Living Green

We Live In A Beautiful World

My birthday was yesterday–the first true day of summer, and the longest day of the year!  Tom and I decided to get away over the weekend for a quick car-camping trip at Henry Coe State Park.

We arrived Saturday night right before sunset.  It was freezing and windy, windy.  The park was recommended to us by my parents who had fond memories of staying a few nights in their RV awhile back…my mom kept going on and on about the spectacular weather.  Needless to say, the icy gale force winds took us by surprise.

Beautiful Sunset

Luckily, all we had to do was set up our 2-man tent and get inside to sleep…the first night we had unknowingly reserved a ‘bogus’ tent site.  It was in the middle of two other sites and there wasn’t one patch of flat earth.  We settled on a slight decline and fell asleep to an amateur guitarist carefully playing the same riff over and over again in hopes of impressing his lady friends(we prayed for him, he needed all the help he could get).

Halfway through the night, the gale force winds abruptly stopped and that was when all the animals came out to play.  The horrible guitar morphed into a coyote chorus echoing through the canyon below(if you’ve never heard coyotes, they are like really whiny dogs, but more vicious sounding).  The coyote’s howl then transitioned into wild boar sniffs, loud farts and snoring sounds from other neighbors next door, and a diversity of bird calls…the human noises were definitely the most disturbing.

The Tent Loves #9

After the first night, most of the campers cleared out and we were able to move up the hill to a great site.  It had a little patch of flat land for our tent, and water a few steps away from the picnic table with a pleasant veranda overhead.  Loved it!

Enjoying Breakfast After a Rough Night...

...Enjoying Breakfast In a 'Different' Way

We had some breakfast and decided on a easy-moderate hike.  The weather warmed up, and it turned into a beautiful California day.  It was a busy weekend because of Father’s Day, but every single person we passed smiled and exchanged a greeting.  It was probably the friendliest place I’ve ever been.  Henry Coe is only about 1 1/2hrs away from us and very accessible from San Francisco too.

Pretty Flowers

Pretty Fields

Pretty Trees

Pretty Behinds

After the hike, we relaxed, played Scrabble, read, enjoyed the outdoors, ate dinner and argued about correct song lyrics…I was right, of course.  We watched the sunset again and the sunrise the next morning.  The winds never returned in such a fury, and the second night we actually got hot.  There were no disturbances, except some crying from a baby next door–the wildest creatures on earth.  It was a great little weekend, and a nice way to bring in the summer, and my birthday of course!

Cooking Dinna

Bean Quesadillas

P.S. Thank you to everyone who sent me love and warm wishes on my birthday–I ate them all up and am very full.  In return, I will leave you with this last photo.  I hope it makes you laugh and brightens your day.

Practicing Kung Fu

Still Life

Tom’s parents have been in town and that only means one thing…time to work on the house!  Although we did in fact put them to work, we also managed to fit in some time for fun.

First, there was beer–a free tour and tasting at Anchor Steam Brewery in S.F.:

Tom Is Hiding

Smelling The Bouquet

Whoops

Ten-Hut!

Following Orders

Right in-Cline!

Following Orders A Little Too Well

Second, there were burgers at IN-N-OUT:

I'm 28

Hamming It Up

Third, there were beautiful views:

Ahhh(sing)

Clear Day In S.F.

The brewery tour was more about the tasting than the tour.  They didn’t allow photos to be taken past the tasting room–hence the lack of documentation.  It was cool to see the local production of a beer that is shipped across the country, and learn a little of its history.  However, it was really loud in the processing areas and we couldn’t really hear anything the tour guide was saying.  I guess the beer speaks for itself.

IN-N-OUT is a uniquely Western U.S. experience.  It’s all about the animal-style burger; I guess that gave Tom the excuse to eat like an animal through the whole meal.

The last attraction was a ride to the top of Coit Tower.  It was a pretty 360 view of S.F., but for the $5 elevator ride there are plenty of free views of the city.

Now back to work Sidney and Steve!  The house won’t fix itself!

I know, it felt like forever for me too.  I missed this virtual world.

Beautiful Day In The Car

I have very little to show from our week apart, please forgive me.  I’ll do better next time, promise.

Here are two videos from the road, distinctively California and distinctively amateur…I’m still learning.  You really should be thanking me–I used my editing tool just for you!

It was super windy on the California coast…perfect conditions for kite surfing:

Only in California:

I am so happy to be home…