Author: clarkfamilyadventures4

Yeah! JTNP and they are blooming. Very happy momma. 

We got to the area a little later than expected so spent 1st night in 29 Palms RV Park. On the morning of March 8th we made our attempt to snag a campsite at the 1st come campgrounds. With a rig out sized our choices were extreamly limited. We got to the park entrance and noted their sign of available campsites as of 9am at each area. Jumbo Rocks (our best chance) had 28 available. Ugh, didn’t make me feel to confident as it was now close to 11am however we were seeing some RVs leaving. I hoped they were all from Jumbo Rocks. Took about a half hour for us to drive there and start the loop. We were very excited to see at least 4 spots we could fit in and 2 were quite fantastic. We parked in #87 and also snagged #90 for Brooke and Bonnie who would be joining us later that day. Our site was spacious with plenary of room for their tent but our camper and truck barely fit in the spot. There was absolutely no room for another car nor was there overflow parking. Within a few hours of our arrival the campground was full. 

Spent the afternoon climbing on the rocks behind our site while we waiting for Brooke and Bonnie to arrive. 

The next few days were spend exploring during the morning and into the early afternoon, then hiding out by the camper as the temperature rose and the sun got intense. We hiked some dirt roads because they are dog friendly. Geology road and the following day a mine road south of our campground in the other desert (sonora). This we called the death march. The other desert was lower elevation and much hotter. Not too pleasant but the kiddo fell asleep so we were somewhat committed. 

We also checked out the Octillo plants, Cholla Garden and Skull rock before Brooke and Bonnie had to leave. 

We still had a few days left and explored the rock climbers at Hidden Valley, drove the entire Geology Tour Rd, caught a sunset at Keys View and continued to climb  and scramble the rocks around the campsite (Benat’s favorite). 

Met an interesting fellow, “Sean Jon,” the day Brooke and Bonnie left. He rode into the site next door on a dual sport bike with Oregon plates. Of course we start talking. He started his adventure in Seattle and has to be in Austin, TX in a month or so. He’s working on writing a couple of books and on this adventure with no solid end plan. He’s also spent a large amount of time living in Bellingham. Between the motorcycle and WA there were some good conversations. Before he rode off the following day we shared some pancakes with him which landed us a cameo in his blog (roddatrials.com). 

We left Joshua Tree by driving to the south of the park. Wish we had done it previously, the flowers in bloom were amazing! Because of the warmer temps we hadn’t gone farther than our death march. And now towing the camper didn’t leave many options to pull over so onward we drove, to Arizona!

Days spent at dog beaches, evenings visiting friends. 

So happy this campground was quiet! No train rattling and honking all night long. 

After setting up camp we drove to the towns north looking for a dog beach. There went any unless we wanted to drive to the north side of LA! 

The next day we went to a different dog beach south of San Elijo and had fun. That evening we went to Matt’s friend, Andreas’ house for a walk and dinner. Their property was awesome. An old avacado orchard now a paddock for horses and newly added trails, a pond and his own western town complete with bar and library. 

Last day we went to Ocean Beach to the dog beach (again) to do laundry, visit Balboa Park and visit a different friend of Matt’s from the college sailing team. Balboa Park was amazing. So many museums though we only walked around. Beautiful park. Dinner at Toms house was delicious. Great company and conversations with him, his partner, Curt, and granddaughter, Scarlett. 

After the long drive through LA we were excited to get to our next campground at San Elijo State Beach. The weather was warmer (shorts and flips!) and the beach sandy. There was even an area for Dexter to play on the beach! The downside to this campground was the trains. They roared past the campground so frequently during the day and night. Matt not I slept well, Benat didn’t seem to mind. 

We only had 3 nights at this campground and the days went quickly. The 1st full day we drove to San Diego and visited the Ocean Beach Dog Beach. Dexter had a grand time (of course). There were a lot of dogs running around and tennis balls to be thrown. Benat even walked in the water! After a late lunch of delicious Mexican food we headed back to the campground before traffic got bad. 

The next day we explored another dog beach and enjoyed the warm weather. 

Even with the loud trains and partying frat boys next door we tried to stay at the campground another day. Unfortunately we couldn’t and had to move north a few miles to South Carlsbad. 

We arrived at El Capital State Beach campground and set up home for a week. We were on top of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. Still a bit windy, but the sun was shining!

Tried going for a hike to see waterfalls on Friday. The trail head was at the end of a windy, narrow street and we were quite unlucky in finding a spot. When we did we were a 1/2 mile away. The trails were not well marked either and chose the wrong path. Ended up at a dead end. At least the views were good! Unfortunately during this hike we lost our buddie, giraffie. 

The following day we went for a pleasant stroll on San Antonio Creek path. Benat walked most of it himself. Path wandered next to the creek swollen from recent storms. The path crossed the creek and we couldn’t cross and turned back. 

Sunday we visited downtown Santa Barbara. Cool town, interesting architecture, nice people. Started with coffee at Rebar then Matt and Benat took a trolley/bus ride. I walked Dexter to the beach and was rewarded by a craft fair! Later in the day involved nor beach time at the campground and potty training work. 

Monday we went back to the previous trailhead to find waterfalls. Again we lost for parking and had to walk a 1/2 mile again just to start this 3+ mile hike. We didn’t find the waterfall trail but we did manage to get to inspiration point! 

On Thursday, February 16, 2016 we drove to Morro Strand RV Park. Luckily it didn’t rain much, nor were the winds bad. Getting the camper into our assigned spot was a little challenging because the spot was so darn small. But we are only a block away from the beach and views of the Morro Rock…

Unfortunately, we did not get to see as much of the rock as we had hoped because a bad storm blew in. Lots of rain and high winds, the worst storm Morro Bay has seen in 10 – 20 years. There were a lot of downed trees and we lost power at the RV park for the entire day on Friday. To avoid the camper swaying in the breeze we all got in the car to go grocery shopping. The power outage was not confined to the RV park area, but the whole town! The baby also fell asleep once the truck started moving so we decided to drive to the nearby town of San Louis Obispo. We had a delicious lunch at Kreuzberg and got Benat a new toy.

We also spent some time with friends we know from Tahoe, Dina and Trent. We went to their house and hiked through the neighborhood and up Mount Madonna. The views from the top were grand, you could see a lot of the volcanic plugs that line the landscape.

Every day got better and better (weather wise) and today it never rained! We took advantage of the morning by playing on the beach, and in the afternoon we rode our bikes into town for some fried calamari treats at Tognazzini’s.

Tomorrow we drive to Santa Barbara. The current plan is to stay at a State Park campground, but they were closed last weekend because of storms…. regardless to where we end up staying I look forward to the possibility of flip flops!