In Sequoia National Forest we were at 9,000 feet above sea level.
The first instruction at our campsite was to place all food,
beverages, toiletries, candles, tobacco, lipstick, and any other even slightly
sented products in to lockdown.
The bears at this specific campground had broken into and destroyed cars 22 times already this season.
So we unloaded everything into a big, black, metal, supposedly bear-proof bin.
And then I was like, wait...
Now we have to get into a flimsy little piece of fabric to sleep in?
I mean, they just told us that these animals can rip through cars for lipstick.
And so where is my protective sleeping compartment?
I spilled soup all over my pants that night.
The fact that I smelled like snack time didn't make me have sweet dreams.
But on the plus side, there were a lot of kids in the campground that night,
and they had trails of chips leading up to them and marshmallow hanging from their chins...
so I closed my eyes
and prayed.
"Here hold this, quick," Chris almost tossed his precious camera in my direction.
Before I even knew what was happening he had jumped into the snow and had begun to make angels.
Guess he missed winter more then he thought he might.
Driving across one, or two, countries can make a person feel quite small.
All of those miles.
Desert, ocean, mountains, plains, big sky.
Sky that stretches and yawns.
We are both feeling a bit like duendes these days.
And then the giant trees.
Like a little kid in a crowd, looking at everyone's knees.
Except more so.
We had planed to go from Sequoia to Yosemite, the National Parks circuit, indeed.However, un-spring like conditions got in our way and the snow covered passes of
Yosemite were closed.
We changed our plans accordingly and headed West, to route one on the Cali coast.
I took more pictures of clouds and grass than one could ever need.
And to the sea we finally returned.
Of course, it had only been about a week since leaving Sayulita.
But all the miles made it feel like much longer.
We are lucky we made it up the coast when we did.
The day after we passed this point, the road collapsed due to mudslides from heavy rains.
Luckily for us, we were there for the only sunny day in two months, and a clear starry night.
Camping was a pleasure here.
The soft grass following the hard sand and rocks of the desert.
And it was warmer too.
No ice on the tent and a beautiful coastal sunset.
When we awoke in the morning a ranger came by to tell us that a mudslide had cut off the water supply to part of the coast, and that a storm was headed our way.
Just after we had packed everything safe and dry in the car, the rain started.
And boy, was it gorgeous.