mini vacay | big sur, california

since i don't have a "summer break" anymore and i had dance rehearsals almost every weekend of summer, the only chance i had to get away was fourth of july weekend. aaron and i actually planned this trips months before i even committed to nisei week and fourth of july weekend was one of the only weekends available at treebones resort. luckily, i had dance rehearsal off that weekend too! i guess it was meant to be. i heard about treebones when my friend showed me a picture of a yurt in big sur. i immediately start researching and booked it for aaron and i when i saw they had an opening. not only have i never stayed in a yurt before, but i've never been to big sur. it would be a trip of firsts -- my favorite! we only stayed the minimum two nights and luckily, i took a day off of work so we left in the afternoon on a thursday and we drove back down saturday on the fourth.

before we actually got to big sur, we made a couple stops in santa barbara and san luis obispo since it was on the way and we needed to eat some lunch. we ate on the pier in santa barbara at a seafood restaurant and stopped to get a pitaya bowl in slo -- i couldn't resist getting the bright pink one!

santa barbara from the pier

most beautiful pitaya bowl

we got to treebones just in time to check-in and relax a bit before dinner. it's right off highway 1 so we drove along the coast for majority of the time. the views (when it wasn't foggy) were amazing. i couldn't believe i waited this long to do that drive. since there isn't much around treebones, we decided to eat dinner on site. let me just say, i was not expecting to spend that much on dinner. i guess because of the location, everything is more expensive. the chef was kind enough to introduce himself to everyone dining -- he's from france! the meal was delicious and since it was vacation, we decided to get some wine and dessert too. we topped the night off with looking at the sunset and relaxing in our yurt.

inside our yurt

salmon piccata

the best way to drink wine

friday was our one full day which was spent hiking, relaxing, and being one with nature. originally i wanted to go to mcway falls but since we were in the more southern part of big sur, it would have taken us over an hour to get there. we decide to just drive 20 minutes to limekiln beach state park which had a few trails. one of the trails lead to a beautiful waterfall and we saw the lime kilns on the way. after our short hikes, we laid on the beach for a bit. we drove back down to gorda to grab some lunch, since there aren't very many options to eat along the 1. once we got back to treebones, we took a dip in the jacuzzi then ate sushi for dinner. after dinner we hung out in the common area and played a few rounds of sequence.

view from treebones

the yurts

hiked to the waterfall

just hanging out :)

$19 sushi

for our last morning we had one last complimentary breakfast and played a couple more rounds of sequence (aaron beat me). after we checked out, we attempted to go to hearst castle only to be let down by the 2 hour wait for the next tour so we decided to leave. we met up with some of aaron's friends in san luis obispo at high street deli. it was my second time eating there and it did not disappoint -- although, i didn't eat there at 4:20. after lunch, i made aaron take me to the original mcconnell's to get some froyo (since i can't eat ice cream). once we got home, we were so pooped we didn't even go out for fourth of july.

mmm waffles

cute keychain 

the garden 

happy glampers

mmmmmm

double mmm

despite the fact that we only stayed a couple days in big sur, aaron and i had a great time. it still amazes me how i've lived in california my whole life yet it was my first time going to big sur. i definitely need to take more advantage of all the great things that are just a few hours away. i'm thinking next time i might even want to go real camping... in a tent! i'm glad i can finally cross treebones and big sur off of my to-do list.

xoxo,
camryn

next trip: JAPAN!