June 19 2013--Wednesday--Point Hueneme Light Malibu, and Carpenteria Camping

June 19—167094 Odometer reading

          “Did you shoot up?” Roy was too quick to get into his usual reclining position from home, but tonight inside the Teardrop.  He had forgotten to do his insulin shot. I’m sure the other campers around us were wondering about that statement, but he go the message.

          We are at the Carpenteria Beach State Park. We snagged one of the last two camp

sites & only due to Roy’s handicapped placard…with it we were able to obtain a CA State pass for ½ off on all fees at parks, camp grounds, museums, etc. It cost $3.50 for the life-time pass, and with the $45 normal fee per night cut in half, we’re already ahead $19.

          Roy and I pulled into our spot, #38 on the Santa Cruz circle, and then unhooked the Teardrop, turned it around by hand and pushed it up on the far side of the pad from the truck., This left a shaded area where we set up the folding table and chairs.

          While Roy set up the dining area, I pulled out the cooler and food boxes, set up the stove, and proceeded to make potato soup with bacon

and brown onions, along with a grilled Swiss sandwich.  And put together a faux apricot crisp using dried apricots cooked down, added blood orange olive oil, topped with granola and cooked down together. It was all quite tasty, and prep, clean up, and packing it all up and putting it away for the night was accomplished in an hour. Roy was impressed…he’s never camped with me before.

          But in case you think our dry camping is rough and archaic, think again. This is a fabulous campground. It’s right on the ocean,

with the wonderful sound of the surf (a bit softened by the sounds of the children right now), and the smell of the sea (a bit overtaken with the smell of camp smoke) as a background. There are restrooms and I don’t mean one-holers as have been the case for most of my camping excursions. No, I mean toilets that flush, that have rolls of toilet paper, and sinks with hot and cold running water. Have to take your own towel and soap in with you, but that’s not a problem. There are sinks on the outside of the building that are deep and have hot water for washing up dishes and actually get them cleaned and rinsed. But the ultimate in luxury is fore the cost of three quarters, you have access to a wonderful warm showers with 15 minutes of full flow water. Time to suds from head to toe, wash and condition your hair, scrub your feet and toes with spa gloves, and rinse to your heart’s content.  Heaven!!

          After a very long day, I couldn’t believe I was able to crawl into the clean sheets and soft blankets in the Teardrop in my pajamas and with clean hair, body, and feet.  Plus with only yards to the loo, my 2-3 nightly bathroom forages were of no concern.

          Roy and Guayo, on the other hand, crawled in clothes and all with no shower or wash up.  Sigh…sand in the bed.

          It’s only 8:30pm and there’s no way I’m ready to go to sleep, but seems Roy and Guayo are.  We were up early this a.m., the boys and Jason helping us get all packed up, and were underway around 9:40am. After a stop for gas and ice, we were off not for Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), but for Hwy 405. Not my choice, but since we’d already traveled up PCH North several times during lighthouse hunts, Roy wanted to avoid the Long Beach/Los Angeles/El Segundo/airport areas and then hit Hwy 1 again at Santa Monica. Great—all the pushing and speeding and traffic back ups and seeing freeway walls and billboards was not my cup of tea. The traffic in CA cities is appalling. Makes me twice as nervous pulling the Teardrop in that traffic. Plus as I’ve indicated before, signage is less than stellar.

          However, a little before noon we arrived at Santa Monica Beach. We parked (fee waived due to handicapped placard) at the beach parking lot, and the three of us took a nice walk along the beach walk. Roy and I took advantage of the facilities first thing, then walked down the beach toward the Santa Monica Beach Pier and Boardwalk, but didn’t go to it. We couldn’t take Guayo out to the ocean’s edge as at Dog Beach, and this confused and frustrated poor him as he truly loves the beach, and just wanted to play with other dogs and meet friendly dog loving people, but had to settle for the nice walk instead.

          Once we finished our walk, we got back to the Teardrop, opened it and the back of the truck up and proceeded to make Roy a nice sandwich, some pretzels, and some

crackers and cheese for me. I made Guayo his breakfast, which he finally ate as he had refused to do so in the packing frenzy of the morning.              

