Ten Years Gone

A few months ago it occurred to me (as this sort of thing tends to) that we'd been driving Ludwig regularly since the late Summer of 2004--ten years. We'd actually gotten him very late in 2003 but between our academic and work commitments and getting him road-ready after a decade idle in a machine shed we weren't really drive driving him until right before we moved to California. That move was his first big trip with us, in fact.

Anyway, I also remembered it being a while after our arrival in the Golden State before we got a chance to actually camp in him and wondered when that anniversary was. A little sleuthing reveals that sometime in August or September, probably September, of 2004 he made his inaugural overnight with us at Gaviota State Park.

And what a campground it was! A barely-glorified parking lot for a beach. Not having much use for a beach, we explored some of the park's wholly different inland component; specifically, a 0.7 mile hike to an undeveloped hot spring.

The spring bubbled up prettily and smellily.

That's Las Cruces nestled in the distant chaparral, with CA Hwy 1 snaking beyond.

We lost two years of our lives to California during which time between the both of us we logged a paltry six more nights camping in him. Which leads to a final batch of statistics I'll leave you with: over those ten years, Melissa has spent 60 nights in Ludwig, I've spent 62, E has 47, and Stinkerton, 11. Not much in retrospect, but it gives us something to improve upon.