All was crisp and quiet the morning we awoke to prepare for our camping trip to Big Sur, crisp and quiet, quiet and crisp . . . mainly because it was five o'clock in the morning! Nobody was around, not even the sun- five in the morning, that is approximately five hours earlier than I normally wake. Yup, we had decided to get an early start on this one which is funny because Joe and I almost didn't make it at all, almost backed out completely the week before. We just had too much going on and not enough plates! In the end though, we decided to let it all go and try to enjoy this mini retreat. I'm so happy we did.
It was amazing. A camping commune where one is forced to share, cook, create, explore, discover, appreciate, communicate, and embrace. I had never been to Big Sur and was so moved by its leafy exterior and sandy disposition. Where else can you have the forest and the beach just outside the zipper of your tent? It's amazing what scenery can do for the mind. I felt like a kid again, seeing colors for the first time, soaking up warm rays of vitamin D, splashing in and out of our creek, collecting rocks as if each was a precious jewel then skipping them gently across the water, chatting with foreign bugs, and hours upon hours of careless dancing under the moonlight. This was Big Sur for me.
Sometimes with everything going on in my daily life, I forget to breath. Time flies and one breath can often take days but as we laid, nestled beside the whispered melody that was Kiln Creek, just below ancient waterfalls and effervescent stars, just above our Jade-studded beach- we lived, loved, and breathed for four days. It was lovely and I shall return. Until then . . . I have pictures, to remind me.
Kiln Creek.
One of our days was spent searching for this waterfall
and then dipping our toes beneath it's cool waters once it was found.
Ahhhh dinner . . . it was gourmet every night.
Meet baby Sierra. She had her own RV (part of her retirement plan I think), camped very close to us and would often join us near the campfire to engage in late-night discussions of politics and post-war strategies over bowls of fire roasted peanuts. Smart girl, that one.
This was another of our fellow campers,
who used to flirt with me every morning for bits of granola.
My favorite past-time, dancing recklessly under gentle waves of moonlight.
This image wraps up the trip for me. Perched on a rock, he was careless but in thought; relaxed but aware. He sat there, blankly staring out towards the forest and as quickly as he had landed, he decided to fly. I didn't see him again until the next morning as we packed up the car to go home.