  

         After lunch we packed back up and headed for PCH and Port Hueneme (Why-nee-mee) for the next lighthouse shot.

          Backing up….the day before we left, Jason presented us with a GPS unit. I myself haven o problem making wrong turns, doing Uies (U-turns), getting lost and having to ask for directions. But I guess Jason was afraid the maps weren't good enough and we might get lost and wouldn't be found for months & when they found us Roy and Guayo would be skeletons and I’d finally be down to my goal weight.  So, we are now the proud owners of a GPS unit. It was very sweet and

thoughtful, but alas, we are going to need further training in order to get it to work the way we’d like it to do so. Roy was trying to get it to plan a trip to our next stop, but I was busy dodging crazy drivers and trying not to rear end other cars when traffic stopped dead numerous times for no apparent reason. He was happy as he was once again able to have a screen in front of him.

          We had no problems finding Port Hueneme. The problem was getting to the lighthouse which was located on the harbor property of the U.S. Coast Guard and government, and we didn’t have TWIC clearance (whatever that is), so we couldn’t go in to see it. However, by going to the Port Hueneme Beach and Park,

Pt Hueneme Beach & Pier

parking the truck and trailer, and walking along a path that went down the entire length of the harbor to the end, we could get a photo. Again, someone needs to put lighthouses where they are more easily accessible. Are they terrorist targets? I don’t think so! Well, after

parking down by the pier, Roy, Guayo and I proceeded to walk out to the light. It was about a mile each way!  Don’t need to worry about getting our exercise today, for sure. It was sunny and warm, but not impossible and we were able to get some nice photos. This little jaunt to

take the photo took us well over an hour to walk to and back.

          Also noticed some great storage tower with a Viking ship symbol on it, and a bio-tech building on the premises. It’s also amazing the number and size of the  shipping containers and vehicles to transport everything that comes into this port.  Ports are truly amazing.

          After our hike, we continued north on a combination of Hwy 1 and 101. First through Oxnard, An unfortunate name—named after Henry L. Oxnard. I would have changed my name. It sounds lke something that comes out of a cow’s nose.

          Oxnard is an interesting area. Beginning around the crossover at Ventura County, geology and geography change. Suddenly there are fields growing sod, strawberries, cabbages, raspberries, etc. instead of the ocean beach communities. Oxnard’s 200,000 people look to be a high % of farm workers and military personnel/harbor workers from the base/port in Pt Hueneme. Of course, Hwy 1 as most highways going through cities, takes you through the absolute most charming parts of the city---the most run down and poverty stricken. Roy says he’s convinced that of course the rest of Oxnard is filled with castles, penthouses, and mansions which we’d be sure to see in abundance if we just exited from Hwy 1 and drove through the city center, or to other areas. Why am I not convinced??

          In our journey up the coast, the reference about castles and mansions just reminded me

that we just drove the 27 of coastal Malibu—now that is where I’ll be living as soon as I win the $227 million lotto on Saturday. I looked for Charlie Sheen on the beach or walking

down the highway to his pad, but to no avail. Faria State Beach was gorgeous also, but then driving along the ocean with all of the abundance of flowers, trees, and plants

Hey Carly...MEMORIES!!!!

growing everywhere, with the coastal mountains and blue skies, temperatures in the 70’s, and opulence everywhere you look, what could be better.

          As I stood in our campsite this afternoon, I smell the fresh clean ocean scent, heard  the breaking and thundering of the waves, glimpsed the blue

water and white foamy breaks, and though to myself, “It’s Wednesday and I’m at the beach and …..I’M RETIRED. Life is good!

          Roy just woke up and said “I smell smoke”. My retort…yes, campfires. His come back…why do they have camp fires. I answer…for roasting marshmallows, making s’mores, and sitting around singing Kumbayah. His final question…How do you spell Kumbayah.  We both dissolved into laughter then went to sleep for the night.