Northern California on our West Coast Road Trip 2.0

After our first stop in Big Sur, we ventured North of San Francisco to hit up the Farmers Market in Corte Madera.  Luckily for us, it was a clear day and the girls got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, and the beautiful views from the famous suspension bridge.  Of course they asked why it was called the Golden Gate Bridge when it's not gold but red. Upon further googling we explained it's because it's referring to the Golden Gate of the waterway not the bridge itself. 

Rainbow arches everywhere please. 

The Ritual Store was the reason for our stop at the Farmer's Market.  I wanted to get a witchy souvenir and these palo santo gem sticks were perfect to bring home.

 But also we needed food, we got fresh California grown strawberries and fruit, a few ingredients for dinner over the next couple days and the generous cheese and curds vendor gifted us the left over samples from the day.  Spoiler alert.  Herbie Curds are phenomenal and if you're in the area and not vegan you NEED them.

Our camping site in the Redwoods was up a hill tucked in behind trees.  We got in so late we weren't sure if we were going to find it, but thankfully our 3G held on strong so we were able to get our campsite and directions after getting a little off course.  When entering in campsites, make sure to enter in the actual name of the site and double check it with the directions on their website, Husband made the mistake of putting in the name of the national forest or park and it just drops off in the middle of the whole park instead of somewhere with directions and signs! ugh, learn from us!

Husband loves his little yellow jeep, you can read about our travels from his perspective here, he's better with the words than I am. 

I will be writing a whole post just on the food we ate, but here's a look at a basic camping breakfast, fresh fruit from the farmers market in whatever town we're in.  Organic rolled oats, fresh cinnamon and honey topped with bananas and chia or granola, served wtih a side of camping coffee.

Journaling on our trip is always my favorite way to remember our adventures so I brought all the markers and pens in my new zipper pouch along with my newest sketchbook and planner. // hawks and honey accessories via Society6

Dinner looks a little bit like this camping, fresh kale and cauliflower sauteed and topped with Parmesan packs, side of hummus and avocado toast.

This trip we opted to bring the single backpacking 'stove' instead of our giant dual burner to conserve space.  For toast we just put the bread directly on the burner and flipped frequently.

 The next day our friends setting off on their own epic road trip met up with us for the night.

 The girls had so much fun meeting up with their friends and we went on a little hike by an adorable creek.

 Obviously I have to frame this one.

barefoot adventures.

 // Barefoot Five 

 I wouldn't let them take this feather home, so they asked for a picture instead.

We had our dog with us and he wasn't allowed on the trails so were made a quick stop to see the giants and then set off.

Fog + Self Timers don't mix, but at least we got one as a family in front of the tallest tree in the forest before driving up north to our next site.

 We stopped at small beach just off the highway 1 to find sea shells and black sand.

 Old Man Brut, enjoying one of his first trips to the beach.

 a couple of years ago she told me she hated Hawaii, because of the sand at the beach, thankfully, somethings change!

After collecting a few treasures we finally made our way to a campsite.  Up until now we had planned and booked available sites, but since we didn't have wifi in the forest we were unable to book a site at Patrick's Point where we originally planned on staying so we drove and drove until we turned in to Panther Flats right off the highway.  We didn't love the looks of the other campers, lots of R.V.s and sketchy people but to call it home for the night we figured we could power though.  And actually we did love this little creek just down the hill from our site and they had flushing toilets and showers so life could be worse. 

 I loved that there was so much water on each stop of our trip, that vibrant life force that is hard to find in the desert is what I crave so much on our travels.

 Sweet Vera was so happy to find this heart shaped rock, I almost let her keep it.  In the end she was content with just a photograph, in hopes of leaving it for another little girl to find.

Our dog was rarely content on his leash as required at most camp sites, so instead he would walk himself over to our tent where he could lay down inside. // blankets from Sky + Arrow

Loading up the car for another drive with our favorite pineapple bag you can read more about over at North Phoenix Mom's Blog.  Tomorrow, I'll share our time at the Umpqua River.