DoHo Christmas

We just got back from a couple days of beach camping at Doheny State Beach. It was really a commuter-camp because Andy was in a basketball tournament in Rancho Cucamonga so we were commuting the 120 mile roundtrip between the campsite and the games. We were set for another night at camp, but with his Wednesday game starting at 9:00 AM, we decided to come home after the campfire on Tuesday night.

My folks got a room at the Doubletree Resort -- walking distance from the campsite. They just stayed the one night, but they joined us for some hot soup around a cold campfire. I had bought four bundles of firewood at Smart & Final and it just smoldered and never flamed. It was a good thing Sherry knitted my Dad a new hat to keep his melon warm on a cold night at the beach.

This cool photo is from the CSULB geology department. It does a good job of illustrating the things I wanted to write about in this post. At the far left (east) are some condos on the bluff over the campground. Many of those folks have their WiFi unsecured, and it was no problem finding an available network to stream tunes and update the FaceBook page. On the far right (west), is the harbor and there are many fine restaurants within walking distance of the campground (which is located directly under the letters Dohe in the photo). The large building inside the wye adjacent to San Juan Creek is the Doubletree Hotel where my folks stayed.

When the tide was out, Sherry and I walked out onto the tidelands visible directly under the word Beach in the photo. This area is the size of several football fields, and it is all cobbles with lots of sea creatures eking out an existence in this intertidal zone.  The Orange County Harbors, Beaches and Parks department has an interesting Virtual Tidepool where you can learn about some of the cool things we saw there. All of the living things are protected, but non-living items may be collected. Along with a few shells, Sherry found several vertebra from a small animal and a large rib bone from some large aquatic creature.

During our final commute, we decided to bring the dogs back to join us for the day. Digger (in front of Andy's feet) had no problem napping through the new adventure. Scooby was ever vigilant for other dogs and Scooby-snacks. This photo was taken in the green park area, directly under the word State. During the summer, this area is hopping with bike and surfboard rentals. Andy isn't crazy about surfing here because the waves break too close to shore near the campground, and those cobbles we were walking on are weapons of mass destruction during high surf.

As we were breaking camp, I heard one of the Rangers referring to Doheny as DoHo, which I thought might catch on with the family. I wonder if it is DoHo or Dough Ho'?