Monday, July 8, 2013

retreat

I ran away this weekend, escaping the heat (letting my poor horse suffer so in his irrigated pasture). I found a great camping spot last minute (I don't plan many things, because last-minute usually isn't this successful!) for me and SO, right on the coast.

view from our campsite (!)

trail to the beach

Since it was the coast, there was a little bit of every weather: super windy one night, perfectly beautiful the whole next day without a hint of breeze. And complete socked-in fog. Add to that the beaches are mostly just little rocks and no sand, it feels just right. I know this area from growing up there, and it still feels like "home," though I've been gone as long as I was there (scary thought now!)

foxglove

thistle with happy bees

scary vine, baseball sized, what the hell is this?!

And we hiked, sat on the beach, read fun books, explored a bit. I know what beaches I like (the hidden little ones), and there aren't many miles of public trails, but I was able to do some nice hiking on private property (with permission of course!) that I've never been able to access.

my favorite cove

I don't have the patience, SO does the stacking

And came back in time to rescue my horse and take him on a jaunt with friends. A pretty great weekend. Lack of planning succeeds again!

all we could see were cows in fog, they were quite suspicious

on our last day, the ocean somewhere behind the fog bank

8 comments:

  1. Baseball sized scarey vine = pod-person. Good thing you got away in one piece

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    1. yes! There were smaller ones, maybe they hadn't caught anyone yet...

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    2. Karen, you were (almost) right! It looks like the plant is called California Manroot! Manroot, pod person, so close!

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  2. I was feeling pretty smug about my lucky Google - I'm guessing Coast Man-Root too! (calling it that because it's such a geeky stilted name and that's what berkeley.edu is calling it).

    Love the rock-stacking - what a zen little hobby, and what a nice shot of his work.

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    1. I used my google-fu and found it by searching "pokey vine coast". You probably did something more clever!

      He loves the rock stacking. Everywhere we go. I try but am too easily distracted, so I relax and read, he putters around stacking rocks. It works.

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    2. "spiky vine fruit", actually. LOL!

      I have enough patience/sit-still-ness to throw rocks into the water but that's about it.

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  3. What a gorgeous spot... wow.

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