jalama beach

just found a few pictures from jalama beach...

beautiful sunset

k.c. by latern light...

amazing rock formations

jalama road, off highway 1

just back from trip number two

we just got back from our second trip. this one went much smoother. we were better prepared - set up and tearing down was easy. it was perfect. the electricity and propane worked this time... so my stove worked for steaming vegetables for dinner one night and making a hot cup of tea... the little overhead lights worked...and the heater worked great. good thing - it got a little chilly at night since we are now towards the end of september. it was mostly foggy the whole time - but the fog and cool were welcome after being in the valley in 100+ temperature the past month. we stayed at north beach campground in pismo beach. cleared up the confusion about pismo, oceana and grover beach. it's actually three little cities - all next to each other. last time we actually stayed in oceana beach. drving up and down grand ave. (the main strip) is grover beach. at the end of grand if you make a left, you are in oceana, make a right, you are in pismo. we left early saturday morning and by 7:00am we already in santa maria - so we stopped at home depot to get supplies needed for this pantry i wanted daniel to put together.  once we got set up we took a long walk along the beach. we saw this seal on the beach and thought it was miraculous - until the lifegaurd lady told us that this poor seal was very sick and confused. there is some kind of acid poisoning - from pollution - and our fish off the coast are very sick from it - then the seals get sick. i was happy to hear animal rescue was on their way to help. we didn't hang out to see the end of that story, but it was a really beautiful majestic sight gone real bad  :(  on sunday we took a day trip into morro bay - 25 miles north of pismo beach. the main street - embarcadero - was a little touristy for us... we liked main street better. it had off beat art studios, natural food stores and thrift shops. the big morro bay rock was really impressive - altho it was a bit cloudy and we couldn't see the whole thing. on the way back we stopped at san luis obispo botanical garden which had a great variety of plants and herbs. also - last time i mentioned that little boat town... it's called port san luis. we drove thru it again. i also forgot to mention avila valley farm in avila beach. a little farm with lots of animals to look at - fresh fruit and veggies - and homemade jams, jellies and sauces. we went thru that area again looking for avila mineral hot springs. i had read about it and what we imagined and what it was were two different things....  i really don't want to bash someone's lively hood on this blog - but it wasn't that appealing to us. down the road was sycamore mineral springs - that looked really nice, and more expensive - so we decided we will return there - soon.

this time i took some pictures of the inside of the trailer - since i was so pleased with my new pantry.

the master suite

the guest bedroom... or closet  :)

the kitchen area

i have been wanting this hanging pantry i had seen - but after some research i found it might not be such a great idea to put hooks in the ceiling of the trailer because it might leak in the future. so i found this great idea on this forum: www.popupexplorer.com. we got tension shower curtain rods and metal baskets - they are attached with hose clamps.

we decided to start getting stickers of all the places we go and put them on the side of the trailer. morro bay wasn't up yet.

i liked this tree

k.c. makes some new friends

the seal  :(

morro bay big rock... foggy.

main street, morro bay

beautiful... along highway 1












north beach camp ground

i got this great old hammered pot and pewter candlestick in a thrift store along main street...

home sweet home  :)

technology update

well... ok then. on the phone for an hour and a half trying to figure this out. here's the scoop on camping and internet: there is something called a 'wireless air card' that you can use with your laptop and get internet connection anywhere. guess this isn't news to everyone - but it was for me. just plug it into a usb port and off you go. but - you have to pay per month... and you need to sign a 2 year contract. i guess this is different depending on your provider - but i dont want to pay $60 month for the next two years for a couple of camping trips ! then - there is something called tethering. again - depending on your provider - you can turn this option on or off - use it on a month per month basis - whenever you need it. great. and it's not expensive. great. all you need is to buy a 'two way cord' at best buy - or where ever. great. has equal reception as the air card. great. do i need any additional software or instructions to make it work ? yes. what ? the software isn't mac compatible... o. ok - then there is another way: get a dial up network. great. what ? my phone won't work this way. o. i need to buy a blackberry. o. well... hm. back to the air card ? hm. no internet in the trailer. ok. got to think about this one. maybe no blogging on the road for now.

wait. daniel has an iphone... maybe i can blog from his iphone ???

gonna let this one go for today. will pick up this issue at a later date. tmi. brain is gonna explode.

next adventure...

is planned for september 19th, 20th and 21st. we decided to leave on a saturday and come home on a monday this time as opposed to leave on a friday and come home sunday after our terrible drive home in traffic that took two hours longer than it should have. all that relaxing and unwinding was shot after sitting on the 101 for to long. we actually ended up taking another freeway and the long way home just so the car would be moving ! so we wanted to try another campsite this time - make sure to ask - some campgrounds dont like dogs ! el capitan and refugio were booked - so we got a reservation at north beach campground. which is close to where we were last time. looking forward to take two with the trailer :)

first trip

we just got back from our first trip. we left at 4:30 friday morning and headed up the coast. we stopped on the way to check out el capitan and refugio state beaches to see what the campgrounds were like. very nice... pretty... and booked. this is all new to us - these people make their reservations up to 4 months in advance... point: you need to call reserve america to make reservations - unless you want to take a chance for a cancellation. we finally made it up to oceana dunes around 8:00. another point: there is a speed limit on the beach. 15 miles per hour - which we did see the sign posted later the next day. so daniel gets pulled over for a speeding ticket. the cop guy was nice (not - he was an ass) and did not give us a speeding ticket - but - another point: he did give him a fix it ticket for tinted windows. we go out a bit and find a spot. next point: if your trailer is to heavy and you don't have a truck with big enough engine, you will get stuck in the sand. which we did. we had to dig ourselves out of the dirt - unhook the trailer - turn the trailer around and haul out of there. park closer to the water where the dirt is compacted from the water a bit. we finally get ourselves set up.

