Last week, we packed up the Airstream and headed south again. This time it was for our very first official rally. We joined the Families on the Road (FOTR) West Coast Rally which was held at the Newport Dunes RV Resort down in Newport Beach, California. Usually we travel by ourselves, but for the past two trips we’ve taken, we’ve traveled in groups. Last month we camped with a group of Airstreams in Malibu and this time we camped with a group of families in Orange County.
Don’t worry about the picture below. Ava sits in a car seat. All the time. No exceptions. I am sort of the seat belt police whenever we drive anywhere. I have a thing for following the law. Dan makes enough fun of me for being a rule follower so I don’t need any more comments from the peanut gallery. Plus, if you don’t wear your seat belt and you get in an accident, you are not only hurting yourself but the others around you too… and that’s selfish. Sorry, I think I was just possessed by McGruff the Crime Dog. Back to the story.
Once again we hit the road at Ava’s nap time and once again she didn’t nap. Ava actually did try to fall asleep a couple times but when she started snoozing, her cowboy boots started to fall off. And that in turn caused her distress. You see, she has a thing for shoes and there is no convincing her that it is okay to take them off when we are in car. Oh oh. I think Dan has another rule follower on his hands.
After a little bit of LA traffic, we arrived at Newport Dunes RV Resort mid-afternoon. Dan backed up the rig and set her up pretty quickly. Each site had full hook-ups. It was so so nice to be directly connected to the sewer. Long hot showers everyday. Yeah!
We were situated in the second row but we still had a decent view of the bay. There wasn’t much privacy between each site. Just a fence with some trailing plants but it is much more than what we experienced at the other RV resort we stayed at in Gila Bend.
Southern California has been getting lots and lots of needed rain for the past month or two. And sure, we Californians love to complain about our drought reversing rain, but our mouths stay shut once the sunshine returns and we get a sight of the local mountains. It is so surreal to have the Pacific Ocean on one side of you and the snowy capped mountains on the other. It almost seems photoshopped. But it’s not. And, our property tax bill proves it.
(Photo courtesy of FamiliesOnTheRoad.com)
Being in an RV Resort usually means that there are a lot of amenities available to its residence and Newport Dunes RV Resort was no exception. They had a decent size pool and hot tub.
We were planning on going to the pool during our stay but the pool wasn’t heated. Yes, we are Californian wussies. Thin blood. Blah blah blah.
The RV Resort also had a Market Place for groceries, RV supplies, and even offered golf cart and Segway rentals.
Being that it was our first rally, we had no idea what to expect. We just thought we would maybe meet up with the families officially once, maybe twice, and the rest of the time would be free time. But boy were we wrong. Rallies mean lots of gatherings and activities. We were pleasantly surprised. Here we are at the Meet and Greet that occurred at an empty site that we all chipped in for.
(Photo courtesy of FamiliesOnTheRoad.com)
As soon as we got to the event, we were asked our names… with the caveat that we can add anything we liked to our names to describe ourselves. Dan was ‘Surprise me Dan’ because he is a smartass. I was ‘Just Marlene’ because I have pregnancy brain and that was the best I could come up with. And Ava was ‘No nap Ava’ for obvious reasons.
Every night, the families gathered around the beach and held a bonfire. We unfortunately didn’t attend these bonfires. Dan spent the evenings working and I was in bed by 8pm. That night, our friend Nicole stopped by. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant down the street and headed right back to the Airstream for some sticker fun…
… and to drill this book into Ava’s mind since she is not longer allowed to bounce on my belly. Watch out someone else’s belly. You know who you are. Hehe.
the end,
marlene
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