CAMPING IN SONOMA COUNTY

MY WEEK IN PHOTOS: SEPTEMBER 3–9, 2018!

Marie returns to Los Angeles, a work trip to San Francisco, and a weekend camping with friends in the Armstrong Redwood State Reserve.

Enjoy!

Good morning! It is Labor Day.

Zach requested BBQ so we tried a lunch special that came with brisket, ribs, and pork shoulder. So delicious!

Big 5

I remember the good ol’ days of 99 cent icecream from Thrifty’s.

Tidying up

Double pepperoni pizza with a side of Star Wars Episode 3

Mid-movie face mask

Sufi passed the frick out.

A questionable outfit choice but I’m going with it.

MARIE has returned to LA. Some celebratory Indian food delivery.

Airing out a sleeping bag that Kiki dropped us for us to borrow.

Wednesday morning—prepping the place to head out to a work conference in San Francisco till Friday.

Quick lunch

Made it to San Francisco! I’m excited because Zach joined me (he’ll be doing his own thing when I’m at the conference) and at the end of the week we’re meeting up with Rachel to go CAMPING.

Made it to the hotel and then found some nearby food. Chicken shawarma wrap and other goodies.

Thursday morning, the first day of the conference.

The conference was pretty intensive at the Exploratorium, so not much to photograph but lots of learning went on.

Hi! Morning two.

Visited SFMOMA to see their Magritte exhibition during an afternoon break.

Bonkers amazing Magritte paintings

A speedy trip through the museum, but it was still great to get a chance to visit.

Friday! Conference wrapped up.

Walked through Ferry Building, admiring and photographing yet more ceramics that I’ll aspire to recreate but most likely never well be able to.

There was still a bit of daylight, so Zach and I decided to get some coffee and walk to dinner.

Coffee in Chinatown

Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar! On their website I learned that this “lagoon” was once an indoor swimming pool at the Fairmont Hotel. The bar itself has been tropical themed since 1945.

Coconut cup rum drink!

Delicious salmon on fried rice

Beef and mushroom

Afterwards we met up with friends at Emporium, an arcade bar in San Francisco.

Documenting the one time I kicked Zach’s butt in pinball.

Found this new game that I am now fond of.

You know it was a good night when you end up at a pizza place.

Saturday morning, last morning in the hotel.

Last views out the hotel before we headed out to the BART to meet Rachel.

Tired BART boy.

Waiting for our ride.

Made it to Rachel and Stu’s place and finally got to meet THEO the sweetest baby dog.

It was Theo’s first camping trip, and he recently got over being immediately car sick in the car, so this will definitely be an experience for him.

Me and Rachel with Theo in the backseat.

Who is the real cow?

Charming metal sculptures

A few hours later we reached the edge of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.

We entered the park, had a near barf moment for Theo, and then proceeded through to the Bullfrog Pond campground.

We found our reserved spot and then started unloading the car and unpacking. Major shoutout to Rachel and Stu for collecting extra sleeping pads and bags and a tent so we didn’t want to fly with those items.

Wandered away to check out a quick viewpoint. I’m sure we’ll get back here.

Our homes.

A little while later we all went on a wander together.

Theo looking particularly happy to be a nature dog now.

Back to the overlook at sunset.

Gorgeous!!!!!!! THANK YOU EARTH!

Other sunset witnesses

We thought we’d find more frogs at a campsite called “Bullfrog Pond” but alas, the pond was actually dried up. So we were happy to see this little guy in the dark.

Suddenly it was dark (duh, that tends to be what happens after sunset…)

Getting dinner ready in the dark. On the menu? Grilled sausages and peppers plus a generous plate of cheese.

Playing Betrayal at the House on the Hill.

Stars

Good morning! View as I opened my eyes.

I love that you can just see the world around you through the tent netting.

Again I wandered off while everybody was still cozy. I was hoping to see some morning animal action.

Morning atmosphere

Poison

Get up!

A filter holder was not packed, so Rachel improvised with a water bottle lid. We might have had some plastic in our coffee but hey coffee was necessary.

The brief moment that Theo broke lose and ran around another campground. Oops.

More innovation. A way to hold the filter in the cup without burning hands. Banana holder.

Wild turkey just roaming free

Preparing the pancake batter

SPIDERMAN SPIDERMAN

Theo not amused by pancake flipping

The sun finally poking out

My dad used to make Mickey Mouse pancakes on Sundays when I was kid, I channeled that childhood energy to make my own Mickeys.

Eggs, pancakes, turkey bacon

Sadly time to pack up and head out

More turkey sightings

Last views before going back down to the Armstrong Redwoods Preserve.

Strolling through the Armstrong Redwoods. We learned that this entire area in California was once covered in redwoods, but the logging industry in the 19th century really took a toll on the forest. One logger cleared a bunch of forest, but he had a daughter who worked to preserve this small area as a “preserved grove.”

Amazing to think that this is what a large part of Northern California looked like a few centuries ago.

We learned that when a redwood dies, it sprouts a child near its base and then disintegrates from the top down. So beautiful.

Some light Armstrong Grove reading.

Dog in stroller dog in stroller!

LOVE the color in here. On the way back into the city we stopped in Berkeley to eat some tacos.

And then sadly it was time to catch our flight back to Los Angeles. What a fun weekend though. Leaving San Francisco with a bigger brain and a bigger appreciation for California’s landscapes.

Much love friends!