping up and prepping for summer programs. Mother's Day went well. I had brunch with the boyfriend and his family on some stationary boat on the river where they served unlimited mimosas, so, you know, I was good. Ha ha. And I got to wear one of my new dresses with a bright blue hat. Always a plus, in my opinion. Afterward, we drove out to the Sloughouse and picked up some fresh farm produce including some strawberries. So happy for summer to finally be settling in! Sundresses and strawberries.
Anyway, this past weekend, we went camping. It was sort of a last-minute, spur-of-the-moment thing we decided. Or rather, I kind of blurted at work that I really wanted to go camping, but we couldn't do it sooner because of Mother's Day. However, I kind of wish I had waited another week to take advantage of Memorial Day and stretch it out a little longer. But alas.
Had contemplated trying Point Reyes, but their only campsites are hike-ins, so we headed for Sonoma Beach State Park, instead, and ended up at Wright's Beach just north of Bodega Bay (as in, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds Bodega Bay--there were a lot of birds, but none that sinister beyond wanting to stead potato chips). It was an awesome site, right on the beach.
All the sites were drive-in, but we didn't arrive early enough to snag one with a waterfront view. However, you could still see the ocean beyond the trees. We bought a new four-person tent, which was a little more manageable than our three-room, nine person one.
View of the ocean.
View from the ocean. Lots of people were there in RVs.
We left work early on Friday but didn't arrive until just before sunset. Hurriedly set up camp, lit a fire, and roasted some hot dogs. I don't know what it is about camping that makes food taste that much better. I'm not much for the hardcore eat-out-of-cans-and-MREs kind of camping. I prepped a bunch of stuff the night before and froze them, keeping them in ice and taking them out so they could marinate as they thawed. That weekend, we had lemon-pepper salmon, steak, and barbecue chicken, as well as cheese omelets for breakfast. 'Cause that's how we roll, yo. :D
However, we did forget the coffee, so we went into town a couple of times for the daily caffeine fix. Found this cute little next to a real-estate agency and vacation rental office. We also underestimated the cold--even though it was pretty warm during the day, the nights got very blustery and cold, which was a little rough considering one of the sleeping bags turned out to be unusable, and we didn't bring any thick blankets. Anyway, woke up the next morning, had breakfast, and went on a short 2 mile hike, first along the beach and then going up the cliff face to double back to camp. We had lunch and I took a nap in the sun, woke up and went to Bodega Bay to get some coffee. Lol.
Vanilla latte and a lemon custard shortcake. The coffee was great but the pastry was a little stale. I'm still not sure if that white thing was supposed to be whipped cream or meringue--it fell somewhere in between.
After that, we went to Bodega Dunes, which is a sister site(?) to Wright's Beach, and went for another hike. We weren't really sure what to expect of the terrain, but the woman at the kiosk said that it wound through the bluffs, so we sort of figured that it would be a little more... firm? Turned out the bluffs were really the dunes, and yeah, the whole hike was through sand. It was maybe three miles, round trip, but damn did it feel a lot longer!
We also got a bit lost since the trails diverged and converged randomly and sand was, well, everywhere. It was pretty difficult to keep straight what was and wasn't the trail. Finally, we found the road to the day use area again and just followed that back to the car. The boyfriend got really sunburned. By the time we returned to camp, it was just before sunset, so we threw some steak onto the grill and popped open a bottle of Reisling. Or rather, I popped open a bottle of Reisling and did a little writing on my iPad.
Because this is also how we roll.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot accomplished. Mostly, I worked on fixing this stupid prologue. Line. By. Friggin. Line. (One of these days, prologue! One of these days!) Then we made s'mores.
The next day, we packed up camp and decided to hit another hike. We did the same trail as Saturday morning, but started on the bluffs and did two and a half miles to Shell Beach before doubling back. It was pretty nice. Not as tough as the dune trail, but longer and there were a few challenging spots where it zigzagged up and down cliffs.
Yeah. I hike in flip flops. And yes, I lost my shirt on the hike back. (Actually, that's me multi-tasking. Hiking and getting a tan. Which is mostly the same reason I hike in flip flops when possible--no funny sneakers-and-socks tan lines.)
Anyway, we hit a restaurant for lunch, but it turned out to be kind of disappointing. If you're ever in Bodega Bay, stay away from the Tides--over priced, frozen food selections. But at least the views of the bay were nice. There was a pastry shop inside the complex, and we picked up a mini cannoli and fruit tart, and while both were okay, neither were particularly great. We took them to go and got more coffee, drove back to Bodega Dunes to eat, and then set up camp on the sand. The wind was a little chilly, but the sand was warm enough to compensate.
At around 4:00, we headed out on the road home, pulling out to a scenic vista on a national reserve to view the solar eclipse... which was a tad underwhelming after all the filtered photos that led up to it. But at least the lot was full of nice people. Got home just before eight, threw more meat on the grill, and watched the latest episode of Game of Thrones over dinner.
Over all, a great weekend. I didn't mean to make this post completely about it, but I guess I should really get to bed. Hopefully it won't be another month before I do this again.