Steep Ravine Trail - Stinson Beach, CA

Memorial Day Getaway - May 29, 2011

After finally finishing the last 12 miles of the full Skyline-to-Sea Trail in Big Basin State Park the day before, we were still thirsty for outdoor adventure on our 3-day Holiday weekend. So on Sunday we packed the car and headed for Bolinas Beach. Always a treat for us, Bolinas is a delightful free-spirited town tucked up beyond Stinson Beach, about an hour northwest of San Francisco. We arrived just after sunset, and quickly gulped down a nightcap at our favorite town pub before retiring to the confines of our car for the night.

May 30 - Graffiti Friendly Bolinas Beach

Our original goal  was to hike the highly recommended Point Reyes trails in Point Reyes National Park. Finding ourselves without a trail guide or even directions to our destination, we quickly called up the AllTrails App on my brand new iPhone 4. We found the trail in question, along with several reviews from other hikers recommending a closer trail with amazing coastal views. Abandoning our Point Reyes goal, we plugged in directions to this new trail, call Davis Steep Ravine Loop. 

Davis Steep Ravine Loop

We were indeed treated to a hike along the gorgeous ocean coastlines. The elevation increase was a hearty 1600 ft, leaving us both visually satisfied and physically exercised. We also met a lot of outgoing Bay Area hikers along the way.

Stinson Beach at the end of the hike

Our first overnight outdoor adventure since Phil's newly re-discovered weekend status provided us with a much-needed breather from day-to-day doldrums. We have many more adventures this summer, starting with a cruise to Encenada, Mexico next weekend!

July 5th 2010???

There's almost been a year between updates, and, as sad as that seems, it feels more like the year went by in a haze. One year ago is when life as we knew it went away, and we went into a zombie trance. What do we even write about when nothing is happening and you barely feel alive? "Phil's going to work again!" or "Steph is in the car driving three hours a day to and from work" Not very exciting!.... In fact really sad and this last year has taken its toll on our way of life and our relationship. An inescapable pattern of waking up every morning and saying goodbye as we slug off to work and then meeting each other just in time to fall asleep.

It hasn't been all bad, we did typically get one sacred weekend off a month together. We would spend it getting to know each other again and trying to brighten our spirits but it just wasn't enough. We would end our weekends tearfully saying goodbye again as though we wouldn't be seeing each other for another month.

This past year has been a recovery. We spent the first year of our relationship living on pennies. We spent the beginning of the second year, digging a very hard to get out of financial trench. (Trips to Europe and moving to California are very expensive, no matter how cheap you are). Since then, we've spent an entire year working. Day after day. I started selling cars for Honda here in Santa Cruz; it was a rough start but once it got going it took off like a rocket! We were completely out of debt in a fraction of the time we thought it would take. Good to know that we have that card up our sleeves if times ever get really tough in our household. Altough car sales are very lucrative they are costly in other ways. The only way to be successful is to sell cars, and the only way to sell cars is to be at the dealership as much as possible. Waking up and leaving the house at 8:15AM and most nights not getting home until 8:30PM or even later... 

Stephanie went to work for Aeria Games, an online gaming company that puts out Chinese-made adventure fantasy games, that people pay little micro transactions on to play or build their characters up, while living in their parent's basement. It's actually a pretty successful little start up, but like in all things, getting it off the ground is full of confusion and mishaps. Her company is a little disorganized at times and will often switch direction on a dime. Leaving Stephanie feeling like her ladder to the top is a little shaky and insecure. Non the less, she continues to climb; Stephanie started out with an intern position with the company and after a few months of hard work and dealing with being treated like an intern, she was offered a position on the release team. (Before games come out, Stephanie is part of a group of people who then try and tell the whole world about the game and hopefully line up a lot of people to play the game once it is ready to play.) 

We're still living in our little cabin in the Redwoods. By far the most naturally beautiful place I have ever lived. It's on a rapid river with a waterfall and a huge swimming hole in the backyard. When the weather is nice out there is no place I'd rather be. It smells wonderful all the time and recently my garden has started to grow. The only downside being it totally kills the allure of camping. Last year when we went to Yosemite, we remarked that our house has less people and way more natural beauty (Sad but true). The other downside being that with the exception of our neighbor it's very difficult to make friends all the way out here. "Hey do you want to drive 45mins to have a little dinner party at our house tonight?", "Oh, why not?". 

However, this is not a sad story. There is a lot of happiness on the horizon! I no longer sell cars. I sold a brand new CR-V to a wonderful couple a month ago and they both offered me a job. He is a district manager for AT&T and she is a Bench manager for Chase. I will be starting my position for with JPMorgan and Chase as a personal banker next week after the holiday weekend. That's right, I now get holidays and weekends and literally work banker's hours!!!! I'll probably be taking a little pay cut but still essentially will be in sales and able to make a good living. Stephanie and I will have more time together and I won't have the stigma of being a car salesman. Imagine every person I talked to at the dealership hating you, before they even meet you! My favorite line to sum up the job is that people will be a complete asshole to you and you have to smile like they brought you chocolate cake!

