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Published: April 27th 2010
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24th & 25th April 2010 Big Portions, Big Sur & Big Beauty.
Well, if there's ever a piece of road that you have to drive once in your lifetime, it's the Pacific Coast Highway between San Simeon and Carmel in California. It's a stretch of wilderness that is overwhelmingly beautiful. Drive as we did from South to North and you have huge dramatic cliffs on your left and luscious green hills or steep rocky cliffs on your right.
It's an enchanting single carriageway for 90 miles and if you're lucky any recent lanslides will have been cleared. There was such a spot just before we stopped for lunch that was particularly hairy. There was a steep bump in the road dropping off from right to left where a landlisde had caused damage - single file traffic - we both leaned towards the right hand side of 'the beast', like how you'd lean in a swaying boat to stop it capsizing! Completely unnecessary but just instinctive!
We stopped at a little place called Lucia for lunch and had not so little fish and chips, they were better than any tasted before and certainly bigger, two pieces of fish per plate.
Mind you at $21 dollars a plate you'd expect large portions! The fish and chips were narrowly beaten by the view that acommpanied them - you can see it for yourself in the pictures. Never have I had lunch in such a beautiful spot.
We were heading towards our campground for the next two nights at Big Sur Village. When people talk about Big Sur they're referring to the 90mile stretch of the highway. Big Sur Village is a small grouping of businesses, and Inn, a couple of art shops, a general store and a campground that sits 25 miles south of Carmel. Such tranquility. The pitches were nestled between giant redwoods and the Big Sur river. It was a little muddy in places but it was so good to be back with nature!
Once we'd got settled in we explored the site and all played a little basketball. We were camping next door to a swedish guy who had come over specifically to spend three weeks looking at the redwoods in Nevada and California and comparing them to the forest back in Sweden. He joined us for a beer round the campfire and we swapped a few
stories. All the fresh air and the lack of artificial light from streetlamps guarenteed us all a great nights sleep.
It was about 06:30am when we were woken up, not by Jack or by the sounds of nature but by supporters cheering on the Big Sur Marathon runners! Just as well we'd all got a good sleep! We set off as usual for a morning walk, but didn't actually make it further than half a mile down the road! We stopped off at the River Inn for a second breakfast and a spot of paddling in the river. The Inn had this lovely stretch of lawn out the back with Adirondack chairs on the grass and sitting in the River! It wasn't particularly deep and Jack loved picking up the stones and throwing them in the river.
We walked the half a mile back, slightly damper than when we started out and settled in for a three hour(!) afternoon sleep. When we woke we realised we'd need more firewood to get us through the evening so headed back into the village. A quick trip to the store turned out to be lazy afternoon (well, what was left of
it) spent by the river again. A jazz trio was playing, we had margherita's (jonathan), beer (me) and juice (jack), some sweet potatoe fries and sunshine to keep us happy. More time was spent paddling or wading and Jack ended up on our shoulders on the return journey in just his vest as everything else, socks, shoes, trousers, were again slightly damp.
Once more we were forced to sit and enjoy ourselves around the fire! I could tell Jonathan had had a few too many to drink as he was declaring his love for me! I think the last time he did that must have been on our wedding day!
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Heather
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I enjoyed your Big Sur post. You're seeing more of California than me, and I live here! Your photos make California look so wonderful! My travel blog is looking for pictures, reviews, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)