Thanksgiving 2009 @ Doheny SB

Well we have just returned from four days, including Thanksgiving at Doheny SB. I won't review the campground here as we have stayed there before and have reviewed it in an earlier blog.
We arrived at the campground Wednesday night after work. It was dark when we got there but we have been there before so it wasn't so bad setting up in the dark. Don't usually like setting up after dark as it is pretty easy to kiss a tree or something.

Thursday morning was nice and sunny and temps are supposed to get into the 80's for the day. Early morning coffee and take Buddee for a walk so Robin can sleep in a little.

Soon Robin is getting stuff together for breakfast and the temp is warming up to be a great day. A little R&R around the campsite and enjoying the ocean and it is time to get the Turkey and fixings together for a 4pm dinner. We had a friend join us and she brought candied yams and coleslaw. Robin had deboned the turkey so it fit nicely in the oven. The turkey was nested on the top of dressing. This was the first time using the oven for something as large as the turkey and it worked just fine. After dinner everyone relaxed in the sunshine and napped.

Friday Robin had to be at work so the kids, dogs, and I spent the day napping and people watching and enjoying the sunshine as it was another nice day. Robin got back from work and we enjoyed turkey leftovers for dinner. Friday night the weather turned colder and we had some rain over night, some pretty heavy at times.

Saturday the day started cooler and the rain moving off to the south. The sun was warm but the wind remained cool for the day.
Saturday night we had a campfire and went inside and played some cards and off to bed.

Sunday morning is was time to call and end to a wonderful weekend and head back to the work week. We had a great time.

South Carlsbad SB, Carlsbad, Ca

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Get your own

This weekend we had the pleasure of staying at this campground for the first time. We were surprised that we hadn't heard more good things about it.
This San Diego beach features swimming, surfing, skin diving, fishing and picnicking. The large bluff top campground is very popular, especially in summer. Stairs lead to the beach.
We were in the loop of sites 130 to 222. There were sites on each side of the road, we had one located on the bluff side of the road. The sites are wide and small trees separated the sites from each other. Very private. This is a no hookup campground but they have bathrooms and pay showers. We did not check them out as we have all that on board.
The slideshow I have added will give you idea of the size of some of the sites. Some sites were not very deep but ours was deep enough we could have put another MH in it. I fact we saw one that had a 5er and a class "C" on each side of the same site and still had room between them.

A description of the beach:
South Carlsbad is on the Southern California coast between Oceanside and San Diego. The sand lies below the bluffs. Up above is the state campground. There is good swimming here. You can also fish, surf and snorkel.

At the campground at the top of the stairs there is a small grocery convenience store, beach rentals, restrooms and showers. The 226 campsites are on the bluff overlooking the blue Pacific. Try to get one on the ocean side. You take the stairs down to the beach below.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Grizzly and Wolf Center, West Yellowstone, MT

This is kind of out of sequence as I should have posted this with the Yellowstone trip. It is interesting enough to post it so I will do so now. I have linked their website in the title of the post so you can see for yourself how important this center is to the grizzly and grey wolf. If you are ever in the area be sure to stop and go though the center, it is well worth it.

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center offers every visitor to Yellowstone a chance to uniquely experience
the world of grizzly bears and gray wolves. All the animals at the Center are unable to survive in the wild
and serve as ambassadors for their wild counterparts.

Please click on the link to see all of things they do. We took several pictures of the two grizzlies at their feeding time. Awesome to watch. The grey wolves were napping at the time we were there so not many pictures of them.
Enjoy the slideshow.