Steph has a new car and soon we'll be moving to Santa Cruz. This should cut down her commute by almost a third and allow us to finally start making a couple of local friends. 

We have plans upon plans upon plans. This weekend we're hiking and going to try surfing for the first time. Next weekend we're going to LA so Steph can meet some extended family and the following weekend we're going on a cruise! Three days, LA to Baja and back! 

Hello world, WE ARE BACK

Phil

Deer on the Lawn

Monterey

Happy little succulents

Watching surfers

Awesome waves in carmel!

Carmel-by-the-sea

Crazy tree in  someones yard.

Capitola

Foggy morning at the beach

Capitola

Foggy morning on the beach

Lick Observatory

Where I'll be spending the summer, reducing data on faraway galaxies' emission lines.

Loch Lomond

Pretty little gem near where i live in the San Lorenzo Mts. Reminds me of Hagg Lake. Lame $5 entry fee but i suppose they gotta pay the rangers. Looks like a good spot to mountain bike.

New reading spot?

The temps are inching up to the 90s this week. Shade is a valuable commodity in nor cal. Nice shaded bench in Capitola.

Seacliff State Park

Another beautiful day on the beach

Free Natl Park Day

 http://www.ajc.com/travel/deals/national-park-service-waving-540978.html 

A Cheap Camper's favorite!

Capitola

Where I am :D

As many of you know by now, i have a little crush on Capitola, CA. It's only about 10 mins from Phil's work so today I took a side trip there to walk around the area after I dropped Phil off.

Quirky li'l shops

Cute and offbeat but you can tell by the Merc that there is definitely some big MONEY here. Cheap Campers will not thrive!

Capitola

"Be the change you want to 'sea' " Cute.

Missing Sammy.....

In my bedroom

There are two daddy long legs about to fight....

Seacliff: South Santa Cruz

After dropping Phil off at HIS NEW JOB... (WOOHOOO!!!!) in Soquel, which is near Capitola ^_^, I drove further south to Seacliff Beach State Park. I rolled up to the entrance and then quickly pulled a U-turn since it apparently costs money to enter the state park (I am a Cheap Camper, after all). Instead I drove down along Seacliff Rd and came to this beautiful view:

My new Seacliff Beach 'Thinking Spot'

May 27, 2010

I parked the car in the warm, quiet sun and got to stare out at the pretty blue Pacific while pondering my own problems. Pretty and peaceful.

Seacliff Beach

This is further down the coast. If you look closely you can see the remnants of a shipwreck!

Bonny Doon

Bonny Doon Beach 

North of Santa Cruz

May 23, 2010

We took a day trip along the coastal highway to check out Bonny Doon beach. It was super windy, but what pretty beach! It's shaped kinda like Hanauma Bay in Hawaii and the cliffs really reminded me of Inishmore, the Aran Island we camped on in Ireland. The water isn't warm enough to swim in yet, but it was still neat to see the closest beach to our house. 

Bonny Doon waves

We also scoped out a neighborhood in Santa Cruz we really like called Capitola. It's a town that's right on the beach but close to the highways too. Too bad the average 2 br home price is about $750,000+! We did see a teensy little one bedroom shack that was only $400,000 though.....

Life in Santa Cruz (Companion update to my FB album :)

Hello from sunny Santa Cruz! 

Though this isn't technically a place we have 'traveled' per se, it still feels like a new adventure, being as how we just picked up and moved to a seemingly random spot in the US. The truth is-- as many of you probably have heard bits and pieces of for the past 16 months or so-- the Cheap Campers have been planning to move for quite some time. Oregon will always have a place in my heart, especially all the friends and family that still live there, but it was time for me to move on to greener pastures. Luckily I found a man willing to do just that with me and I feel so lucky to have shared this life change with Phil. His confidence, expertise, and just plain ol' man-ness has been greatly appreciated by me.
 Our first 'new life plan' idea was hatched in February 2009 at the Deschutes Brewery--- move to Vancouver BC. One year later, after endless conversations and countless pros and cons lists, we had eschewed Vancouver BC, as well as Japan, New York City, Provence, Toronto, Colorado, Seattle, Bolinas and all of the east coast. It was decided, Santa Cruz... where I camped many times as a kid with my mom and spent hours on the shopping on the boardwalk and boogeyboarding in the warm ocean waves...would be our new home.

