Thar She Blows

We finally got around to taking the kayaks out. We haven't been out for awhile in the ocean. Even though they was that much of a wave, my boat got away from me when I was trying to get in it and when sideways and got dumped. Ugh, what a mess. After getting rid of most of the water and mud, made a second much more successful try. Joe and Savannah got in without any issues and so we paddled around the bay. We headed over to the Avila Pier and noticed a boat with a lot of people on it looking and pointing out to the water. Whales!!! We missed seeing some at Jalama but saw them this time. They were breaching the water and blowing water out their blow holes. Really cool. Especially as we were out in the water with them, though about a half a football field away.  Unfortunately we didn't have the camera, maybe next time.

Later in the evening we watched the news of the death of Osama Ben Laden. Congratulations to the President and Navy Seals and everyone who have been involved in this operation.

Avila Beach by way of Morro Bay

We left Jalama on Monday and made our way to Morro Bay State Park. We have stayed there before. It is a nice campground with lots of trees and across the street is the boat marina and a nice restaurant where you can sit outside with your dog. Once we set up, we drove to Pismo Beach for some shopping and decided to stop in Avila Beach to check out a camping area Joe had read about. It is Port San Luis RV Camping and is right near the Pier about a mile from the town of Avila.  There are some full hook up sites against the side of the hills and some dry camping in several turnout areas and also more camping up above.
They all have great water views and we decided to come back the next day to get a spot. They are all first come first serve. The next morning we headed back to Avila and got a great spot in one of the turnouts. It is one that we could park parallel to the shoreline so we have a great view out our big side windows.

Our motorhome above the beach area

View from our site

Another view from our site

Full hook sites

AA

Nice hook up site on one of the midlevel sites

                   Another great things about this area is that the beach is pet friendly and dogs can be off leash. Savannah gives this place 5 paws up. The day we first checked the place out we walked on the beach and she met a miniature australian shepard puppy named Sadie and they had a ball chasing each other and wrestling as puppies will do.

We signed up for two days but are thinking of staying through the weekend. Just a great place. What this life style is all about.                                                        


                                           

Jalama Beach

We arrived at the Newport Dunes Monday afternoon. Joe spend most of Tuesday at his office for meetings while I did some shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joes and a little clothes shopping as well. Wednesday we went down to Mission Viejo to see my Dad. He is on our Verizon phone plan and was seriously in need of a new phone. We got his phone and went to the nearest Verizon and picked out a new one for him. He was really happy to have a new one. We talked awhile catching him up on what we were doing and thenn headed back to the Dunes. We also dropped off our inflatible boat at our boys house as we didn't have any more room in our storage unit for it. Casey and Karol were there and we talked with them awhile.
Thursday morning we headed out and made our way to Jalama Beach Campground. We have been here many times on week vacations over the years and is one of our favorite spots. We have never been here this early in the year, The earliest was probably in early June. Athough the 14 mile drive from Lompoc down to Jalama is always pretty, it was especially beautiful this time. The hills were green with big patches of yellow flowers and some displays of some other colorful floweres. You drive through farm land, then the rolling hills and lots of twists and turns through the trees.

         Jalama has three levels. There are sites at sea level, some of which look right on the water. In fact, some of the sites use to have sand berms in front of them but they seemed to have been leveled so that you can now see the water from the camp sites. There is a midlevel that has good views of the water and then a top level that gives you the best view of the whole area. The top was filled and so we picked one in the midlevel which has electric.

Jalama is a county park and we were surprised when we got there as they are in the midst of making some changes. There is a large area on the lower level that is behind berms and the store,cafe and they are redoing that whole area. In fact some of the many trees have been removed. Also one section of the midlevel is being set up for 5 or 6 cabins. They are going to be around $85 a night and more on weekends in the Summer. Also they are going to go to a reservation system. Now they are first come first serve. We didn't have any problems getting in as it is still off season. However, in the summer, we have had to wait a day or two to get in. They have a system where you get a number and then there is a camp call  at 3 in the afternoon and they call numbers until the open spots are taken.  When we have to come back the next day we will stay at a campground in Lompoc. Usually you go the next day and a number of the people will have gone elsewhere and decided not to try again. The longest was three days and that was a time where Joe went ahead of time as he had more vacation time than me. I then came up on the train and got off at either Santa Barbara or Golets(did this a few times). It is worth it though as just a beautiful spot.                                                  

Kayaking with Sailor Savannah

We decided to try out our inflatable 2 person boat first as we weren't sure how Savannah would do kayaking.
We walked over the boat to the shore. It was pretty choppy as the winds were starting to come up but it was still a nice paddle and Savannah sat on my lap and was just fine looking around and then settling in for a nap.

Another day we went to the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuse to paddle in our hard shell kayaks

The Refuge is between Lake Havasu and Parker right off Highway 95.  It is 6,105 acres  and has one of the last stands of cottonwood willow forests along the Colorado River.  As we paddled down the river we saw cattail, cottonwood trees and saguaro cactus. The unique ecosystem creates a good habitat for both resident and migratory wildlife. It was a beautiful place to paddle. 

We did have a little adventure or at least Savannah did. She started in Joe's boat and had her paws hanging over the side of the boat and leaned too far and fell in. Luckily she had her leash on and thought she was swimming to get back to the boat, Joe had to pull her close and get her out of the water. Joe gave her to me and she finished the trip sitting on my lap, shivering from cold or being scare but was fine after awhile and we had no further incidents. We decided to use the hard shells in the future and will put our inflatable in storage when we stop off in Newport on the way up North.