Since we were surviving California as a van family, we thought we would check out the golden state, to Los Padres National Forest and Big Sur. Also we were truly just escaping the horrific wildfire smoke air quality, up to AQI 350 when we fled the Bay Area, November of 2018.
Rest Stop Sleeping as a Van Family is Not Very Fun
There isn’t much fun about van family life in big cities and noisy rest stops. Too much chaos and congestion, nowhere for the kids to play outside, it can get clastraphobic pretty fast. I was about to throw in the towel after the first night sleeping at a busy rest stop off CA-5. We were headed to an event in the greater Los Angeles area, and sometimes that rest stop is just a necessary hardship to not get too far off the beaten path.
Dispersed Camping in Los Padres National Forest
After the urban jungle of the greater Los Angeles area, we were happy to escape a green space on the map. We woke up on the top of a hill in Los Padres National Forest. 34.499963, -119.843083. Waking up to raw nature sets a much better energy for the day.
There is no better way to wake up than to a magnificent sun rise, alpine glow, or songbirds. This morning we woke up to a bluebird through our little van window. So I had to start singing one of our family’s favorite songs from Yoga In Motion, “ba ba blue bird through my (van) window.” For very young kids it is a super loving road trip playlist.
Quick Still Smoky Stop to Big Sur
Next Big Sur. We’d heard so much about it, and it was worth the quick stop, especially because we knew we would get better air quality right on the coast. It still wasn’t great, but much better than AQI 350 over the hill. I was surprised about the lack of dog-friendly trails near Big Sur. We did see a book you could purchase that disclosed all the dog-friendly trails, maybe another time.
For now, back home to the Santa Cruz KOA for residency shifts over the hill.
