9.28.2013

California Dreaming

Schmoo is here in Battle Mountain visiting again : ).  Which makes me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. But it also makes me a bit concerned that I'm not keeping up with this blog.  I'm such a slacker.  I've decided to crank out this post in a never ending attempt to get to present day.

After my Schmoo and Dad left last August- I was having a hard time living in Battle Mountain.  The love being the fabulous love that he is decided that we were gonna skip town for my birthday and head to the coast.

The first night was so romantic {I wish I could type this in sarcasm font}.  E always does such a good job researching our destination, the route, fun stuff to do, unique places to stop and eat, places to stay, weighing camping and hotel options, etc.  Well, he selected a gem of a campsite let me tell you.  The good people of California are not being good stewards of their public lands.  We drove off the highway for what seemed like forever in the dark on dirt roads.  We arrived at BLM's- Blue Oaks Campground and this couple had a roaring fire going, their car stereo blasting and were loud and obnoxious most of the evening.  The fire pits were overflowing with burnt trash and there wasn't much separation between the sites which would have been fine had the other campers adhered to quiet hours. Seeing as it was so late and I was so tired I objected to E's suggestion to leave, "Um...no we didn't drive 500 miles off the path in the dark to turn around."  So we set up the tent and E being the paranoid Pamela that he can be had a harder time falling asleep than I did.

We awoke unharmed and to our amazement our neighbors were still up.  We packed up camp and headed to Clear Lake, CA in hopes of some coffee and breakfast pastries. I don't even remember what we ended up doing, I think we decided to press on to the coast.  

We continued on Highway 20 and made a quick stop in Boonville at Anderson Valley Brewery.


As we neared the coast the anticipation grew as this was Loaf's first visit to the ocean. We arrived near Manchester SP.




We drove south on Hwy 1 torward Bodega Bay and stopped to rest at a few overlooks.  Can you believe there is BLM along the coast?  Yeah me either.....I was like whaaaaat?  E you mean to tell me we have a chance to get the heck outta the high desert for some beautiful coastal views?  Heck yes! {PS...I am still waiting to get outta here.}  The love brought the Loaf and I to the Point Arena Lighthouse on  Stornetta Public Lands to instill some hope in our hearts.













California has beautiful state parks but unfortunately their state government sucks at budgeting. So the few places along the coast we had hoped to camp didn't come to fruition because they were closed. So we continued to head toward Lodi and seriously couldn't find a campsite so we opted for the Holiday Inn in Lodi.  It was fabulous because we got an opportunity to sleep in and shower before stopping in to see Barbara and head home.
It was a fabulous mini vacation and a great way to celebrate my birthday. We are off to CA tomorrow to celebrate this year's birthday and enjoy each other's company.