San Clemente SB Camping 10-25-09

Since 1937 San Clemente has been one of the most popular beaches in California. A dramatic setting and invigorating air satisfy its many visitors, whatever their interest, energy level or state of mind. The mile long beach stretches between the curling ocean surf and the foot of a steep bluff. Midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, the park attracts water sports enthusiasts and those seeking respite from the inland heat or an escape from nearby metropolitan areas.
Hot showers, flush toilets
Dump station
RV sites include water, electrical, and sewage hookups
Verizon cell phone and air card worked very well.
This was our first stay at this beach. We had Site#70 almost down at the end of the first row. Some of the sites have shade trees and some don't. Ours did not. There are a few sites, 61 thru 65, that you can actually see the ocean through a small canyon. Even though there is no ocean view it is very accessible with a short hike down the bluff to the sand. The sites are nice sized, pretty level and clean. Table and campfire ring at each site.
We really enjoyed the weekend, the site was roomy and the weather very nice, sunny and 70's.
Since it was close to Halloween there were Trick and Treaters making the rounds on Saturday evening. A friend, Judy, joined us for the day and happened to have some candy so we weren't left candiless with all the kids. It was fun to watch the kids and everyone.
The night had some freeway noise, but we are city folk so it didn't keep us up. We will be returning over New Years and Easter. I would recommended this campground to anyone.

Off topic, I added a couple of cool cars we saw at the Pomona RV Show.
Enjoy.

San Antonio Lake (SAL) Rally

This last weekend we went to a rally at San Antonio Lake, North of Paso Robles in Central California. We don't normally go to rallies but we hooked up with this one a couple of years ago and the people were so nice that we have been going back every year. Actually they have the rally twice a year, first in Feb and again in Oct. Some of the same people are there every time and some are new people checking it out. Here is a little info on the area where we meet:

Lake San Antonio - South Shore
Camping
Lake San Antonio South Shore offers hundreds of first come, first serve hook-ups and regular sites on a 24 hour basis. You can enter any time but if you are leaving that day you must vacate your site by 2:00 p.m. and leave the park by sunset.

Three RV and camping areas (Redonda Vista, Lynch and Harris Creek Campground) with 500 sites are available at South Shore for individuals, families and groups.

In Feb we stay at this campground:
Redonda Vista Campground
This campground is located about a mile from the shoreline and includes 86 hook-up campsites with water, electricity and sewer and 173 regular campsites with water, picnic tables and barbeque's.

In Oct we stay at this campground
Harris Creek Campground
This campground is popular year-round because it is conveniently located close to the lake. It includes 91 regular campsites with water, picnic tables and barbeque's.

It is easy to see several groups of mule deer grazing at different times of the day and even Turkeys on a few occasions. The campsites are good sized and allow for room for your RV and tow the setting is grassy with trees and some views of the lake. The marina has a small store and a place to launch your boat. They also rent small houseboats and fishing is also allowed. In the spring of the year there are tours of the lake and eagles can be spotted along the shore.

The Rally is a small rally compared to some. It is usually comprised of people who follow the RV.net forums for RV'ers. This rally is hosted by a very nice lady, Judy, and her husband, Ray. They have a agenda set up ahead of time. We vote on food selection ahead of time and usually have a group meal on Friday and Saturday nite. On this rally we had the meat of our choice for Friday night and some of us brought side dishes and some of us brought the dessert. On Saturday night the meat was tri-tip that was cooked by some of the "Boys" from the group. It was great. Robin was busy with her Dutch Oven all weekend, Friday night she had a potato and cheese,bacon dish, yum! Saturday morning it was cinnamon goodies, and one of group made banana pancakes. Saturday night is was a Dutch Apple Carmel dessert. OH BOY!!!. Needless to say we didn't go hungry.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

I have included a link to the rally organizer's (Judy) pictures as she took alot more than I did.

RV.net Rally>

Beartooth and Chief Joseph Hwy

This was not the experience that we were quite expecting when we started this journey. We started early in the morning as we had to drive to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone park to start up the mountain. What we didn't expect was the endless road construction going on all the way up the mountain on the Wyoming side. There were several times we had to be escorted from one point to the next. Most of the outlooks were filled with heavy equipment. The pictures we got were pretty awsome but we didn't really have the time to get out and embrace the wide open spaces of the feeling of being in suspended time, I have been told by some that is what it feels like. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Yellowstone-Fall-2009

Well we have returned for our much awaited trip to Yellowstone. This is our third year for this adventure, though our first in the fall of the year.
We have never been disappointed in what we see in the park.
The scenery and animals are just amazing. I don't think there is anything, that I have seen, any more breathtaking. I know there are many beautiful sights to see is this amazing country of ours but I will have to wait to be able to see them.
For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see this park, I hope you get to at least just once.
I think I will let the pictures do the talking, although I don't think even the pictures do it justice.