the first thing we notice is the hugest flock of seagulls i have ever seen. found out this was the time of day the whales feed.

i made my first meal - chicken sandwiches. glad that i had taken the time to think through what i might need stocked in the trailer. a well stocked kitchen is a big help.


by then, k.c. was so pooped out she didn't even seem to notice that we buried her in the sand !










we took the jeep out on the dunes and went riding around for a bit. oceana dunes is not calm and quiet ! the sound of quads, dirt bikes, dune buggies, sand rails everything all around constantly. but once you get out on the dunes - its amazing - vast. fun ! we settled in for the night - bbq'd burgers and made a fire. we were camping !





the next morning we headed out to avila beach - about 10 miles north of pismo beach. really calm quiet beautiful little beach town. and then just north of avila - this little harbor town - can't remember it's name :( where would be the perfect place to go if you had a boat and wanted to hang out on the beach and go fishing.

we got back to oceana dunes and were more than happy to pack up - get out of the noise and sand - and get to our next destination oceana rv campground. it was really pretty - quiet. we took a hike along the lagoon at sunset... looked at plants and birds, flowers and trees. got settled in really easy - after daniel had to turn the trailer around by hand because we realized we set up facing away from our fire pit and table !

the next morning we got up and took a hike around - happy to find out that the trail led right to the beach - we turned around and got the jeep and took a ride along the beach.

the campground had clean showers and bathrooms. it had an amazing array of native plants and herbs. there is even a native garden with a ton of plants labeled.

all in all... it was a great trip for our first try. a few bumps in the road and growing pains for both of us... but it seemed all my 'lists' were great. i'm glad we took the time to think about what we might need. the propane tank and electricity didn't work - daniel will have to figure that stuff out - but he came prepared with a generator so we were set. water, food, toiletries, kitchen stuff... perfect. we had driven through town at one point and i got the most amazing vintage enamelware tea kettle at a second hand store... something i didn't have on my 'list' for boiling water for tea :)

i had to put this picture in... we got into a fight over this stupid thing... don't ask :P

hmmm... glich in plan

woke up this morning and thought... how am i supposed to post while i am in a pop up trailer ??!!! what was i thinking ? so i guess i will write while i am away and then post when i get home. we are only going for three days so it seems silly to leave the campsite to find a nearby internet cafe so i can post on my blog !! ':D kinda takes the fun of the moment out of it - huh ? maybe someday hopefully someday soon like next summer soon or next month we can take a few weeks off for a vacation - then i can find internet en route. or maybe someday we will be all settled in and camper savvy and i can get daniel to hook a satellite dish - or whatever i need - to the top of the pop up. ha !

just got it

me and daniel just got this 1991 coleman sequoia pop up trailer.

we decided to get a trailer after we had borrowed my parents van and spent the weekend at jalama beach - just south of lompoc. the most beautiful little beach with towering bluffs. great for driftwood and rock collecting. clean pristine... beautiful. it is first come, first serve - so no reservations. we got there early enough in the morning that at 3:00 when they read names for openings - we got a spot.

we brought the new trailer home and cleaned it from end to end with pine sol and bleach... cleaned the curtains, cushions, everything. and made it our own.

then i made my lists. what i had to get together and what daniel had to get together. i love a good list. i feel so organized with a good solid list. my list included everything needed for the inside... and daniels was everything for the outside. i think his list was harder than mine... but he might think mine was harder - who knows.

then the best part... go to target and get everything needed. from bedding to toiletries, kitchen utensils, first aid kit and miscellaneous camping gear.

then the even better part... take all the bags and unpack them and organize them and figure out where everything needs to go to be in its place. all neat and - organized. i love that everything can now stay inside of it - no packing and unpacking stuff... all you need is a - list (!) when something runs low so you know when to replenish it... and keep it........ organized. its like the perfect little home. all tidy ready to go whenever you are. you just GO.

it feels like a dream.... ive wanted to do this for so long. i grew up taking trailer trips with my family and i have the best memories of camping along the beach. me and my sister had the top bunk and i would be up before anyone and i would squeek screech squeek the little window open and peek out to see the ocean. my vision was blocked by early morning fog but i could still smell the salt air and hear the waves crashing out there and i couldn't wait for everyone to get up so we could get out there and run on the beach, look for shells and crabs.... dig in the sand. i loved it. and now i get to do it again.

its tuesday night - wo - wednesday morning at 1:56. we leave friday morning around five. daniel still has work to do on the battery, propane tank, heater check... make sure everything works good. i am in charge of food. so thursday i will go out and get some basics... oatmeal, cheese, crackers, fruit, hamburger meat and supplies (i already have my 'condiments and spices' containers ready to pack up) then i will make egg salad and chicken salad for sandwiches... what else do i need on my food list ?

my clothes and miscellaneous personal items - paint box, books etc - are ready to go.

so.... where are we going ? friday night we have reservations at oceana dunes. right on the beach.... sounds amazing ? not sure - it might be rough with all the off roadies flying by all hours of the night. saturday night we move to oceana rv campgrounds. we are going to stop at a few places along the way to see if there is anything else available. we'll see. its an adventure. in our new little portable home.