Moro, Moro, Moro

I was just noticing that Moro Canyon has been showing up on our calendar a bunch. We're heading to the beach at Moro Canyon in August, November and January. This campground just opened in 2012, and while there are some drawbacks (no water tank filling, no campfires, and a hike or drive to the beach), the views are spectacular, there is lots to do in the area, and it is less than an hour from our house.

The view from the campsites.

Snuggle for the sunset because there are no campfires.

The campsites don't have shade, but what a view.

Friendly campers.

Great beach.

Mother's Day 2015

As has become our custom, my Mom and I get away for some Mother-Son camping every year. Beats the heck out of another toaster. We were a little concerned about the weather as Friday night brought a few inches of snow. It was all melted by noon on Saturday so we had plenty of time to catch up around the campfire under the stars. Table Mountain by Wrightwood has become our favorite location for these trips. It is a nice little town, clean and quiet dry campsite. The only downside is no showers or flush toilets. The best sites are 112 and 113. It kind of looks like we let a squirrel take that last photo.

La Fiesta de las Golandrinas

This was a quick weekend trip with the Wong girls. We headed to the Swallow's Day parade and festival in San Juan Capistrano, and then to the tide pools for low tide. We had dinner at Olamendi's followed by a campfire before we all crashed for the night. This morning we had another round of beach combing and then fish and chips at Jon's fish market in the harbor. These quick weekends are great for my blood pressure.

Full Hookup

Bolsa Chica

We've never been to Bolsa Chica State Beach before. It is a wide spot in the road, alongside the Pacific Coast Highway, with a dog-free ecological preserve across the way, and sandwiched in between Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Long Beach. After spending two nights there, we're converts, as long as it is a beach site and not the highway side.

There are campfire rings out on the beach, but that is a looong walk back to the campsite. Sherry used this one as a platform for dancing and watching the sunset. Both looked gorgeous!

It is possible to have a campfire at the campsite, but you have to bring your own fire ring and it has to be eight or more inches off the pavement. A couple cinder blocks and an old washer tub took care of that for us. The campsites have water and electric, and we got a couple dozen Los Angeles TV stations over the antenna, so Sherry's father, Art, joined us for dinner and watching the football game on Sunday. My folks and my brother came out for dinner and campfire on Saturday night.

Andy joined us for this trip and it was great having our boy join us for camping again. It has been a while, and it was great to have him back. He and Sherry love shopping in the little beach towns. We all liked touring the USS Iowa in the Port of Los Angeles.

Scooby hates camping so she stayed home. Maisie, however, loves camping and jumped into the RV as soon as I opened the door in the driveway. She is still a pup so there was some separation anxiety whenever we weren't all together, but she's figuring it out.

Bolsa Chica is a great base camp, and a safe place to crash for the night. We'll certainly be back. 

Why We Wear Shower Shoes

Gross!! Anyone who does this needs to go back to the Motel 6.

Facebook Killed the Camping Blog

It seems like Facebook has removed my motivation to keep this updated, and that isn't good for looking back and remembering the favorite things about the campsites. I'll do my best to catch up and do better in 2015.

We started out the new year with a New Year's Eve trip with Paul and Linda to Rancho Jurupa Regional Park. It got down in the twenties overnight, so hose lines were freezing and propane was burning. We found a great bar with live music and Guinness on tap so I'm sure we'll be back to the Lake Alice Trading Company.

In January, we'll be heading out to a new place for us, Bolsa Chica State Beach. This video below is a drone pilot's overview of the area. Our spot is along the beach, just two sites from the camp host site shown in the video.

In February, we're heading to our timeshare in Solana Beach, where we like to hang out on Cedros when we're not at the beach.

In March, we're heading to Doheny State Beach for fish and chips, maybe a whale watch cruise, and then watching the sunset from a rooftop bar.

April is nearly impossible to camp because of the training schedule for the new fire lookouts, and in May, we're back for another week at the Solana Beach timeshare.

June is the annual Gonzalez family camp out which will once again be up at my favorite mountain campground, Dogwood. 

In July, we have a bluff site at South Carlsbad State Beach, and that is as far out as I can make reservations, so stay tuned and I'll do a much better job of updating this camping blog as the year goes on.