Since our last post we have had some great… and not so great… adventures…..we have celebrated Thanksgiving with some really great people, been to Point Lobos, Carmel Beach, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, the Monterey Aquarium, had visits from family and friends, and experienced what is called a “WIND EVENT”…
Thanksgiving
First, we had Thanksgiving with all our fellow hosts here…. And a better group of people couldn’t have been found. This trailer actually is able to hold ten people for a pot luck dinner with seating enough for everybody to eat, drink and be merry. We are blessed with finding some really great friends here and some fantastic cooks… the food was excellent and the company lively and entertaining.
Wind Event
The words “wind event” has meant something different in each venue that we have hosted at. In Colorado we saw some gusty breezes, with thunder and lightning thrown in for drama. In Death Valley we had dust storms and winds that rocked the trailer a time or two and left powdered sand to clean out of all the nooks and crannies of the trailer.
… but…here in Big Sur it got right down scary on December 4th when a “wind event” happened. Here a wind event is a nasty phenomenon that Mother Nature has created to scare the pants off you…..
We have a very tall redwood tree next to our site and during a strong wind there are branches that drop off from about 200 feet…by the time the branch hits ground level it has become a spear. This wind was somewhere around 70 miles an hour with gusts that sounded like a freight train coming through.
After rolling the awning up we came inside and hoped for the best. About 3:00 in the morning (unable to sleep with all the noise), we went out to see if the world was still there. The first thing we noticed was that two branch spears (about six feet long) had hit our new tent and tore right through the roof leaving large holes with the branches still stuck in them.
By this time you could hear trees cracking, falling with branches hitting the ground and the wind was getting worse. We went back inside hoping it would be safer and finally fell to sleep.
At about six in the morning we heard a large crash, which woke us up immediately, and Buff announced that our trailer had taken a direct hit…. With my heart pounding in my throat, we got up and opened the bedroom door fully expecting to see half of our trailer under a tree. The damage was less severe and the trailer is still livable … but a large branch, (we are talking about 20’ long and 4” in diameter), had speared the roof leaving a hole in it and damaging an interior wall. Since it hit about two feet from our bed we were instantly grateful that nothing worse had happened.
We will be coming to Reno April 1st, to have the roof replaced and the wall in the living room repaired. Buff has temporarily patched the roof so no rain will come in, but this is a job for the experts . The insurance company has estimated from six to seven thousand dollars for repairs…….THANK GOD WE MAKE OUR MONTHLY INSURANCE PAYMENTS!!! All it will cost us is the deductible of $125.….. We feel very fortunate that we weren’t hurt as one person lost his life during the storm.
Now on to the good stuff……
Point Lobos and Carmel Beach
We took a day with our neighbors, Steve and Karen, and drove North to Point Lobos State Reserve…. Absolutely beautiful! We saw Sea Lions and Sea Otters living wild… what a thrill. We had a wonderful few hours exploring the area and then went to Carmel Beach for lunch. 
The beach is a large sandy area right in Carmel so we sat in the sand and watched all the posh residents of Carmel with their expensive breed dogs while eating our boloney sandwiches and feeding the sea gulls…. We had fun!!!
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
A day trip south to JPB State Park was another lovely visual experience. The trail leads to the beach where a waterfall falls over the cliff right onto the beach…. The scenery was spectacular and Buff took some great pics to share…
A visit with Rob, Angela and Kali and a trip to Monterey Aquarium
Rob was able to grab a couple of vacation days (right after our wind event) and drove here for a visit. He brought his friend, Angela and her daughter, Kali, to meet us. Angela is a lovely, sweet woman that we loved immediately and Kali is so cute you can hardly stand it. We spent the first day here at the campground taking a hike and having one of Buff’s superb dutch oven stews. The next day we drove to Monterey to see the aquarium….
Now, I have never been to an aquarium and thought I would see some fish….. This place is magic and it was easy to spend several hours looking at all the exhibits and the stunning array of sea life there. My favorites were the sea horses, the jelly fish and the sea otters. It is a world class aquarium and a totally grand experience. Rob and Angela took us to dinner and it was a perfect day…..
Denise takes a break and comes for a visit
Denise was able to find the time between school and work to make a too quick visit… but a great one. She arrived Christmas Day and was here for two more days. Her choices were a long walk through the park, taking time to visit and photograph the stately Redwood trees in our back yard and a visit to Pfeiffer Beach the next day. She was duly impressed with everything and has decided that we have the most wonderful life… even was thinking of throwing the Master’s Degree away and becoming a professional camp host herself!!!
Between adventures we spent a great deal of time sitting by the fire, visiting and watching Denise get totally relaxed… she took us to breakfast at a local café which was well worth the price…the food was excellent. Denise hated to leave and we hated to see her go.
A fellow camp host from Death Valley comes to visit
Last year we had the awesome experience of camp hosting with Margaret at Death Valley and we quickly became good friends, keeping in touch through the year. Well, Margaret and her princely dog, Casper, dropped in for a visit right after Denise left. She showed up with a lovely bouquet of flowers and news of our friends from last year. We were thrilled to see her and renew our friendship and spend some time showing her the trees, etc. We had two movie nights and then she took us to dinner at the Park Lodge….
Wow, all this company has allowed us to try some of the local food fare and we really appreciate it.
While here Margaret landed a job for the summer taking our place when we leave…. Isn’t life grand!!!
Saturday we HAVE to work …. We have to join our Ranger, J. J. and do some whale watching …. Aaaahhhhh shucks…..
…. we are hoping for a warm, clear day and lots of whales to watch….. Next post will hopefully have pictures to share…
We ended the year quietly watching a movie until a camper knocked at our door and announced that another camper had set himself on fire and needed medical care!! Buff called the Ranger and ambulance, then went to assist. I feel so bad for the camper as he had terrible burns to his back and will start off his new year in the hospital. So that took care of any excitement we thought we had avoided…….
Looking back on the past year we realize that we have survived a flood, two flat tires on the trailer, the demise of our generator, repairing the extension on the back of the trailer along a busy I-80 and a major wind event. and….we are still blissfully happy … all just a part of being a carefree gypsy…. HOWEVER, We are hoping for a less eventful 2012.….
Until then dear Blog friends……hope your new year is happy, prosperous and the best ever……
The Big Sur Gypsies
Wow, you two have been having the most exciting adventures! We’ll see you guys this April, and we’ll for sure be able to spend a weekend or two with you at the summer campsite. See you soon!