Glamping in Carmel
In the past I had preferred back country camping (no established sites, carry everything, bury your poop) to car-camping (established sites, carry nothing, flush toilets) due to the quiet, the sense of independence and accomplishment. But as with many things (all things?) post-Alina, changes were in order. So awhile back I had purchased an gi-normous tent that was on sale. Big enough to keep all of us sane should we be forced to stay inside during extended bad weather. We already had an inflatable mattress from burning man and some other car camping essentials (folding chairs etc). But we needed a pilot...a demo example that all of this would work. That came in the form of a gracious offer from Colin and Deb who lived in Carmel. They had done quite well for themselves in the real estate/rehab/decorating business and had purchased a house near the ocean. That house was unoccupied, as it was being prepped for renovating, and more importantly they had a nice chunk of property that they offered for our use. We would set-up the tent and if all else failed we could move the sleeping bags into the empty house and start a fire in the fireplace.
The grounds were really quite stunning, ending in (fenced) cliffs to the water. There were a set of stairs down to a series of small beaches, and the whole thing was part of a small bay or inlet, so the spectacular crashing waves were just distant to hear, but not to spray you or be dangerous. My dad joined us as we prepared dinner out on the deck with our folding table and folding chairs. Then I got to work setting up the tent, refusing offers to help as I needed to learn how to be able to do it myself (I'd set it up once before in a local park). It took a little effort and a re-do, but it went up pretty easily. We moved our stuff inside, including a full sized pack-n-play. Then we spent the rest of the time slowly exploring the grounds with Alina and Baika. A series of short trails were the perfect size for an 18 month old. The weather cooled off as it tends to do at the coast in the evening, and then our first real test. How would Alina go to sleep in the tent. In previous excursions, she typically had a rough time with new sleeping environments, whether it be my Mom's house, Tatyana's mom's house, cabin in Tahoe, and so on. The tent was really different. But she went into the pack-n-play pretty well, and only stayed up a little later talking herself to sleep.
We stayed out a little longer, under the LED lantern light (thanks Dan!). Then we were ready and slid into the tent and snuggled into our bags on the air mattress, and Baika found a place nearby as well. The air was chilly and we had Alina bundled up in multiple layers of fleece and PJ's with a warm hat on top. I awoke several times during the night , prompted by concerns that she was to cold. But each time I tip-toed to her crib and checked her hands and cheeks she was perfectly warm and sleeping soundly. Until as usual she woke up early in the morning. We had some fun horsing around in the tent until I brought it down, and then more fun walking around and down to the beach. It's amazing how much you can get done before 10a when you are up at 6a. We packed away our stuff, tidied up the house, and locked it tight. We didn't have cell service, but we previously agreed to meet my dad a t a small mall near Carmel Valley. There was also the Big Sur marathon going on, and so our schedule in large part was dictated by "convoy" openings for cars on Hwy 1. If we missed our timeslot, we would be stuck for three more hours. But we made it up in time, pulled into our convoy and slowly drove under police escort to the meeting spot. Then we all went to the Wagon Wheel for a big breakfast where Alina got smiley faced pancakes and the super nice waitress brought out some toy ponies for Alina to play with.
Our pilot project of family camping was deemed a success. Phase two is taking the training wheels off and heading out again soon.
