The Good Life!

If you've ever gone camping before, you know how exciting sleeping under the trees and on an uneven surface is. Okay, let's face it, you barely get any sleep the first night. Your mind is playing games with you all night, going: "Genius! Leave the warm, comfy bed at home and sleep on this pseudo-jail cell mattress. Whose idea was it again?"
Regardless of the sage advice your mind is going to dole out, I say, Go Camping!

We set out on a Friday evening (Sept 23rd) to camp for 2 nights at Kirk Creek Campground in Big Sur, CA. This campground is the Mother of all campgrounds I've been to before. It is nestled neatly on the bluff of the Pacific Ocean and almost all campsites offer breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean (site 9, in particular, offers most rewarding views). The sites are spacious and have a cushion of grass all over. Trust me, sleeping on a grassy site is waay better than a rocky one (Yosemite campsites, I'm looking at you!).

Our drive to the campsite on Friday was uneventful. The only highlight was the gorgeous sunset amid the fog covered cliffs over the Pacific (no pics, boo!) . We reached the campsite at 9 PM and pitched our tent in the dark. The campground was full, but not noisy. We could hear the ocean, but we couldn't gauge how close we were to it. The next day, we rose to the sound of pleasant bird chatter, stepped out of the tent and behold! The ocean was roaring away, waves lashing against the cliffs, right in front of us. Kirk Creek is a keeper! The pictures don't do much justice.

This was the view from our campsite:

Our dear friends, with their adorable son S, joined us later in the day on Saturday. And together, we continued exploring the scenic spots around Kirk Creek. Some places we visited and loved:

Trail to the ocean from the campground (surreal, tropical forest-y). This is a strange but exotic rock formation. I see an elephant in that rock:

Sand Dollar Beach (5 miles south of campground, super fine sand and gorgeous rocks). Here's me losing at a game of hopscotch/ aeroplane:

Vicente Trail (across the road from the campground). Picture perfect panoramic views, with the royal Pink Pampas grass:

McWay Falls (in Julia Pfeiffer state park, 10 miles north of campground)
Bixby Bridge (closer to Big Sur, ~20 miles north of campground)

The evening was full of laughter, fun and food. 3 year old S seemed to enjoy every moment of this experience. And since his little body needed to rest, he went to bed early. The 4 of us sat, laid back, around the campfire, looking at the ocean, realizing that it doesn't get any better then this. This is The GOOD LIFE!