Mt. Madonna (2)

Often when camping in a place we don’t visit as often, I find myself asking, “Why don’t we come here more?” This place is a good example. It’s not too far from home, there are lots of nice sites with hookups, and plenty of trails to explore. I wonder if I was put off by the very steep climb from Highway 152 up to the campground. That makes biking in or out fairly unlikely, if not impossible. But there is still plenty to do in the park, so I am putting this place back on my radar for future visits.

Richard and I have not been sleeping well at home. Not sure why. But by the time Friday night rolled around, with us rolling into our site, we had barely enough energy to watch a movie and roll into bed. We were out like lights and slept soundly until the caffeine withdrawal started kicking in Saturday morning. Weekends in Dory are always guaranteed to catch us up on any lost sleep. It’s like magic.

Hiking was the activity of the day on Saturday. I am getting braver about the kinds of trails I am willing to tackle nowadays. I can definitely tell that I can go farther and climb easier than I have in the past ten years or so. That feels pretty great and removes much of my pre-complaining, as I do a pre-hike analysis of the uphill grades that make me pre-defensive about how much they are going to torture me. All of the trails in this park are up and down (because “Mt.” is part of the name). The past year’s personal loss of mass has led to a reciprocal gain in confidence, so I agreed to take on the “moderate” loop with an elevation change of about a thousand feet. The Strava app confirmed we had hiked 6.4 miles and climbed 1,016 feet. The best part is that I did not feel completely dead.

After that, it was nappy time for a while. Then we both felt like checking out the overlook loop at the far end of the campground. Seeing as how we drag my blue bike on every single trip and I ride it maybe once per year, this seemed like maybe a good opportunity to make that feel less silly. It is in remarkably good shape considering it rides outside all the time. Just needed a little air in the tires.

Dinner was another grilled cheese on the grill. This time they contained: mango chutney, diced jalapeños, smoked Gouda and Monterey Jack. This paired with a salad full of pears, cucumber, some leftover tomatoes, marinated in apple cider vinegar, and then tossed with romaine and olive oil. Side of margaritas and that’s a good day right there.

Another great weekend and I should mention that Richard crushed the adulting yet again this week. He managed to get all new tires for both Bruce2 and Dory2, even managing a screw up on the part of the trailer tire delivery people, and still getting us tow ready by Friday. Bruce2 had about thirty thousand miles already and Dory2 had about sixteen thousand five hundred, but the tread was wearing on the inside. We never second guess changing out things like tires. We would much rather overspend than push it when it comes to maintenance stuff.

Next week we get to co-host an Altogather in Olema. Should be fun!

Total miles: 83.3, 17.8 mpg, 2 hours 20 min. Site 145 hookups. Little to no cell for either in campground. Great cell once you’re out on the trails. Good dump. This site not so private and too close to others. In future try: 143, 141, 139, 116, 115, 104, 108, 110, 113.