camping in big sur

So I went camping this weekend.....It was so much fun. Totally relaxing. Totally FREEZING. The best part was when we were crazy driving along these gnarly dirt roads, up on this ridge with sheer drops on either side....and we hear a clunking sound like something had just fallen out of the jeep. Turns out the drive shaft broke, and we spent the next three or four hours removing it (adam under the jeep, my foot on the break because of the incline we were at) then we managed to get down to our campsite, ate, slept, and dealt with it in the morning. We dealt with it by using 4 wheel drive to get up out of the valley and into Morro Bay, where we then spent the next 4 hours in an Autozone parking lot. But I was so impressed - Adam managed to spend only about 20 bucks and he FIXED the car. Totally fixed it. Man, my boyfriend is handy. So this picture is him "testing" the jeep around the parking lot. We stopped for a second in Cambria - last time we were there the male elephant seals were there in full force. This time of year there weren't as many elephant seals, but I got a few photos. They're so big. You don't even realize it til you're standing close to one.

This photo is my doggydog playing with me - he does this great POUNCE thing - and he was posing just long enough for me to get some photos.

I did a lot of drawing those 10ish hours while my foot was on the break. I came up with a few cup series that I want to do - I need to go to Aardvarks and invest in a high fire glaze pencil, I think. I'd love to be able to get across what I do on paper onto clay. I've never been good at that. I think I'll take some time to do it soon, because I'd like to start developing a portf0lio for an art therapy program.

So this weekend was a blast. Despite the car troubles, it was fun, relaxing, and wonderful. The cold was intense, but I was always fine at night (I have the most amazing sleeping bag ever) and it was so good to be where there were TREES and not a whole lot of people.

Adam and I also decided it's time to get a puppy. SO EXCITED. He's going to talk to his dad, and ideally we'll be getting a female german shephard. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Idyllwild

Yesterday after work I drove up to Idyllwild where Adam was working (doing National Forest Visitor Use Surveys), and surprised him there! I love that drive - once you get to the 243, anyway - and it seems like such a fairytale to be driving up these curvy mountain roads surrounded by hills with no trees, just tall grass and boulders that look like they were just randomly tossed there. Then, once I got up into the oaks and pines the light was getting ready to disappear and it was one of the nicest drives I've ever had. The directions I had actually got me to Adam's jeep and the look on his face as I came up the trail made it all worth it!

We ate dinner at the Good Times cafe (yum, yum, yum - and every single person who went through that door KNEW the owners. I want to live somewhere like that), and then set up our tent at the county site. We lit a fire, I drew with charcoal and sang for a few hours, then when we realized we were falling asleep, we headed for the tent. Sometime in the middle of the night we woke up and after some confusion, realized that our tent was *SIDEWAYS* and we were looking straight out of the top. We had half an hour of giggling madly pretending like we were in a spaceshuttle. Turns out our tent is so little and flimsy, when Rommel scooches up against the side, he can actually turn the whole thing. The light was amazing when we finally woke up again this morning.

My overwhelming feeling since hitting the 243 yesterday was an increase in my desire to live in a mountain town. It made me so sad to head home today - thinking that I had to get in my car and drive two hours just to see trees. Everything was golden and red and crunchy, and the air was - well, you know, the air that you get at 7000 feet, and I couldn't help it but the whole time we were driving through trying to pick out which cabin I would want to live in.

Anyhoo - I am babysitting tonight, and will hopefully get a lot of knitting on Alex's scarf done. Tomorrow Amber comes over, and I'd like to go to the farmer's market.