New Home

Santa Cruz, one of the most expensive places in the country, where we don't know anyone and don't have any employment prospects, has treated us pretty well so far. We arrived with our moving van and Phil's tiny Sunfire at the doorstep of our new home just under two weeks ago. We lined up our room and signed an agreement all from France, without having really seen the place or met the housemate. A risk, yes, but what a place! Complete with the best swimming hole on the river and nestled in the secluded, quiet California redwoods, this property is beautiful.
The home itself is a meager 900 square feet, however, and is technically the guest house of the main house on the property. Our guest house housemate, Priscilla, is a flamboyant 61-year-old Buddhist with one discrepancy--she has an admitted 'hoarding' problem. We are working with her on it and so far sorting out our roommate agreements and learning to live in harmony as three unemployed adults with two beloved dogs has taken up the majority of our time and energy. She brings us free food and we help her clean up and organize the property and... we are working out the rest of the kinks. On a somewhat different note, I cannot express my gratitude at having access to the simple joys that I missed soooo much in Europe---free laundry, hot showers, good toiletries, reliable free internet, a variety of clothes and cooking our own food. I appreciate these things so infinitely more now.

Post Europe Mentality

My mindframe post-Europe is much more "roll with the punches." At the same time, both Phil and I feel a great deal more settled down internally as well. We both felt like we needed to push ourselves to the limit with adventuring. Which, after visiting 7 countries in 60 days with no real plan, we realllly did. I feel a lot more ready to calm down and start preparing for a real, adult life as a couple, with kids and and house and everything. We still have the adventure spirit that brought us so close together as a couple and birthed the Cheap Camper blog, but I we are officially ready to retire our "weekend warrior" status for good.

Exploring Santa Cruz County

We are technically in a little, teensy unincorporated mountain town call Brookdale, which, as far as I can tell, contains only a lodge and a post office along with its 2000 citizens. About 7 minutes up a winding, scary mountain road is Boulder Creek, where all the 'action' is, along with about 4000 citizens. There are a couple general stores, a pet store, a library and gas station and about 8 realty stores. I guess mountain property sales must still be pretty good! The people here are all definitively quirky. As we were shopping for dinner tonight, Phil commented that we are now the "weird people you see at those village grocery stores where you get your last minute camping supplies." LOL! But we really have not yet descended into the white bearded, permanently grimy, cowboy hat-wearing locals that we see everywhere, not to worry.
The other direction on the scary, winding mountain road heads toward Santa Cruz, and the little towns get progressively more civilized as you get closer to the main freeways. We are about 20 minutes from the boardwalk and an hour and a half in each direction from any big cities. Santa Cruz itself is really quite obsessed with itself. I've seen more than a dozen citizens wearing Santa Cruz logo-ed shirts. There are plenty of crazy, weird looking, bummy people to give the town its distinct progressive, hippy-dippy feel, but I tell ya, the cops have that place under control.  I already got a ticket for talking on my cell phone while driving in downtown SC. There are also several city ordinances that prevent Barley from enjoying the touristy areas. :P We mainly keep to our local mountainy redwood areas for now but usually an errand or something takes us downtown at least every other day.

The Boardwalk! The Ocean!

Tomorrow we plan to attend the season opening celebration of the SC boardwalk--woohoo! A Flock of Seagulls will be playing free show---you know you want to be there!  I'm SO looking forward to tanning on the beach and using our new (used) boogeyboards. Also, there are TONS of surfers! They go to the prime spots every single day! Hoards of them. It's really quite inspiring to see people so dedicated, actually. Not that I have any desire to learn how to surf, but I'm sure Phil will drag me to some lessons here this summer.... sighh!

That's it for now... I will write more once we get settled down here and start Cheap Camping again. I really want to visit Yosemite and both of us want to get back up to Bolinas Beach one of these days. Phil wants to show me Hidden Villa, which is the organic farm he used to work at, and I want to take him to Benicia, where my mom used to live.  Thanks for your eyes and all your guys' support and patience (and help!) during our move :D Come visit us!

My Favorite Picture

Hi Everyone-
We are almost back to Portland. I would say we are almost home, but we don't exactly have a home to go to yet. The closest thing that resembles our home is a room in Santa Cruz but we aren't close to getting there at all. Instead we are nearly back to Portland/Vancouver where we have all our stuff in storage and loved ones waiting to say hello, then, shortly later, goodbye :( Anyway, since I have some time whilst waiting for our Craiglist rideshare to pick us up from Sea Tac and drive us down to Portland, I thought I'd post one of my favorite pictures from our Europe trip.

Amsterdam

April 28

 This is a man, walking a pony the size of a dog just outside our campground. There's just something about this picture that perfectly sums up the feeling of being in Amsterdam..... I laughed for about 10 minutes....

Camping in Freaky Amsterdam

Hello again faithful readers! Stephanie here again to update you all on the very last leg of our cheap camper Europe trip: AMSTERDAM!!!!!!

