Anniversary Weekend at Big Sur

We had a fantastic weekend!

(picture 1) This is the most photographed spot in california! (no it's not a movie house in hollywood, it's Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park in Big Sur. I felt like I was in Hawaii. Last year we "moved" to hawaii right around our anniversary. And we got married in Florida right on the beach, do i see a pattern here! Next year I'm aiming for the mediteranian - find another spot like this.

We headed down saturday morning with our 2 roommates J & D. Here's how the day went!

(picture 2&3) A few stops on the way down to our hike. J had binoculars so we got to check out the ocean life & the houses that are all along the coast.

(picture 4) We stopped in a spot just north of Pfeiffer, not sure of the name, it was an adventure, we hiked down to a very lush trail, over a stream (what a cute little bridge) and through a tunnel to the area you see in this picture, which was rocks on water, got to see star fish, sea urchants, sea animy (not sure of the spelling of these) kelp and some other sea life. We then hiked to the other side of the trail to another rocking part where we could sit right in the middle of a stream going right into the ocean. If was refreshing that ice cold water on my feet. Watching the waves come in and the water rush around from behind into them. Someone was making a rock pile, that was soooo hawaii, it was fun, it stood for only a few minutes & it was fun to just watch the whole process.

Then off to Ventana campgrounds to set up before sunset. We then headed over to Nepente to watch the sunset over the pacific ocean, it was just beautiful. We played around in the Phoenix shop, they gave a great gong/bell set up on the outdoor area of the shop. Then off to get some firewood from Fernwood general store (only in california can you go to a ocean town general store and see tofu, vegan stuff, & recycled firewood)! We headed back to camp and set up the fire! camp fires are sooo much fun!

Here comes the funny part, what do 4 veg-mostly raw folks do at a camp fire? We could have brought vegan marshmellows and all that, yet none of us really eat processed foods. So I had the idea to roast bananas! It was hilarious, can you picture 4 vegetarians roasting bananas! We had banana/apple/cinnamon/aguave nectar, wow it was amazing. That was the best camp fire experience ever! Even the campground dogs joined in on the fun.

J, Chris & I took a hike up toward the inn and the setting moon caught my eye. I've never see anything like it! It was a dark reddish orange, we found a chaise lounge/bench overlooking the ocean and hung out watching the moon set.

Off to sleep and woke up to a beautiful morning under the canopy of the redwood trees. What a great campground, it's well worth the few extra $. So clean, free showers, and the grounds are wooded with a nice canopy, yet fairly open. It was so comfortable. We had a creek right next to our site.

Sunday morning we headed to Nepente for some smoothies, they have good OJ. The smoothies had frozen fruit so we sat them out in the sun and let them warm up. What a view, one mountain after another rolling into the sea, with a marine layer (fog) covering the distance.

We then headed to Pfieffer (pic 1) WOW!!! We took lots of pictures, then walked to the other side to a secret spot over the waterfall where there are eco-camping spots, and a hidden spot with rocks that you can sit on and it feels like your flying right over the ocean. Another amazing view!

We headed back, packed up our camp & then checkout of the ventana Inn & restaurant. Ocean views, beautiful landscape, zen gardens, bath houses, if your in the area stop in and take a look, just beautiful! Then off to the Hawthorne Gallery, another highly recommened spot. J is a photographer & very into art! So we get to see some really interesting galleries with him. The gallery itself is a work of art as well. We then had lunch at Post Ranch Inn, WOW WOW WOW, the Sierra Mar dining room is all glass walls with a clear view to the ocean, which is pretty close. The architect is the same as the Hawthorne gallery. The food was gourmet & amazing! This was such a special treat for us. Chris & I LOVE gourmet food. We had a gourmet restaurant near our house a few years ago and we went almost everyday sometimes. The menu may seem a little pricey, yet we had a nice full meal for 4 people for $100! Our main course was salads though, that's just how most of us eat!

We then headed down to post #10 while headed back north towards Santa Cruz. This stop is called Soberanes Point trails. (here is a pic of it and me running free!) It has a high hill right over the ocean great views, and great for whale watching - it's called Whale Peal (that'll be in dec-jan) We walked through fields of great, out to the overlook of the ocean. Incountered lots of poison oak at our feet, so be sure to wear long pants when hiking in these areas.

The marine layer was somewhat thick so we headed back home, instead of going on 17 mile drive, we will save that for the next trip.