6/16/17 - Day 6

6/16/17
We woke up in the beautiful Redwoods at Hidden Springs Campground.  
 
I practiced running from the mosquitoes on a trail we discovered right next to the campground.
    
I felt much happier after a short but sweet run.  We hit the road and took highway 1 towards Fort Bragg.  It was such a windy road that after about an hour on it we had to pull over because 3 of the four of us were feeling pretty car sick (and really probably four of the four of us with 1 not wanting to admit it)!  This was nothing a little extreme cheese goldfish crackers couldn't fix - strictly road trip food.  With settled stomachs we all made the final push out of to the coast.  Beautiful sunny, California day - weather so perfect that all of the people from inland came out to the coast for the weekend, as anyone would to escape 100 degree heat.  The only problem was that we didn't reserve a camping spot for the night because we didn't know exactly where we would be.  Everything in all the state parks within miles - booked solid.  So this is where we ended up - with a little creativity.   Notice the sign.  
 
This is an example of how misleading a single image can be.  This appears that we blatantly broke the rules and just camped wherever we pleased.  In reality we were just across from a (very booked) state park, and since we can camp in the van the state park allowed us to stay in the beach parking lot for the regular state park camping fee.  This worked out so well because we really needed a night we could hang out outside, after two evenings in the van ( have I mentioned there were mosquitoes?).  The kids desperately needed to run around and play at the beach.  With just enough of a breeze to keep the bugs away we could relax and have the camping evening we had envisioned.  Living the van life!

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