We arrived in Amsterdam after flying out of Paris-Oly and into the Dusseldorf Airport, where we caught a bus to Amsterdam. Cheaper than flying straight to Amsterdam and we got to blow through a whole new country! Germany was great! Waves of memories from my high school German class washed through my brain and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I remembered. Not that my small amount of German did us ANY good in Holland where they speak DUTCH. Gah!

Street in downtown Amsterdam

April 29

Amsterdam has an entirely different feel to it than the UK, France and Italy. There are BIKES EVERYWHERE. More bikes than I've ever seen. And lotsa "individual" looking people. My one sentence description is that Amsterdam is like if every liberal arts college campus I've ever visited mated with a large bike parade and Venice. 

 The people are way totally laid back and they are all HUGE! We learned that the Dutch are the tallest people in the world. It was shocking to see Phil actually look short. There were many, many men at least as tall if not taller than him. And lots of women at my eye level too.

Phil, looking short

April 30

We got to stay in our own cabin. The campground had cute little bunnies all over! So adoreable!

Amsterdam Cabin

April 28

Cute Lil Bunny

Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the North due to the canals. I didn't even know it had canals but they made the city look pretty neato.

Amsterdam Canals

April 29

Little did we know that we happened to book our stay over THE most popular holiday of the year: QUEEN'S DAY~!! It's like a mix of New Year's Eve and the 4th of July for us. The Dutch threw a HUGE party downtown. I, mean, huge. We have never seen a street party like this one, not in Portland, not in San Francisco, not anywhere. Orange is the color they wear to celebrate and the everyone is allowed to try to sell anything, anywhere throughout the city. Basically on Queen's Day there is a huge garage sale and hoards of drunk people wearing orange. Here are the pics.

People Wearing Orange Blow Up Hats and Wigs (and me Drinking a Heineken)

Parade of Hare Krishnas

Party Boats in the Canals, Orange Everywhere

So Many People, Down Every Damn Street!

Orange Party Boat

It felt like we ended our huge, gianormo Europe Trip with a big party. We even got to bust out our tent again our last night in Amsterdam (since the cabins were booked). 

Amsterdam

Hello CheapCamper fans....

You are now nearly caught up on our travels! We are currently camping in Amsterdam, sans internet. At the moment we are sitting in a McDonald's downtown, where I am fervently catching up on 5 days of blogging. We hope you enjoyed our Paris excursions. We will certainly post more as we let our freak flag fly here in funky Amsterdam.

T minus 5 days till we are stateside again!

Au Revoir France

Wow- we spent 28 days in France. Mostly because my Mom lives there and was able to let us hang out and recuperate—Thank god! Travel is e-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-n-g. Even the days when we aren’t actively site-seeing or in transition leave us worn out, just from being somewhere where there’s no English or familiarity. Day after day of not knowing what the immediate future holds is really tiring. So, before setting off on a quick commuter flight to Germany, we are at T minus 8 days until we return to the NW.

We’ve been overseas for so long! We left in the depths of Winter and now all the signs of Spring are here. I left behind my Winter coat in Provence and am getting ready to unravel my shorts as we head north.

Both of us have lost a combined 25 lbs! We still tower over most Europeans, but we’re told that won’t be the case up in Germany and Holland. Speaking of Europe, I must hand it to the Europeans for being honorary Cheap Campers! The people here know how to conserve, be frugal, and stay slim.

Little French Breakfast

April 25

Cars are small and gas sipping, recycling is just assumed, and almost no store grocery store we’ve gone to in the whole EU provides bags, paper or plastic. The serving portions are small, and conspicuous consumption seems practically non-existent compared to capitalism-fueled America (though that’s not the case right now in the recession).  Europeans certainly have the Cheap part down, but they could use a tip or two on the camping part… We have yet to come across a campfire or toasting marshmallows… but who knows… perhaps if we had stayed here longer we could have shared the true American cheap camper ways!

Saint Michel beighborhood of Paris

April 26

There was a weird man ranting just out of screen shot....the strange part was that he was jabbering on in English!

Random Paris

Wine Tasting in Paris

April 25

Yummy free wine-tasting!!!

Walking around in Montmarte I spotted something that I might want later......

I Love this style!!!

Seine River at night

April 25

Paris at night was beautiful.

Louvre at night

April 25

Montmarte

On our last day in Paris we strolled around the Montmarte neighborhood of Paris. The hilly, off-beat neighborhood had a San Francisco feel to it. The light was soft- definitely great for painting.

Artists Painting in Montmarte

April 26

We also visited the famous church in this neighborhood.

Sacre Coeur

April 26

Moulin Rouge

April 26

Special thanks to Katie and Sherron for hooking us up with our generous Paris host Christophe! He was very nice and accommodating.