San Clemente Weekend

We took advantage of the holiday weekend to head to the beach. We stayed two nights, without hookup at San Clemente State Beach. My folks went with us, and Sherry's dad came down and visited for a little while on Sunday.

Andy unleashed his creative spirit with a cool mosaic in the sand made from pebbles and tree bark. Later, we walked down the bluff trail to the surf and explored the tide pools during low tide. There were starfish and urchins and no camera with us.

We had a bit of a scare when our dog-sitter called and said he thought someone was in our house Sunday night. Andy and I drove home to check things out and every thing was just fine. We couldn't say bye to the dogs again, so we took them to the beach with us. They were bushed, but, it made us want to try taking them on a trip with us soon (it is just so crowded with our stuff and 100 pounds of dogs!).

We did our usual check of the campsites and decided that the hookup sites at San Clemente are not something we'd be interested in. The dry sites rate three out of five tents, and site 88 on this bluff over the ocean is a four, just for the sounds of the surf and incredible view of the sunset. The only thing keeping it from a five is the lack of hookups.


We checked out San Onofre State Beach, and while it is just a wide spot along the old highway, they allow dogs on the beach, making it worthy of consideration. We liked sites 145, 115 and 116.

San Mateo Campground is on Camp Pendleton Marine Base, and has some hookups. It is a short drive to the beach, and not much else to do in camp. Our favorite sites there are 28, 66 and 67.

Lastly, we checked out Doheny State Beach and Sherry was very excited about the proximity of the campsites to the surf. No bluffs to hike down, just sand between the campfire ring and the water. Our favorite sites are, in order, odd numbered sites 93-73 (except 79), and odd sites 43-33.