Artichoke Bread

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Geo: 37.2227, -122.303

That was my first time sleeping in a backpacking tent. They're small, and whoever you're with you better get cozy 'cause the quarters are tight. In my half sleep, I thought there was a bright light pouring right into our tent. I remember thinking it was odd a backpacker camp would have a light, like a streetlight. I was even more confused when I woke up later and the bright light had moved to the other side of the tent. It made it hard to sleep for one but bright lights don't move. I kept thinking maybe it was a person. What my dumbass forgot was that it was a full moon. And damn was that a BRIGHT full moon. I didn't sleep well but not as bad as I thought. And since my expectations were quite low with sleep, I was fairly satisfied in the morning. =D

We made coffee and breakfast. I had some kinda oatmeal, I think, and Chris was pretty dissatisfied with his rehydrated eggs. My food was good, though! The coffee was even more satisfying. After eating, we all packed up camp, loaded our packs and headed out by 9am. Even though we'd all eaten, we had a greater food motivation. Chris and I told the group about the amazing freshly baked artichoke bread you can buy in Pescadero. My mouth was watering thinking about it. We'd had it for the first time a couple months prior on another camping trip at Memorial Park.

The hike back was so much easier. We were either level or descending the entire time. For a long time, we trekked along ridges with awesome views towards Pescadero. It was a clear, sunny day but it wasn't at all hot yet. Already, the trip back was so much more enjoyable.

After the ridges, we found ourselves in more redwood forest, hiking in and out of slopes. Near the end we crossed a neat marshy area with "steps" to hike across. Then we were back at the road. At this point, we should have checked the map. We assumed we were headed the right direction up the road towards our cars but ten minutes later it still didn't look right. We stopped, finally checked and sure enough we were wrong. Oops.

We made it to our cars shortly thereafter and headed to Pescadero. A restaurant had literally just burnt down next to the bakery that morning. The bakery was still operating, though. We waited in line for our artichoke bread, butter and drinks, and then sat outside on the stoop devouring it. Well earned.

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