So, during the last week of our contract, we found out that they had a need for me to stay in a different department.  Hmmm.... it was a beautiful day, we were relaxing in the pool, discussing the pros and cons, and somehow, in the magic of the moment, we broke with our policy of not extending contracts, and decided that we would stay through the summer... 

I finished up the last week of the contract, and scheduled it, so that I could take two weeks off, because we wanted to go CAMPING!   Of course, all of our friends laughed at us for wanting to go camping, since we live in an RV, and RV parks all of the time, but that's HOME, not camping.

Camping is an activity we've enjoyed since before our children were born, and they've all been camping, from the time they were tiny.  Depending on the time of year they were born, they were somewhere between a several weeks up to about 9 months old when they went on their first camping trip.  However, by the time the little boys were born, we had purchased our first camper, so they had never been tent camping. 

We collected our camping gear and loaded up the van, it was packed floor to ceiling, with stuff in a trunk on the back, and stuff tied on top.  We probably looked like the Beverly Hillbillies coming to town! 

Then we headed up the coast.  Our goal was originally to spend some time at Big Sur, and then some time at Yosemite, but the more research we did, the more we realized that Yosemite just wasn't practical for our family.  Due to the bear problems, you can't have any food in your car, it all has to be locked in the food lockers in the campsite.  The foodlockers would never hold enough food for six people for more than an overnight trip.  There are stories about bears even tearing the doors off a car to get to a french fry in a carseat.  Since we didn't have much hope of getting all the food smells cleaned out of our van, and didn't relish the idea of having our van destroyed, we decided that Yosemite would have to be a day trip, some other time. 

Big Sur was gorgeous.  It is one of those places where you just can't take a bad picture. 

We set up our campsite among the giant fir trees at Big Sur State Park.  We didn't know how risky our plan was.  We didn't have a reservation, so we had to show up at the ranger station each morning and pray that there would be an opening.  We were incredibly blessed to be able to stay for a full week!

Some days, we hung out at our campsite, playing, doing the dishes... just being a family.

Some days we went hiking and exploring...

One day, I was sure we'd discovered paradise:

Even our little Daniel was a good sport about all the hiking:

We were able to spend one day at Point Sur Lightstation.  It is in the process of being restored, and it was quite a hike up around the point to get to the lighthouse, but the views, once we were there were worth the trip.  From up on top, we could see kelp beds and seals playing in the water. 

As we were driving home, we traveled south along the coast, and we started seeing what appeared to be sea lions along the beach.  Finally we came to a place where there was a crowd, so we got out to see what it was all about.  We found that it was the time for the migration of the elephant seals, and this beach was a regular stopping place for the seals.  So, we stopped for a while and watched the seals.

We arrived back in Anaheim rested and ready to go back to work, but sad that our week of camping had come to an end.