Suprise! It's not the forest!

Last week a bunch of us girls from Church packed up our sleeping bags, pillows and SNACK FOOD and piled into vans and cars to strike out on our big camping trip. Caryn Stapp had been planning this trip for about 6 weeks. She had camped at the place a bunch of times, as had a lot of the other women, so I gave my money for my spot at the campsite, and I got psyched!

I was so excited to sleep under the stars in a lovely forest setting and feel as though I was back under the Montana Big Sky. I looked forward to seeing the lovely lake and walk on it's beach. I couldn't wait to smell the pine needles, pick up pine cones, make s'mores over a campfire, and keep an eye peeled for deer wandering into our campground.

First clue that something was going south was when we started driving toward San Francisco instead of toward Auburn. Wait! What about our planned stop at In 'N Out! That's in Auburn.

Okay, I thought. There are 'hills' in the distance. People here think 'hills' are mountains, so the campsites must be there. And there are lots of In 'N Out Burgers throughout CA. That's why we're stopping in Fairfield. Enjoy your shake, Patty. We're not in Kansas anymore . . .

Because somewhere into our 2nd hour on the road, Caryn mentioned the ocean.
What?
Me: I thought we were going camping by a lake.
Caryn: No, we're going to the ocean.
Me: But you said 'beach' and a lake.
Caryn and a couple of other people in the van: No. Didn't you read the emails? Its at the ocean! The ocean has a beach!
Me: Noooo. You're kidding, right?
Everyone in the van: NO!
Me: You promise?
They promised.

At this point, I swear, I had to do some major mental readjustment.
Especially when I learned we were staying at a hostel.

But when it all came down to it, we ended up at a really cool, famous place called Point Reyes. It has a billion ecosystems, so although I didn't get any s'mores, I did get to see pine trees, sleep in a sleeping bag, see stars when we walked back from eating in the hostel's kitchen . . .

And although I didn't see it for myself, my friends tell me they did see a deer - splayed dead on the beach.

pacifica2
Originally uploaded by cobaltika