USAL!!!!

The trip of a lifetime, that’s all I can say about our beach trip to Usal. This would be me, my buddies lee, mike, dave, alex, brian, ryan, sam, cole and tyler. I was meeting ryan, brian and tyler for the first time and for me, first impressions are always intimidating. Fortunately all of these guys turned out to be really cool so the trip was a real blast. We drove out at 6pm and after a few windy miles, being lost for a bit, and many hours in a car, we arrived at usal campground. Usal campground is located in sinkyone wilderness state park and is actually right off of the beach. Two small creeks run into the ocean right next to where we were camping, it is quite the campground.

We set up our tents, we ate and drank and it was time to pass out. The next morning we woke up and went fishing. Unfortunately I have no pictures with a rod in my hand but trust me, I did fish. We didn’t do well at all! Haha the waves were way too high and we couldn’t get our lines out far enough.  The waves would pull our sinkers in and out of the water so it looked like we constantly had fish on… but we didn’t lol!

Later on that day we went out shooting. My buddy ryan had a raised up 4x4 jeep Cherokee that he used to take us all across the creeks and onto an area of the beach that was a bit more secluded. There we drank beer and wasted bullets! Nothing quite like shooting, drinking, hangin with buddies on a sunny day on the beach. That evening we witnessed a small herd of elk walking around and two of the males locking horns over the females! It was just about the coolest thing we had ever seen. 

By the time the sun set all of us were super tired and people were going to bed as early as 9pm. By 11, some of the guys who had passed out early sprang back to life and continued to party. I went to bed at around 1030 which was perfect because I woke up around 5. As soon as I woke up I started packing my stuff up which made things easier because I was able to help out the others when it was their time to pack up.

After we loaded up the vehicles, we finished off a few brewskis and just stood around. We took some group pictures as well and I decided that it was a good idea to play Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesdays gone.” The song hit the moment perfectly Everybody stayed quiet and listened to the song. Even though nobody said it, I think we all felt the same thing; we were sad to be leaving and really wanted to stick around as long as possible. We all waited until the last possible minute and then headed out in a caravan. We stopped to take pictures over a cliff with an extraordinary view! We tried to get everybody to go eat together at a restaurant but some guys were just eager to get home. A few of us stuck around and ate some fresh fish and chips together and then finally headed home. After a few hours of windy driving, we finally arrived back at home. 

Its funny how there are moments for which you have low expectations and others high. Sometimes the ones for which we have low expectations turn out to be the best. Although I was excited to go to Usal, I had low expectations since I didn’t know who would be there. As it turns out, this was one of the best trips I have had with the chico buddies. Its trips like these that slap me upside the head and remind me to enjoy life while I am still young. This trip was only three days out of my entire life but they were three days that will stand out forever.