Day in The Tetons

We started out early in the morning with a boat ride across Jackson Lake to an island to have a cowboy breakfast. The early morning sky was clearer than the day before. We had a couple of rain showers during the night but we were blessed with a nice clear and bright morning. It is really hard to get a picture to show the awesome views with a hazy sky. The breakfast was pretty good but it wouldn't have mattered what we ate with the view we had. Menu consisted of eggs, sausage, county hash browns, muffins, french toast and coffee.

We got back from breakfast and spent the rest of the driving around checking out all the views of the Tetons and went into Jackson Hole for lunch. If you are ever in Jackson you need to stop at Bubba's BBQ for some of their pulled beef briskit. YUM!

Tomorrow we are headed for Yellowstone for hopefully many animal sightings
Hope you enjoy the pictures

Logan UT to The Tetons

We started out about 8am from Traveland RV Park in Logan UT. Nice park to overnight, pull thru sites, FHU, free wifi, and cable. If you ever have a chance to take Hwy 89 between Logan and Garden City take it. It is a beautiful drive along the Logan River. Of course that may be just my opinion because I have been driving the
I15 for two days.
We got into Colter Bay RV park about 2:30 and set up. If you haven't been here it is nestled in the pines near Jackson Lake. We went down to the Marina and reserved two seats on the breakfast cruise on the lake. Of course that means we have to get up early in th morning.
We went for a drive down by the lake and the dam. We encountered our first moose sighting at Moose Junction (of course where else would it be).
It never ceases to amaze us as the beauty of the country side as you drive along. I know why they call it "God's Country" because nobody else could have created something so beautiful. Well I am signing off for tonight, enjoy the pictures.

First travel day to Yellowstone

Well here we are at the KOA in Cedar City, UT.
Not to much in the way of pictures, driving through the desert is pretty boring. We did take a couple of the Virgin River Gorge as we were coming up the grade.

We got underway at 4am this morning, stopped in Barstow Flying J for gas and breakfast. Actually got through Vegas without much trouble. Got into Cedar City about 2pm. There are thunder showers and a nice breeze this evening. It was a 105 degrees coming through the gorge. Will be to bed early and try to get going by 8am.

Refugio State Beach

Refugio State Beach offers excellent coastal fishing as well as trails and picnic sites. Palm trees planted near Refugio Creek give a distinctive look to the beach and camping area. A bike trail along the beach bluff connects the beach with El Capitán State Beach, 2.5 miles east. This beach is unique among Santa Barbara beaches. Many locals find that they come here rather than other beaches closer to town. It just feels different than the others. It might be the abundance of picnic tables and grills or maybe its all the quirky little palms that dot the thin strip of border grass. It could also be the camp grounds that bump right against the beach.

The campground is more primative than I expected. If you are going to setup your chairs on the sand and spend the day in the ocean or on the sand any site in this loop will work. If you are like us and just like to sit close to the water and people watch and view the ocean you will want an end site in the loop. We had site#35 and I think it was the best because when we were backed in the door opened to the site and to the view of the ocean. There were alot of tent campers and the campgrounds allowed clothes lines and towels and bathsuits hanging on them. So some of the campsites looked a little messy and crowded. The people were all friendly, the site behind us with the vintage tent turned out to be neighbors of one of Robin's aunt's when they lived in Sierra Madre so we had a nice visit with them and shared Robin's dessert with them.

This was Robin's first experience with dutch oven cooking and as you can see from the slideshow it was a huge success. She really enjoyed that style of cooking. I am sure I will be on the receiving end on lots more dutch oven cooking.

