We are back from our longest camping excursion yet, and the first in an RV, which I must say was pretty sweet once we adjusted to it. There was Matt for one who had to learn to drive what was in essence a whale on wheels. Somehow we managed to return it unscathed which was not a minor miracle I tell you. The boys dug it big time of course as a rolling little home with its automatic step that popped out each time you opened the side door, and the plethora of snacks at their disposal in the cupboards. As for me, I fully appreciated the bed with our featherbed addition and my own pillows. It certainly cancelled out the idea of the well-used, though clean, toilet that was only inches away. That and we could never get the RV level at the campsite. Poor Nico rolled out of his bed almost every night. With RV's it's a give and take existence. 

Our two locations, Montana de Oro near Morro Bay, and Sunset State Beach near Santa Cruz, were beyond lovely. Craggy beaches, wind-blown pines, crispy clean air, beach bonfires, dozens of blackened marshmallows, and the errant pesky raccoon. It was a break into nature that we all need once in a while. The kind of trip where you're not sure you ever going to get that smoky, faintly bacon-y smell of campfire out of your clothes anytime soon. But this was the kind of trip I hope my children remember for all it's discovery and laughs, it's long languid days, and the huge strawberry farm only a few feet away that we couldn't help pilfer from. Just a few times.