My farewell to California (for a while at least) was really spectacular. My best friends forevers from high school all came with me on a camping trip to Salt Pt. State Park which is about 2 hours north of San Francisco on the CA coast. We camped at a hike in spot which was a bitch for loading and unloading purposes, but was especially remote, especially on the weekdays.
David and I got there on a Saturday and took about three grueling trips to unload the car. We set up camp with a plastic Pikachu guarding the entrance to our home for the next few days. Sunday morning we had a breakfast of eggs with some special herbs and went on a very long hike which took us through forest, prairie, by a pond, and eventually to this amazing summer camp. "Big Mike" guided us through the facilities. They had a working farm with dairy and beef cattle and pigs. He showed us the pool and took us over a hill where we could really see how big the property was. There was lots of space for running and playing. We got to check out this awesome redwood that was hollowed out by lightning-started fire and had a room built in it. It was complete with a door, a window, a bed, and a wood burning stove. The kids at this camp slept in tents and had to do farm chores every day in addition to normal summer camp stuff. They weren't allowed any iPods, cell phones, video games, etc. What a great experience!
We hiked back so we could meet Becca and Dan at our campsite. We got tired of waiting so we explored our general vicinity. After sitting at a "theater" we found and watching some old redwoods grow, we heard "David! Eric!" and found out that we had ended up back at the parking lot somehow. We helped unload the car and bring the rest of our supplies back to the campsite.
Beers were opened, fire was started, and the cooking began. We had trout and risoto for dinner--one of the finest camping meals I've had.
The next day we ventured toward the coast. We watched the ocean, hiked, collected yerba buena for tea, and ended up watching some seals from very close. Just as we were getting ready to move on to the sandy beach, I slipped and fell into a tide pool. This was a blessing in disguise because we stayed longer and found some sea stars and sea anemones and a chiton. When we got back we made yerba buena tea and made some sandwiches for lunch. Then we had to go off to get some supplies we had forgotten to bring with us, such as soap. For dinner we made mole chicken quesadillas which were also excellent.
Becca had brought with her some 'shrooms with the intent of sharing them with me on this trip. I was pretty apprehensive about taking them and was pretty sure I would decline considering all the complications in my life and all the negative emotions I had about this transition. The next morning, however, I woke up to find a banana slug about a foot away from my head on my sleeping mat. This put me in a wonderful mood for the morning and I knew the slug was inviting me to follow him into his world that day. I took a pretty small amount of 'shrooms with becca and went on a hike toward the pygmy forest.
I had a great experience that day and it made for an excellent end for our camping trip.
David left that night after dinner and the next morning the rest of us headed out. We stopped in Petaluma and visited the Lagunitas Brewing Company for a tour--one that I would recommend to any beer lovers in day trip distance of Petaluma.
At home I had a great Vietnamese dinner with my mom at Le Cheval and then had an excellent mexican dinner cooked by my grandma where I got to see my cousin Garrett who now lives in Arizona. The next morning, I was gone.
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