Big Basin

Hwy 1

Cartoon Bark

Lounge
Redwood Bridge
Spitting Hotdogs!

Soup & Oats

Cranberry!

Redwoods

"Road to Santa Cruz"

Through Big Basin

Riding Down Santa Cruz Strip

Boardwalk

Leaning Shadows

2K Swim

Jacks

Sunset

This weekend was wonderful. We got up late on Sunday for a trip to Big Basin. Driving through Big Basin was amazing, with huge Redwoods so high the light from a blue sky was nearly blocked by so many trees. The few rays that found their way through were extra special. I still can't believe how big redwoods are. The bark was so huge it just looked silly!

By the time we had set up camp there was just enough time for an hour long hike before sundown. I'm so glad I decided to bring pants and a jacket, because it really was cold on the damp trails through the forest. When we got back it was nice starting a fire with some of the two by fours scraps we had pulled from the construction site. They don't burn brightly, but they last a good long time. It was a crazy experience all of us huddled around the fire. Time passes by so much more slowly with only the dark and and no cell phone reception to tell time by. We made up random games over spitting hotdogs with the murky shadows of trees behind us. At one point it moved and we shined a light out into the black to find a racoon edging too close to our picnic table. It just glared at us and stalked off. I hate racoons. My favorite was falling asleep in my tent with a perfect symphony of crickets beneath my eyelids.

Somewhere in my beautiful dreams the next morning I woke to the soft pecking of a woodpecker that slowly became the very real clicking of a jackhammer. In my confusion I couldn't decide which it was.

After a quick breakfast and breakdown of camp we decided to make a visit to Santa Cruz before heading back. It's been so long since I've visited. There still are so many sea lions! But it was nice swimming from Seabright beach to the Boardwalk, and driving back on Hwy 1 with the window down half wind in one ear and MGMT's Kids blasting in the other.