4th of July long weekend getaway

this weekend Bryce and I packed up the camper and headed north across the bridge. destination unknown...

the weather was perfect and the bay was full of activity. people on bikes, sailboats on the water
and after a quick stop in Sausalito for some fish and chips for lunch we headed north on hwy 1
after a few hours of slow driving along the coast on this scenic winding road we stopped for a hike, but were delighted to find this gorgeous swimming area that was protected from the ocean

Cooper was the happiest about this, and was straight into the water

these two burned some energy off

he would swim forever if you let him

McKenzie is the land-lover of the two, and thinks digging is way more fun than swimming...then we set out through this long grass for a walk to dry them off a bit

the lighting was beautiful

but the sun was setting and it was time for us to find a place to camp, and we ended up in Bodega Bay where shortly after the fireworks started going off.

on Sunday morning we were back on the roadand with all that water Coop couldn't contain himself and barked at us incessantly until we pulled over to go to the beach (spoiled much?)
happy now...

there was no sand on this beach, just tiny warm pebbles which felt like a warm pebble massage

then we were off again and decided to head to Guerneville for some breakfast, which turned out to be a bustling place

the russian river was littered with bodies

and every bit of sand on this shore was covered
we walked around the quaint little stores for a while
and then decided to check out Armstrong Redwood state park to see if there was any place to camp
we were amazed by what we foundi love redwoods! so majestic and cooling - they really know how to make you feel insignificant...

just to give you some perspective how big these things really are

and apparently woodpeckers love them - I know this photo is a long shot, but you can just make out the little guy
work it! :Pafter a lovely walk through the redwoods we set off to the campground
which led us up this crazy windy roadand made for some stunning views!
scruffy brycethe colours were magical

the road just kept on going...

and then we found our site - campsite number 7 and set up camp.
we realised after we'd gotten all settled that we hadn't stocked up on more food, as we thought we'd just drive up to the site, stake our claim then go shopping in town, but after that windy road it would have taken us about an hour to get down again... so we took what we had and made the most delicious hamburgers. amazing what you can slap together when you need to!

after dinner we went for a lovely walk to watch the sunset
I wish this one had have turned out a bit more crisp, it was a bunch of young people hanging out talking crap at the top of the ridge
these shots I was playing around with the exposure on my camera, I like the space age night closing in feeling they have

it was a wonderfully relaxing long weekend that we both needed!

what did you get up to? feel free to post your link about what you did in the comments area - I have a bunch of blogs to catch up on!

:)

Kate