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Dinosaurs in the Desert.
For those of you who are old enough to remember “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”, this dinosaur below should look familiar.
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Fall Camping at Lake Cahuilla in La Quinta, CA.
Let’s try something new in this post. How about I start with a nice scenic shot of the beautiful campsite we stayed at for 8 nights before jumping into the details. Ahhhhhh….. Lake Cahuilla. I don’t know how to pronounce you but I surely adore you.
OK, on I go with the rest of the story…
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Exploring the campground at Malibu Creek.
After finally getting the upper hand on our unlevel site at Malibu Creek State Park, we got to sit back and enjoy the beautiful view from our Airstream… for a few minutes at least.
When you have a toddler, you don’t have hours and hours of nothing to do. Because there is always something to do. Like exploring the campground. So, if Ava sits still and “relaxes” for few minutes, we soak it in… fast!
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A 24-Hour Visit to… Lake Piru.
Having been house bound for months since our last trip in February to Newport Dunes for the FOTR rally, we were antsy to get out and do some camping in ‘The Mish’. We rallied up some friends and family during the week and got a group of us to hit up a local campground. Lake Piru.
Lake Piru is located in Ventura County, California, in the Los Padres National Forest next to the Sespe Condor Sanctuary. They have camp sites ranging from a primitive tent site to full hookup sites. Electric only sites cost $31 a night during the peak season with tent sites at $27 while a full-hookup site costs $42 a night but only 5 of them are available per the map.
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La Tiendita Mexican Restaurant.
During our travels in the Airstream (aka Mali Mish), we run across some of the most amazing little restaurants that make our hearts pitter patter and our full stomaches asking for just one more bite. Instead of keeping them a secret for ourselves, we are going to be kind and share the details. Bless our hearts.
Over New Year’s break, we spent some time camping with our Airstream in San Onofre, California. Dan had an early morning conference call so we drove into San Clemente so he could steal borrow the Wi-Fi from Starbucks and so Ava and I could grab a bite to eat. There were a few greasy spoons within walking distances but none of them were calling our names. We were just about to give in as I caught a glimpse of this place from the corner of my eye. La Tiendita Mexican Restaruant. Whenever Dan and I need to make a decision on which unknown restaurant to try, we usually steer towards Mexican food… and 9 out of 10 times, we make a good decision. This was no exception.
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Our Tow Vehicle: The GMC Savana Diesel Van.
Towing an Airstream is not a simple task. It can weigh literally tons and the tow vehicle is the difference between a dream and a nightmare while you are on the road. For years I have always wanted a camper van. Having been a surfer for most of my life, I dreamed about road trips in my van with my buddies, packed full of camping gear and surfboards, exploring the coast of Baja Mexico for years on end. Well, Baja Mexico is no longer the paradise it once was thanks to Mexican drug lords, but I finally got the van of my dreams.
I decided on a GMC Savana 3/4 ton Extended van partially because I had $3000 worth of rebates through my credit card. When we were van shopping, we did not know that we would one day be towing our Airstream. The van was just going to be the tow vehicle for our little T@B trailer we owned at the time. The T@B being a small camper, we were glad to have the extra interior space for storage and traveling comfort. It was a complete overkill of a tow vehicle for the T@B trailer as thus, most of the time we would actually forget we are towing the little teardrop. But we sure were glad to not have to upgrade when the time came to move up to the Airstream.
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Dry Camping at Thornhill Broome State Beach
Last week we were graciously approached by a fellow Airstreamer from our home town to tag along with them and some others in the area on a trip to a local beach for the weekend. We were at the right place at the right time to get in on this trip as it had been planned for some time and one of the campers dropped out in the last moment with a non-refundable fee which we were happy to fill in for them.
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San Onofre-San Mateo Campground.
We ended up camping at the San Mateo Campground in San Onofre during New Year’s week for 5 nights. If I had to rate this campground, I would probably give it just an average score. We haven’t been to too many sites so far with the Mali Mish Airstream but Catalina State Park in Tuscon, The Shady Dell in Bisbee and El Capitan State Beach just outside of Santa Barbara are still my top three campgrounds so far. And if these are my references, San Mateo is just “alright”.
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Camping at San Onofre State Beach
This week we are finally back on the road again. This time, we are headed down to the border of San Diego and Orange County to camp at San Onofre State Beach. Actually, the beach campsites are closed in the winter time so we settled for San Mateo Campground a mile inland from the beach. I know, it’s difficult.
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A Tour of The Shady Dell in Bisbee, AZ.
We’ve blogged a lot about our stay in Bisbee, AZ. It really is a lovely little old mining town that we love visiting. As we are about to wrap up a series of posts from our 10-day Arizona trip, I want to give you another photo tour of the cool little RV park called The Shady Dell.
This is their famous mural on the street side of the office wall that greets visitors as they pull into the campground.
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Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Hi there. I’m Ava and welcome to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum!! I got into the museum for FREE but my parents had to pay $13 bucks each. I guess they are in the 13 years old and over category. Who knew?!?
There are many knowledgeable people scattered all around this mostly outdoor museum. Like this lady. She kept going on and on about a tortoise. I’m not sure if she forgot to drink her coffee this morning or what, but that is a turtle, my friend. A. Tur. Tle.
