Backpacking!!

I scored and got 2 vacation weeks from my internship. These were the final two weeks of Chris's nursing school, though. I do not plan on taking any time off after I complete the internship, so I made the most of my time and had some cost-effective good times!
My girlfriend (and co-intern) Jamie has NEVER been camping before. That is my middle name, so I have been wanting to take her for a few years now. She also had some time off, so I decided to take her backpacking. We were just going overnight, so we went to Point Reyes. Just s quick 2.25 hour drive from Sacramento, and we were there. The hike in was a challenging 6.3 mile hike that seemed to be 3/4 uphill. It seemed odd to be climbing closer to the ocean, but we went with it. 2 1/2 hours later.... we made it to camp. These sites had a storage locker, trash, and bathrooms. (Nice to not have to hike out all of your stuff!) We set our stuff down and went down to the ocean. It was breezy but gorgeous.
When we returned, our tent had decided to act like a sail. (Can't remember everything, ok? The stakes were still at home. I didn't say that camping was my first name!) We moved some large rocks in the tent with us to act as an anchor against the wind. I would definately go camping with Jamie again. She brought fresh herbs and mire-poix to mix in with our canned chicken and pre-cooked brown rice! Points to the newbie!
We saw quite a bit of wildlife. We were greeted on the trail by lizards, and vulchers. We saw gophers that looked like mice on steroids. We saw a bobcat and rabbit. The deer on the beach was a nice touch, and we saw whales in the morning!
Packed up and hiking out. Jamie is in great shape, so she was a good hiking companion. She didn't do anything too silly for her first time. I just gave her a few friendly reminders about closing the tent, and she did have a run-in with water. We didn't bring pillows, so Jam decided to use her camel-bak as one. We heard a Glug-Glug, and yep, it popped and leaked all in the tent! Those dish towels and oven-mit that Chris laughed at me for packing sure came in handy when we were sopping up the water at 10:30 at night. I was a goof too, given my stake forgetting moment. Chris's LED headlamp was out, so all we had for light was one of those shake and power flashlights. We had a great time, and make it back to the car safe and sound and SORE!
Wildcat Camp, a beautiful meadow on the ocean.