I love to camp! Basically, every summer my family and friends would drive to Memorial Park in Pescadero, CA and spend the week camping. This tradition started when I was just a little tyke about six or seven. We always tent camp! I'm sorry, but using an RV or trailer is not true camping, especially when there is a TV in there, sorry! For this spring break, four of my friends and I are taking a road trip up Hwy 1 and camping along the coast. I am so excited!
Planning for this trip has brought back memories of another trip with my roommates last year, Sam and Ryan. Ryan and Sam packed up one Friday, and drove up to Holcomb Valley. I had to leave a little later because I had to attend my physics lab. Sam and Ryan made it to the campsite fine and called me just before they went into the mountain. They gave me directions, they were vague and I barely listened because we planned on just using the cell phone. Bad idea! I tried calling them when I got up there for better directions, but everything went straight to voicemail.
So I saw a sign to Holcomb Valley and turned onto a dirt/rock road. I drove an hour straight on this road without seeing anyone except a ranger in a huge 4x4 truck! Oh, and if you didn't know, I was in a little 2000 Honda Civic. During the ride I hit a rock protruding higher than the others and I felt it hit my feet from under the car, uh oh! My car began to make weird noises, but I had no where to go and no service, so I trudged forward.
It was beginning to get dark, and I was lost in the middle of the mountain. I hit a fork in the road, saw a freeway sign and decided I would head home. On my way, I saw a campground and one little tent, so I decided to check it out I arrived at the campsite, and no one was there! I waited for 30 min, and now it was pitch black in the middle of the forest, so I headed for town. Luckily, I got cell service on the way and had like 3 new messages and 5 texts, all from Ryan and Sam. They were in town waiting until they heard from me.
We met up at the campsite and it was so nice to have company. They also brought along some bad news, we couldn't have a fire since it was dry season, we had no flashlights or cooking supplies, only hot dogs, buns, smores and water. It was also the month of November so we knew it was going to get cold. Also, fires are one of the best parts of camping. It started getting cold around 9pm, so we rolled up in our sleeping bags, and it go worse and worse through the night. We barely slept, and at 5am we went into the car and turned on the heat!
We only brought a polaroid...
We came back to Riverside, and I took my car to the shop. I had dented some major pipes around the engine and ruined my catalytic converter, which totaled in $1700 in repairs. Ouch!! This was the most expensive camping trip ever!
This seems like a completely terrible trip, but honestly it is one of my favorite memories at CBU and I am so ready to go camping again. This time we are prepared, partly because of this experience, and partly because we have girls going this time.
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