One of the most beautiful places of the West Coast for sure. After partially being washed away by a rock slide after we booked our trip, we decided to venture here anyway and we were not sorry that we did!

Interestingly, Big Sur has no real boundaries. It is an area on the central coast of California where the Saint Lucia Mountains hit the Pacific. It was about a 5 hour drive from home.

Let’s be clear… I booked this campsite January 2, 2017. (I swear I’m not crazy. OK maybe a little crazy). Big Sur was on our never-ending list of places to go, and when I read how quickly campsites book up, I decided to be the early bird. In May 2017, a big landslide impacted Big Sur and the historic Highway 1 that runs through it. The campsite we booked in Limekiln State Park happened to be in a 10-mile stretch of Highway 1 that was sandwiched between two affected areas. And in true Dave and Laura fashion, we went on the trip anyway!

We packed up all of our camping supplies and the dog and headed on our way! Abiding by this little piece of camping truth:

Breathtaking doesn’t even begin to describe what the coast looks like here. It is like Game of  Thrones cliffsides meet tropical turquoise waters. 

Our campsite was right on a clearwater creek, so no need to even turn our white noise apps on to sleep (haha). We were a little close to other campers, but the proximity to the water was priceless.

Another fun (or slightly anxiety-provoking) fact about the Big Sur coastline during this time is that we had absolutely no cell service. We ventured out of the campsite to explore the coastline by car, and stumbled upon the one bar we could find (and I was secretly hoping for Wifi… which I know is super lame on a camping trip). No Wifi… but we did discover that the lone gas station in this isolated 10-mile stretch was selling gas for $7.50 per gallon!! So we drank our beers and watched peoples’ reactions as they pulled up and tried to get gas.

It was so fun taking the Tuna on walks by the water and in the woods to find the waterfall. Given all of her health issues earlier this year, we just want her to have the best time ever. Dave also enjoyed getting to test out his new camping grill (which also doubles as a beach BBQ grill). And I enjoyed trying out some slightly more fancy camping cooking… a step above the PB&J (minus the J) and s’mores that we usually do.

A highlight was making friends with the CalTrans worker letting residents in to the closed section of Highway 1. We brought our red solo cups up the road to watch the killer sunset. It is hard to imagine that that desolate roadway would be filled with traffic had it been any other time.

Another great camping trip in the books, and we will definitely be back!