The Camping Trip

(that wasn't)

 

Original plan: spend one weekend camping by a local river.

The boys reminded us that they needed to go on a field trip to gather

information for a Marine Biology class.

 

Revised plan: Camp at Sunset Beach

The weather turned cooler, we had a little rain, and the prospect of camping

in a cool damp climate didn't sound very good any more.

 

Revised plan #2: Get a motel room for at least one night along the coast.

Motel rooms from San Francisco to Carmel were outrageous.

 

Revised plan #3: Take a day trip to Monterey

 

 

Nathan made a photo documentary of everything he saw. 

I will share some of his interesting photos in a later post.

 

 

Wesley wrote his observations in a notebook.

He found it to be rather strange to look so scholarly while

climbing around on the rocks.

 

 

The rest of us spent our time having fun but I

often managed to turn our observations into a science lesson for Tiana.

 

We were walking along this path and suddenly it disappeared into a culvert.

I guess the waves had managed to erode further inshore than expected.

We had to scramble down one side and then climb back up the other side

then we were able to continue on the path.

 

 

Miss Bravery.

Shortly afterwards she fell while trying to get down and

scraped up the backs of her legs.

 

 

 

After the boys had all the pictures and notes they needed

and the rest of us had all the cold and dampness we needed,

we headed inland.

 

As we were driving past the Presidio in Monterey we

saw a sign that said "Civil War Encampment."

So, naturally, we turned in.

 

We walked around looking at the displays on one side of the field

which were mostly guns and doctoring equipment from the day.

It certainly makes one glad to live in the era of modern medicine.

 

 

I thought this was a neat set plus it was in very good shape.

The man behind this table said that he wished it was his because it

is a very valuable set. 

 

On the other side of the field were women with household items

from the era.  A couple of the women had hand crank sewing machines

but I guess I was busy talking to them and forgot to take any pictures.

Tiana was given two pages of paper dolls to color and cut out

and that's when I found out that she had no idea what paper dolls were.

 

From there we traveled up the coast to have a very late lunch.

Thankfully we arrived after the main lunch rush and did not have to face a line

that was out the door and into the parking lot.

Neither did we have to eat outside along the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After eating, we headed out Phil's back gate to the beach.

My kids love the beach and they spend their time running from waves.

It does not matter what time of the year or how cold the water is,

 they will get COMPLETELY wet

Every.Single.Time.

This time Daddy was just as involved as the kids.

 

 

Tiana's specialty was having her arms and legs fly everywhere while running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankful for a supply of clean dry clothes and shoes,

we headed up the road again.

 

These trees are so typical of the coast.

They lined the drive up to a farm house and barn.

 

Good deals at a market enticed us to stop for some fruit and veggies.

 

 

We thought we were done for the day but as we headed homeward

we decided if we detoured a bit out of our way we could

hit a series of outlet stores.

That's another story all of its own but outlet shopping

is actually a good tool for talking to your kids

about overinflated prices and discounts that are not even discounts.

We did get some good deals so it was not all in vain.

 

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Quote of the week:

"Mommy, weren't you born when Jesus was still here on Earth?"

"No! That was over 2000 years ago!!"

"Oh, it must have been Grandma and Grandpa that were born then."