It was a great weekend the weather was sunny, the wind sometimes a little cool. Good food, good ocean views, and good neighbors made for a great weekend

Serrano Campground, Big Bear Lake, Ca

Serrano Campground is located in the San Bernardino mountains, near the town of Big Bear. This campground is situated in a mountain setting in a pine forest and near Big Bear Lake. Popular activities include hiking, mountain biking, boating and fishing. Big Bear Lake, California is a fresh-water lake seven miles long and a mile wide, at an altitude of 6,750 to 9,000 feet.

The National Forest Service's Serrano Campground features 132 camping sites that can be used by tents, RV's, pop-up campers, pickup trucks with camper shells, vans, etc. RVer's should note that there are 29 campsites which offer electrical (30 amp), water and sewer hookups. There is an RV dump station.

We really enjoyed the weekend @ Serrano in Big Bear. The campground was booked and they say they usually are so you need to make reservations early. We stayed in the Evening Star loop with no hookups. The campsites were large and the one we had was shaded all day. They have a cement slab to park on but they are not level. The campground is within walking distance to the lake in fact one of the loops is very close but the sites are smaller and closer together. The loop with the hookups was called Snowberry. I would say the about 75% of the campground was filled with tents and the other 25% a mixture of trailers, MH, and FW.

The mixture of rain and sun we had for the weekend was very refreshing, considering it was 90+ degrees when we left Anaheim on Friday. If I was to rate this campground it would be an 8. If we had hookups and wifi it would have been a 10. We will definitely be staying here again.

Verizon cell phone and netcard good signal.

Hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Fourth of July 2009 Guajome Park Campgrounds

Guajome Regional Park is located in the coastal community of Oceanside and has a little bit of everything that San Diego County offers. A developed 33 sites campground offers partial hook ups, a caravan pavilion, shade and afternoon ocean breezes. Two day use areas with new playgrounds, a basketball court and lots of green lawn are ideal for picnicking or just relaxing. Two ponds attract a wide variety of migratory birds and serve as home to a variety of fish that will test the skills of any angler. 4.5 miles of park trails meander through diverse Southern California habitats such as woodlands, chaparral, wetlands, and mixed grasslands.

We spent the weekend at the campgrounds over the Fourth of July weekend. This is a very sleepy campground. It is a nice place to catch on your reading, go for quiet walks or just taking catnaps in the afternoon. We were at site# 9 which had lots of shade. We did spend a very relaxing weekend. I hope you enjoy the slideshow.

Santee Lakes 2009

Santee Lakes is located near San Diego, Ca. The campground is part of the Padre Dam Municipal water district, San Diego, Ca. It has a large day use area along with several camping areas that are located around the seven lakes. It is a very nice campground with very clean and roomy sites. Not all of their campsites are on the lake.
The site we had was perfect, on the lake and the free wifi they offered has excellant signal.

We left home on Friday afternoon and arrived at the campground about 3pm. The sun was shining and in no time we were sitting out enjoying the ducks and the sunshine.
Saturday turned out to be a day without sun but the temperature was comfortable. We lazed around the campsite all day and watched the various species of water fowl. We enjoyed an early evening campfire while listening to the Angels baseball game of XM radio.

Sunday I got up and walked Buddee to the nearby newspaper stand and picked up a Sunday paper to enjoy with my morning coffee, as Robin caught another snooze. On Sunday we had to pack up and head back to the grind of the weekday workday that were fast approaching. Of course without the work weekdays there would be no camping weekends.

Morro Bay April 2009

We spent the weekend at Morro Bay in the Morro Bay State Campground. The area is a treasure trove of state bird esturaries and protected marsh land. It's is a beautiful area.

Memorial Weekend 2009 at Coloma on the American River

We left early Wed May 20th for a extended Memorial Weekend on the American River @ Coloma RV Resort, Coloma, Ca. located behind Sutters Mill off the Old 49er trail, Hwy 49. It was a beautiful weekend with weather temp's in the upper 80's and low 90's. The water temp of the river was said to be in the upper 40's. I did not check it to verify. It was a lazy weekend of river watching with people rafting, canoeing and inner tubing on the river. Great weekend.