Sunday, June 19, 2011

San Simeon Campground, Upper Washburn primitive area



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So, the first order of bidness after we got her home was to take her out on a shakedown cruise. We picked this place because it was close to home and came highly recommended.

I bought a new marine battery at Sears and hooked it up. We bought a cooler and a couple of camp chairs. Outfitted the galley with some pots and pans and cutlery. Bought some oak firewood. A metric shit-ton of food to cook and eat. Beer and vodka to kill the pain. Books to read. A bulldog to torment.

With more guts than brains, we loaded up and headed north!





Six miles later, we had arrived.





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The campground offers no hook ups, but does provide a nice fire ring, running water, a picnic table, wide, spacious, private spots, and expansive views of the surrounding Hearst Ranch lands and the Pacific to the west. Sparsely occupied, quiet, serene, it felt like heaven. We couldn't stop grinning at each other as we were setting up, and that pretty much continued non-stop for the whole trip.



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Lu, however, was a little unsettled by the whole change of routine and let us know she was ready to go home whenever we were:







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All in all, we had a blast. It might not be obvious, but we are not exactly expert campers. In our twenty five years together, we've been car camping one time, the sum total and extent of our experience. So we really had no concrete idea if we'd actually enjoy what we'd just committed to with our little Nomad.

But we took to it like fish to water.

There's just something magical about stepping out of your normal life and finding yourself out in a new world, surrounded by nature and also not surrounded by any of the million things that call out to be done when you are trying to chill out at home.

Nothing to do but read, go for a walk, cook some food, drink a beer, pet the dog, sit by the fire.


Ah, yes.


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I think we're going to like this gig.



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Namaste.



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