It all started with us not having definite plans. Top choices for my time off were first, the Oregon coast {fear of rain and wind} or Yosemite {fear of snow and cold} and both would have required quite a bit of driving and reservations for unknown weather conditions. So instead we left it in the air until it was less than a week away from vacation. Then all the plans changed, we booked a cheap hotel in Monterey and took off a couple days after Christmas.
Our first rebellious adventure came on the full day we spent exploring the water falls of the Big Sur coast. Due to the fires a few years back many of the Big Sur parks are closed or partially closed. Supposedly they're working to fix them but with the budget cuts, who knows when they'll be opened again. Canyon Falls was an 8 in our book, looked sweet in the picture, but happened to be on a closed hiked. We deliberated for a minute, checked over our shoulders and took off up the creek in search of the cascades. We found our way by trial and error {read: Lukas, foot in stream}. And while we saw beautiful tumbling water, we never actually made it to the falls described in the book. We did successfully get covered in dirt and sap as well as sprinkled on and throughly enjoyed ourselves. On the walk out I kept having a mental image of a row of rangers all lined up just waiting for us with their smokey-the-bear hats and stern faces. But, no one was there at the trail head waiting to give us a ticket {phew!}.
McWay Creek
So emboldened, the next morning we hopped the fence into Point Lobos {it didn't open until 8am}. We snuck in with minimal flash light, had to hide in the dark as the ranger drove out of the park. We were half way to the sunrise spot, slipping and tripping over tree roots in the dark, when Lukas called my name. I turned around and watched him spin in a couple slow circles. I didn't have a clue what he was doing. "Anything missing?" he asked. And then it dawned on me... no camera backpack. He had his tripod but no camera. So instead of taking picutres we just watched the sun come up. We made friends with a curious sea lion we named Ralph. {He just watched us from the surf and we looked on from the sand.} We watched the sea lions and pelicans have their breakfast, then we slowly walked out once the park opened. We had our cover story all set to go be didn't need it.
Ralph and his "buddy"
Now it's off to Humboldt... see the folks, do some wedding stuff, hike in the redwoods and hopefully avoid the rain.
This is Rebel Megan signing off till next time.
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