One of the perks of my job is that I get Good Friday off and Lee always takes it off to be with me.  We debated this year about driving 8+ hours to take advantage of the three-day weekend and visit another national park, or stay close to home.  We opted to stay close to home and had a great overnight camping trip.

Our friends Ryan and Rachel from our "new" ward joined us.  We left early Friday afternoon and headed to Arroyo Seco in Los Padres National Forest.  I've heard about this place for a long time and have always wanted to do the hike up the river - so we decided we would scope it out for a future summer hike.  We LOVED that it was so close (under 2 hours) and that it was also so beautiful.  The gorge was gorgeous and everything was still so lush and green.

We had a very kick-back Friday afternoon.  We learned a new game (San Juan) that we can't wait to play again and introduced the Jergensens to "Authors" (you can't go camping without it).  We made a fat-kid and delicious dutch oven dinner and spent hours around the campfire.  It was fabulous.   Saturday morning was also leisurely with another tasty meal that included some surprisingly good pancakes!  Then, we headed towards the trail/road along the gorge.  We didn't travel as far as intended due to the Poison Oak that was EVERYWHERE - but what we saw, we loved.  Our lunch spot was pretty perfect along the river and the two boys even jumped in the ice cold water - crazy if you ask me.  The skies got bluer as the day went on and we really had a great time.  We're already thinking about when we can go back!

Pictures from the weekend are in the gallery.