Day 28: Big Sore (I Mean, Big Sur)

 July 23, 2021

Vanlog, Sand Dollar Inn, Marina, CA

I told you to ask us tomorrow yesterday if the Half Dome hike was worth it or not. You might want to hold off on that yet. We are all very sore. We left Yosemite NP and drove Rachel to San Francisco International ariport for her flight back home to Philadelphia. Then Jessica and I began our duo vanlife experience. Exhausted from three days of early rising and from our hike yesterday, we drove down the Pacific coast highway from Monterey to Big Sur and beyond, stopping along the way for jaw dropping views of the coast and the classic photo of Bixby Bridge. 

Then we stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park for the short (but very painful) hike to see McWay Falls, which (at high tide) can fall directly into the Pacific. This was our turnaround point as we drove back up the Pacific coast highway, marveling at the number of conversion vans similar to ours on the drive (at least 30 plus). We even saw some whales surfacing just off the coast south of Carmel by the Sea. Then we checked into our hotel at the Sand Dollar Inn because we were just too exhausted to try to stealth camp in the van tonight. Temperatures were very moderate along the coast, ranging from 59 to 74 degrees.