Following a chilly night, we woke to bright sunshine, but waited for it to warm the tent a bit before crawling out of our cocoon of blanket and sleeping bags. While eating breakfast and planning our day, we charged Peggy’s cell phone with the solar charger. (Thank you daughter Lauren, for the reminder to buy one.)

Our plan for the day was to go to the lodge to check on dinner plans and contact family about our current location. Then we were going to a lighthouse nearby before exploring around the park and finally doing laundry. Well you know what they say about “best laid plans of mice and men”. The signage to the lodge was poor and the access road to what we thought was the lodge, but was only to the cabins, was worse. It’s very narrow. Only 1 vehicle wide at some points. It is bumpy with several holes big enough to swallow our baby car – definitely not meant for the Miata. Well, even though I was driving slowly, we had to pull over for a passing vehicle and our car fell into a hole. Immediately following that there were high pitch screeching noises from the undercarriage of the car when shifting gears and engaging the clutch. There was nothing we could see under the car and since there was no phone signal or wifi to call for help, there we nothing we could do but try to drive back down to our camp site and try to find a way to call for help. We made it as far as the actual lodge and their we had lunch and bought sandwiches for dinner. The very nice young lady at the desk offered free use of the landlines to call AAA and gave us the name her mechanic – 55 minutes away. The nearest repair shop was in Carmel (wrong direction) or 2 hours south in San Luis Obispo.

Obviously, exploring anywhere outside the park is no longer an option, but we still have another night here, so we decided to stay and enjoy the park and face the problem tomorrow. Following lunch, we decided to drive slowly back to our campsite stopping on the way to do laundry and charge our electronic devices. While there we met a very nice woman from Sausalito who offered to take us to the nearby falls and beach with her family. We are blessed to meet so many friendly, helpful people in our travels. After finishing the laundry, we drove the 2 miles back to our campsite to enjoy the remainder of our day. As we drove the way back to the campsite, the noise from the undercarriage became less and less and didn’t seem to keep the car from running.

Believe it or not, it still lives.

Redwoods seeking the sky

Now there’s a true tree hugger.

Weird

Hollowed out tree, still alive, looking skyward

Big Sur River

As planned earlier, we went exploring on foot. Near our campsite are trails, Redwoods and a shallow river, Big Sur, where people (and dogs) go wading and swimming and skip rocks (the people not the dogs). The Redwoods are so magnificent. It was such a privilege to be up close to them. Peggy also saw a buck walk across the bridge and amble into the woods. After this relaxing walk and what we think are wonderful pictures, we headed back to our campsite for dinner and story time before another night sleeping under the stars. The campground only has lights at the bathrooms. This allows for wonderful views of the night sky!

Aside: yesterday’s sign of the day: Crazy Horse Canyon.