We started Big Sur a little differently. Tara has spent weeks with head in guide books, maps, online, and asking friends searching for campgrounds and trying to figure where we’re going to be next….
But not this time friend… nope. In a true effort to make this week as enjoyable and stress free as we could, Tara was able to make us reservations for the days that we wanted to be in Big Sur, and she was able to get us 4 nights between two great campgrounds. We drove from Sequoia through Pasa Robles, and onto California Highway 1… again. I say again, because if you read the Finding Bigfoot post you know that Highway 1 is a super windy road with ups and downs and bridges and drops to your death if you’re not paying attention. But this section is a little less scary, though not much. We started on 1, drove past the Hearst Castle. If you’ve never heard of it, look it up, it’s pretty crazy, but we didn’t stop. We did however stop in Cambria. A nice small town that would fit in anywhere on Cape Cod, or just north of York, ME… you get the idea. We stopped to have lunch and walk around a bit to stretch our legs.
From here we continued north to San Simeon for a “Hard Stop” on Tara’s map. This is where you can see Elephant Seals, just about anytime of the year, and some times they’re numbering in the hundreds. (This is where they go to make babies) So we stopped and you know it… Tara got her wish. Elephant seals just sitting on the beach… making tons of noise… being massive. There weren’t hundreds… probably only about 20 -30, but there were also a ton in the water and we couldn’t really count them. It was a huge bonus for Tara… I think one of the things that Tara has enjoyed the most about this trip has been her ability to see wildlife, up close. So elephant seals, check. On to Sand Dollar beach for the Murphster to run around. (side note: Sand Dollar Beach doesn’t have any sand dollars)
Then we headed for our campground. Limekiln State Park. Where we camped. Under a bridge. I know what you’re thinking… Camping under a bridge… you degenerate… but that’s not how it works in Big Sur. The only areas in Big Sur that can really get down to the beach or the water, are areas that wind off of Highway 1, and turn down through the a series of switchbacks to beach under a bridge. This is because the bridge has to span the beach area to connect the mountain ridges that the highway runs along. Whatever, it was incredible. Tara and I have an oceanfront site and the Shast was in it’s glory. We got the camper squared away, grabbed a bottle of wine (gift from Alex and Claire) and headed to the beach to watch the sun set. I’m kind of laughing writing this because I know it can’t sound as amazing as it was. Sunset under a bridge… but it wasn’t under a bridge, just picture a sunset on a beach in Big Sur. We headed back to our spot made dinner and went to bed with the sound of the ocean crashing on the shore about 50 yards away.
*Please note that Tara is on this vacation, she’s just always the one who remembers to grab the camera and take pictures. We’ve actually started to joke that this is “The Derek and Murphy Roadtrip”… but trust me… she’s here) The next day, we went for a quick hike through a redwood grove to a waterfall. A little hike to stretch our legs and to get Murphy some time in the woods.
Now, WE’RE GOING TO THE BEACH! We grab some stuff and head to Pfieffer State Park. Along the way, we stopped at the Henry Miller Memorial Museum and Library, because believe it or not, on this trip, I’ve become a reader. So far I’ve knocked out “To Kill a Mocking Bird” and “The Alchemist”. Cool place. There is a large front lawn where it appears that they have music occasionally, and it’s just a small building with books, pictures/art, and music for sale. After walking through the entire place, the only book that stood out.. and was almost staring at me, was Big Sur, by Jack Kerouac. So I bought that and Huckleberry Fin. I’ve never read any Kerouac, I just never had any interest, but there’s something about being in a place that such a… I don’t have a word… unique… writer decided to write a book about. Reading Big Sur, while in Big Sur, was quite an experience.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get as early of a start as we wanted to and the parking lot was full. We didn’t find this out at the parking lot, we found this out at the street that takes you too the parking lot. A kid making minimum wage was set up to tell people that they had to do a “one out, one in” with parking now and we needed to try back in 20 minutes and maybe someone would have left. Well, we don’t have that kind of time. How far is the walk? 2 miles to the beach. We park. We walk. I complained most of the way… mostly because I noticed that the entire 2 mile walk, was downhill. You know what that means… to go back, it’s 2 miles uphill. But Tara tries to stay positive and continues to tell that “we’re almost there” at every turn… but she forgets, I was driving, I saw the GPS map. I know that when we hit the fork, that’s half way. We aren’t there yet. While we’re walking down the 2 mile road, cars upon cars start to pass us… apparently cars will be leaving so they’re sending more down to park… not walk. I was pretty bummed about it, but we’re into this now… we’re walking and that’s it. Finally, we get to the entrance and must to my surprise (and satisfaction) all the cars that passed us, are just waiting in a line to get into the parking lot. Tara, Murphy and I walk past them, we don’t pay the $10 entrance fee… and we head to the beach. The beach is really nice. I mean, I don’t think it’s anything crazy, but it’s a nice beach with an angry sea. The waves crash against rocks, and the sand, hard. The water is also freezing, but I don’t let that stop me from trying to work my way into the water. At this point it is made very clear to me… by Murphy, that the water is not safe, and I shouldn’t be swimming. Anytime Tara or I go near the water, Murphy has been up and at the water’s edge. I ignored his jumping and walked into the water, he ran up behind me, hit my hand and started to bark at me… as if he was saying “NO, I told you, get out of the water!” and he stays there until I walk out of the water… when we walks back to our blanket an lays down. He won’t talk to me for the rest of the day.
Now, the part of the day that I’ve been dreading… the walk back to the car. 2 miles, uphill. We start the walk and it’s tough… but Tara and I have a plan… we’re going to hitchhike to the top of the road. About 4 minutes into the walk, I’m covered in sweat and it’s very clear, no one is going to stop and give me a ride. So we change the plan, and now I”m going to wait with Murphy and Tara is going to get a ride (hopefully) to the top of the road. A couple cars pass and we can only assume that they think we want a ride for both of us and Murph… but we keep trying. Finally, a very nice, unsuspecting, non-english speaking car with a family from China stop. I’m honestly not sure they knew what we were asking, if they thought I was giving them Tara, or if they thought this was just something Americans do regularly, but for some reason they said yes. I mean, they didn’t say yes, but that was the just of what was going on, and off Tara goes with this nice family from China. Thankfully, in about 10 minutes Tara came back down the road in our truck, and wasn’t on a plane to China as their new nanny. So we headed back to our site for the second beautiful sunset in two nights… sitting on the beach, drinking a bottle of wine and relaxing.
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