Sonoma Coast State Park - California

I love the Sonoma Coast State Park.  Most of the beaches are not good for swimming and the water is kind of cold, but it is so beautiful and the sand has this lovely big-grain texture and it looks like the land is just tilting into the ocean and being devoured.  Some of the campgrounds are a bit off the beach, some of them are not dog-friendly, and some are more oriented to RVs than tent campers but the whole area is so beautiful that you can’t be upset about it.  This area has a lot of scenic cliffs so you can see miles of ocean on a clear day.  The beaches had a little trash but mostly seashells and crab shells and bits of seaweed mixed with dead things.  (see all of the pictures here)

I was planning some other camping trips months before and came across this beautiful campground.  The beach-front sites are usually reserved months in advance so I picked a favorite and searched dates until I got to an open weekend, in February. After much waiting the date *finally* arrived. It can get pretty chilly in the northern part of California in February so I packed some extra jackets and stuff but the weather that whole trip was unseasonably warm and clear and pleasant.   (continued below)

We stopped at a few county parks along the way for some lovely runs and a little more exploring towns on the way to trailheads.  On the last one I overestimated speed or underestimated distance so the half hr. estimate turned into a 1.5 hr. run-walk.  We took some nice breaks, saw some nice views, and I was all jelly-legs and runner’s-high silly by the end of it.  Oh, and hungry.

We got to the campground in that early twilight time when there is enough light to do things but pictures come out all grainy and dim.  Aaaaand there was someone at the campsite.  The rest of the campground was mostly RV spots and I had been waiting for this for months, so instead of doing the nice girl ‘its ok I’ll just go somewhere else’ I explained how you check for available sites at the campground entrance, and then sign in with the campground host when you get here.  They were sad, and I felt crappy. I guess squatting doesn’t always work, and it would feel fine to refuse if I was set up and they asked to use the site instead of me, but it does not ever feel right to me to make someone move from where they are about to sleep. And I did it anyway, ugh.

I stayed for 2 nights, and it was lovely.  The RV neighbors were friendly, at least the dudes were, the women they travelled with didn’t seem to leave the RVs that much.  On the 2nd day I started to putter around camp in that nice lazy afternoon camping time when it is too early to make dinner but you start to prick up your ears and look around for … something.  The first RV person stopped by to talk that afternoon instead of them all just waving at me if they saw me walking past them to the bathroom or to get water.  He was slowly travelling to Sacramento for a homemade bicycle convention and we talked about materials and shaping wood and bike construction until his wife came to introduce herself and then ask him for help with something.

The next morning I was puttering around camp, making coffee, playing with dog, drying my tent on the roof of my car because the picnic table was wet.  The first guy came by with his bicycle to show it off, beautiful glowing arcs of polished wood and artistic inlays and obvious careful effort.  Then a couple of the other guys wandered over to see the bicycle and meet dog. We stood around in the one patch of morning sunlight drinking coffee and talking about camping and jobs and places and relatives and being hard-work tired and what type of dominoes is best to play with your grandkids when it rains.  The first day they mostly looked at me with kind curiosity like I was a kind of novelty (which is normal for me), but now the RV people had accepted me! I was found acceptable to be one of the dudes to stand around and drink coffee with.  And it felt normal and relaxed and not at all out of place, maybe a side effect of working with so many guys all the time but I loved feeling like one of the dudes. I spend a lot of time alone most days, talking to dog or listening to the radio, but a nice conversation with welcoming strangers is a special kind of warm and nice.

The beach was incredible.  It is a very dangerous area so you can’t even wade in the water but the ocean is extra sloshy and teal against the rocks in a way that makes her feel even more alive.  Dog got to run around off-leash and smell dead things and play with new dogs, she was all smiles all the time. I kept a close eye on her but stopped to fix my shoe for a few seconds and a wave caught her!  I guess she was distracted by smelling something when it hit, a big one that dropped water up to her chest, and for a moment she just froze.  I jumped up and saw her looking at me and being slowly pulled into the ocean and I ran and shouted for her and she snapped out of it and started bounding toward me like everything is awesome and has never been more awesome. I kept an even closer eye on her after that, it kind of seemed like she wanted to go in again.  Brave sweet dog.

Also click here to check out the rest of pictures if you want some ocean. Beautiful beautiful place.