we packed up some food, champagne and the puppies & headed south down hwy 1
it was such a gorgeous day and the light was so dreamy as the sun started to go down
mckenzie was intrigued by the cows (who happen to live on the beach - it made me wonder if they go swimming in the ocean at all...)
cooper just wanted to get his face as far out of the car and into the wind as he physically could...
but was just as happy to sit on Bryce's lap
highway 1 is such a wonderfully windy driving road with spectacular views, just driving along is fun in spite of the destination
as the sun started to sink into the ocean
the sky became a blaze of pinks and oranges, we pulled over and watched it peacefully go down on yet another year and another decade
we ended up at a tiny place called Lucia, south of Big Sur and had a wonderful dinner at the historic cliff side Lucia's Lodge. there were about 4 other couples there, and nobody on the roads at that point.
We had planned on camping at this great spot we found on our GPS, but when we got there the park was closed for the winter (and landslides), so we pulled up on the side of the road, and played cards till midnight, when we counted in 2010 with some champagne!
here's the view we woke up to
not bad eh?
we were far enough away from the road, and there was really no traffic anyway
then it was time to find some breakfast, and we headed north to Big Sur Bakery and after a delicious quiche and coffee breakie, it was beach time (finally you hear Cooper gasp)For some reason I didn't take any photos of the beach - the tide was high and actually come to think of it I think Bryce had the camera... so here's one I took last time we were there... most of the beach was covered by water though so we decided to pack it in and find a great camping spot for the night.
We headed North to Carmel and then took a right and headed inland and Bryce found us the bumpiest steepest road around and we proceeded to 'test out the camper'... in Los Padres National Park
After about an hour of being jiggled about on the bumpy unpaved road we came across a great little campsite that had limited facilities, but was totally empty, so we set up camp, lit a fire and called it home for the night - Cooper and McKenzie thought it was heaven on earth as they ran around sniffing, digging and acting like animals in the wild...
the next day we head back down the mountain and stopped to check out a hiking trail I spotted on the way up
and although it was quite the hike, and I wore way too many clothes, it was a gorgeous hike
and these two LOVED it
view from part way down
a fire had been through recently
and then at the bottom we came across a creek
with a tiny waterfall
McKenzie didn't really like the water, but Cooper thought it was wicked fun
and they went crazy (like wet dogs do) all the way to the top of the hill
weeee!!
it was really a lovely way to celebrate the New Year for us and the happy camper :) the end
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