big kid table: Trinidad, CA

So we sold $500 dollars worth of vegan cupcakes and drove to Texas. Our first stop? Trinidad, California. We stayed with Carol, a witty school teacher who lives in this amazing town with a population of 300. I found her on couchsurfing (Couchsurfing is the best thing about the internet. I'm not kidding). Carol was on Day 1 of an Eat Local Challenge, so she prepared all of the food in her refrigerator that wasn't local and made us eat it. It was great to feast on pesto potatoes, rice pudding, mozarella stuffed chili peppers, and a green salad after a long day in the car. Carol showed us the virgin Redwoods in her backyard and talked to us about her life as a teacher. We sat around the table for a couple hours and then Carol went to bed. She gave us directions to the beach, a short walk away. We sat on a log and watched the tide come in. Here's a photo of the beach in the morning...

And below is the GREATEST coffee shop that I have ever been to, The Beachcomber Cafe. If you look carefully, you'll see that the words above the counter read: We have no paper cups. The Beachcomber appears to be the only coffee shop in downtown Trinidad, so they can probably get away with this without losing any business. I wish there were more coffee shops following their lead. Everyone who came into the shop had their own mug, and a couple people used the cafe's cups. This place felt like how you would want home to feel. Everyone knew everyone else, and they were extremely friendly to us tourists. We met a woman sitting on a couch in the back of the cafe who was happy to put down her book and chat with us about the best spots to see in The Redwoods. Little kids ran around with pear scones up to their mouths while their moms invited each other to birthday parties and potlucks. On top of the fact that there is no waste coming out of this cafe and everyone there was so nice, they make amazing coffee and delicious vegan goods. We kept going back to the counter for more scones.