Camping at the beach

Welcome to my blog! After years of futzing around, I’ve finally launched my blog and my website. I’d say I’m thrilled beyond words…but, here I am writing words—what a surprise! I’m ever so grateful for my tech-savvy daughter! Without her, I’d still be futzing around.

I think I’m the last of my writing group to finally put down the pen long enough to start a blog! And in my opinion, there’s no better place to do that than while camping. So here I am at El Capitan State Beach with my husband, Garth, and our exuberant golden retriever puppy, Chase. Our little 24’ motorhome (named Trac) is tucked into our favorite campsite #5.

I want to share two local secrets with you…

#1:  January is consistently, by far, the prettiest month along the Central Coast. Blue skies, green hills, calm, perfect temp, and no crowds to speak of.

#2:  El Capitan State Beach is a hidden gem. Hidden in plain site! About 20 miles north of Santa Barbara on Highway 101, it’s so screened by trees that you’d never know it has 132 spacious campsites—some with drop-dead gorgeous ocean views, some nestled under impressive oaks. Nice beach, great surfing during a west swell (so my husband says), and nature/bike trails.

I whole-heartily advise going to their website and booking a campsite for yourself*. Just leave campsite 5 for us, please!

Wherever we camp, we walk around with a map and we grade the campsites A thru C (any site below a C we just cross off). It really helps when we’re making reservations from home. We all know “To each her/his own taste” but if you’d like to get a copy of my ratings for El Cap, please just let me know on the contact page of my website and I’ll be happy to send it along, as well as other tips about El Cap. (I also have ratings for Morro Bay State Park, San Simeon, Yosemite, Big Sur Cabins and Campground).

You can also find in the RECIPE section of my website (under FUN STUFF), how to make Backpacker Biscuits and the story behind why they’ve become a family camping tradition for decades.

Chase and I are going to walk over now and watch Garth surf. Thanks for joining me here on my blog. I hope you’ll be back soon…

*It irritates me when someone puts an asterisk somewhere, then never explains it—so I won’t do that. I just want to mention that you can only make reservations during the spring, summer, and fall. In the winter (like now) you just come grab a campsite and pay for it here.