Moving back to California meant going back to all my favorite spots. I had been telling Alastair for a while about Fort Bragg, so we jumped on the opportunity to go! We had also recently bought a new tent and we wanted to try it out. We drove along the coast, which was pretty, but I was getting major car sickness. I haven't experienced that in a while, so I was feeling pretty terrible. We eventually got off and drove on the freeway, much better!
Our first stop was at sea glass beach. Alastair was a little let down because he googled prior to our trip, expecting the place to be covered with beautiful sea glass, but it was over picked. Emre loved playing in the water, even though it was extremely cold. He had a grand old time throwing the sea glass back into the water.
We reserved a spot to camp, but soon realized it was a terrible place. We drove into a mobile home park that had a small section for camping. We drive to our spot, and the campers next to us had pit bulls, which I did not feel comfortable being around (I have a deeply rooted fear of dogs). California has this lame reservation on all campsites, so we knew the main campsite was booked. I suggested just trying to go to the campsite to see if someone didn't show up. We arrive and ask the ranger if they had any available. He said they had one, but it was a handicap accessible one. He asked if we wanted to take a look at it and decide, and I quickly said, "No! We'll take it!" Thank heavens for that last spot! It was a stone's throw from the beach. The main spot to camp was paved, so we just pitched our tent off to the side. It was perfect and way better than our original plan. We went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. We ordered fish and chips and a chowder bowl. Delicious!
We didn't buy firewood, so we ended up just hanging out in our tent, which Emre loved playing in. He thought it was the best! We woke up pretty early, not the best night's sleep, but it was fun. We walked around the beach and saw some sea lions. We just walked barefoot, which was a mistake because the sand was so cold! We packed up and headed to the family grave sight. On my dad's side, there are about 5 generations buried in the grave sight, so I wanted to take Alastair. I couldn't remember exactly, but I told him where to go off memory. It's not too hard to find, and the drive to the destination is beautiful. I think Alastair would have really gotten along with my Grandpa, so I shared stories about him on the way up.
We went to one more state park before heading back home. It was a good little weekend adventure.