Every post-Thanksgiving,
Samuel and I make a resolution that next year we'll
run a turkey-trot or something.
Basically we want to sacrifice personal comfort
by working up a sweat,
while doing good for someone else,
and feel a little less guilty when we sit down to feast.
It's not a tall order,
afterall we love to get outside anyway,
but still,
every year rolls around and we find ourselves in our jammies
in front of the boob-tube watching
Snoopy get dragged down the street.
{Exception}
I can't fail to mention that Samuel does manage
to make it out to the ward Turkey Trot every year.
Go babe!
Granted,
parades and throwing the pigskin around is fun too...
and I'll admit,
we did that AGAIN this year,
only guilt-free and minus any next-year resolutions because
days previously hiked our heinies off on
one of the most beautiful coastal trails in California,
T H E C O A S T T R A I L
And who better to share that with,
than three beautiful daughters,
a wonderful husband,
a sweet-heart of a sister,
and a horde of equally adventurous in-laws!
It was a dream come true,
and if you ever get the chance,
even for a day,
visit this magical place.
You will not be disappointed!
Seriously,
does it get any more fairy-tale-like than this?
The Great Blue.
She's big, beautiful, and yes,
just over that cliff that my daughter's standing on!
Ava,
geared up and ready to go!
Fresh-faced and clean!
That won't last long!
Our first wildlife sighting!
T H E B A N A N A S L U G !
As we neared base camp,
Ava found her favorite part of the whole trip.
A mini-gorge created by the trail splitting
right down the middle!
Off in the distance:
Or shall I say,
"Home, sweet, home!"
For the next few days at least!
We met up with our party, the Green Beans,
and made fast work of setting up camp.
As you can tell by the sweaters and hats,
with the sun setting the temperature began to drop quickly.
That's no reason to hunker down though.
It's time to hit the beach!
Afterall,
you wanted want to miss seeing Indiana Jones would you?
Beautiful, beautiful girls!
We were thrilled to take them along,
and share with them the joys of
exploring this beautiful world,
pushing yourself to do something you've never done before,
living simply,
and enjoying good, hard work!
Frozen sweethearts!
Hot chocolate rules out here!
And candy bars make for a perfect dessert!
Goooood Mornin'!
At this point we'd all been sufficiently deprived of
day to day luxuries we take for granted everyday
(a hot shower, a cold bowl of cereal, a hot shower...),
that when we saw a passing cruise ship we all feel all over ourselves
imagining what fantastics meals and accomodations were on board!
Then we realized it was a cargo ship-NOT a cruise liner.
Uh.
Can you hear the air hissing out of our balloon?
Nature's best playground is...
Nature!
And the kids had a blast taking it on!
And you never know who you'll run in to.
Look!
It's Pocahontas!
Just kidding, Jules.
{smile}
The coveted treasure find:
Deer bones!
One even made home and onto our Christmas Tree!
Samuel,
taking care of business
before we hit the coast for a hike on the beach.
From left to right:
Isabella, Ava, Julia, Meghan, Abby, Lennon, & Sam (Lennon's bud)
I can't wait until Iris and our boys join the line-up too!
Alamere Falls
A 40-50 foot waterfall drop right into the ocean!
Samuel scrambled up to the top and
we all quickly followed suit.
The view was absolutely breathtaking!
It looks like the girls could slide right off the cliff
and onto the beach below,
but actually,
this is a section of the upper fall set quite a ways back.
Back at camp,
the deer came super-close for some lunch.
I wonder who made that...
All smiles cause we're headin' home!
I love this shot.
It's really, really fun to travel in a large group.
It kind of feels like we're in a PBS special
hiking in the Andes or something!
I'm proud of these girls!
They really pulled their weight,
literally!
{Except, Ava. Who gave up her backpack pretty quick!}
More wildlife sightings:
Newts
(or salamanders)
Alternately pulling up the rear with Ava gave us some
great alone time with this girl.
She's a fighter,
and we love her spirit!
Renewing that memebership in the oh-so-exclusive
"Banana Slug Club"!
With the sun rapidly...
Yes, I said, "rapidly setting",
we made a mad dash for the lighthouse.
The Elk were out in force...
And, of course,
the lighthouse was closed!
We've been here many times,
and every time,
for one reason or another,
we miss it!
Lucky for us,
out here there's a view at every turn...
We had the best time ever,
and I am chomping at the bit to get out there again,
only as a whole family,
boys in tow.
It's camping at it's simplest,
and at it's best,
with a total body workout and
the very best sight-seeing too!
...
Now for a shower...
