California, pt 1

Alright... We know we have been bad and not updated at all. We do want to finish this up though, so hang with us!
After waking up for the last time in Phoenix, we made our way west to California. The border was littered with windmills, which we didn't really expect, but there was definitely wind to warrant them!
On our first night, wet made it to some free campgrounds in the San Bernardino National Forest. It was quite the drive up into the trees to get to the campground, but it was sure a  beautiful place to be!

To make it all the way to the coast, we hopped onto Highway 1 and found Pismo Beach and our first view of the Pacific Ocean! Pismo Beach is a cute, little, fairly touristy town with shops lining the street leading to the beach, including one that sold chocolate covered crickets...! (We weren't brave enough for those though).

We also came across a few spots with lots of sea lions, lined up, relaxing on the beach. Some were throwing sand on themselves, and others were facing off and talking to each other. We spent quite a bit of time hanging out with them. :)

After a quick stop, we continued north on Highway 1 to hunt out a place to camp near Big Sur. We ended up finding a steep turnoff which looked like it was about where our researched campground was. We got settled, made some sandwiches, and took our books across the sort road to a huge rock overlooking the ocean. It was completely relaxing and gorgeous. (We may have spent the night hoping that we were camping legally... Nothing was really marked).

The ocean was just to the left, down a steep hill

Just across the road from our tent was a big rock that we climbed on and sat at the ocean, reading. Seriously beautiful.

-Allie