Camping under the Golden Gate

Oh how I love the weekend. Great weather. Really. Sunny and 68 degrees across from the city by the bay. No fog. No shivers. Did I mention the sun?

Cousins. Josh and Sarah. College girlfriend. Mine, not Clay's. Tracy is so much fun, and so sweet to go camping with six rowdy kids.

Couldn't be in love with a campsite more. The whole carrying the stuff down the hill from the car was a bit of a pain, but not having cars drive past all day (and all night) was brillant. We got to look at the bridge whilst setting up camp. We listened to the waves all night, and the birds all morining. We didn't even have to use our earplugs for the fog horns (look, ma! no fog!). In love.



This weekend was rich with treasures. There is an old abandoned fort above the beach that the kids turned into their own private clubhouse. They roamed and imagined and were free. What a treat. Down on the beach someone has generously left a rope swing for us all to enjoy. A baby sea lion slept on the beach while Mama hunted just off shore. The only bummer for the weekend was that in our haste to get camping after the swim meet we forgot to check the battery in the camera and it died after about 10 shots. Good thing Josh, Sarah and Tracy had their cameras (I look forward to seeing some of those great shots!)

Critter count: deer in the campsite, mice under the tent and in the bathroom (can you call pit toilets a "bathroom"), racoons, a millipede, a banana slug, seal lion mama and baby, long skinny snake, and a blue tailed skink.



After we packed up camp, we headed up Mt. Tamalpais. We had to take advantage of the clear sunny day to see that view, right? I will say that trying to book this campsite took some perserverance, but it lived up to the hype. Now I want to try to book Slide Ranch for next summer. Anyone been there before?

I still can't believe that none of our friends from Memphis have come to stay with us yet. Seriously, how can you resist this. C'mon, people. Come and see us.