For our first trip after barely two weeks at home, we set off up the California coast on what Paul calls a California Surfing Safari. No surfing was actually involved at all but I think you get the idea. Beaches, beaches and more beaches were to be the core of the trip. We started at Thornhill Broome Beach which is not exactly far afield from Paul’s house but the draw of camping by the beach still made it very enjoyable and enabled our first chance at using some of our camping gear.
Amazing sunsets at every beach we visited…
After Thornhill Broome we headed all the way to Rincon Parkway in Ventura. Such a long journey, but who can pass up another nice beach view.
From Rincon parkway we diverted inland to Lake Cachuma for some more water views. However, it was pretty hot inland so we decided to only stay one night
Our next camp was Oceana Dunes which, to Paul’s knowledge, is the only place in California when we are allowed to drive and camp on the beach. The temperature was perfect and as you can see from the pictures, midweek is the time to camp here as there were few people about.
It’s just as well that there were few people on the beach mid-week as Maggie decided to try her skills riding on the sand. Later she also drove BAT on the beach which she claims to have enjoyed but has never done it again since!
Riding our bikes on the beach makes us quite thirsty, so strictly for hydration reasons, we indulged in some refreshing Margaritas.
Despite Biker Maggie’s dress to the contrary, the temperature was actually quite warm.
Paul is a little reluctant to mention that camping is $20/night on the beach but seniors get a $2 discount making it only $18/night…. just saying.
We made a short stop at Avila beach before continuing on our safari.
A friend of Paul’s from Teradyne recommended we check out Jalama beach so we did and it is a really nice secluded campsite right next to the beach.
We had been told to try the famous Jalama Beach Burgers and so we did and they were excellent!
We spent two days here and enjoyed beach walks, beers and burgers. Before we left, we topped off our fresh water tank at the camp water spigot. Unfortunately Paul has still not got the process down for turning off the water supply BEFORE disconnecting the water input line from BAT. Two showers that day!
Well after two days at Jalama we headed south to out last beach camp of the short trip. This was Refugio beach. We actually first stopped at Gaviota but decided against it and boy were we glad we made that decision. Regugio in our opinion is much nicer.
Off for a pre-dinner walk along the beach. Maggie and I enjoyed this beautiful beach.
From Refugio we headed home in the morning. The trip was short but a lot of fun.
Endless Trail Expeditions 