Beach camping near Ventura
Tuesday | 2 January 2007 | Near Ventura Beach, California: Hello from
the beach. We are dry-camping along the sand just north of Ventura. It is a very
casual-type setting - you parallel park along the shore, pay at a kiosk and the
spot is yours for 24 hours. Or so say the rules. We seem to be the only suckers
who have paid the fee and no one seems to obey the other rules (no fires, dogs
need to be on a leash) posted for our benefit.
No matter, we are on the beach, the weather is wonderful, the sunset was
glorious and it smells good due to all the illegal campfires.
Our day started well enough. It was fairly quiet at the RV park as most
folks had left on Monday. I interviewed the owners of the campground, gathering
information for my review and we headed south just before noon. We drove south
on Highway 101. At Exit 78, we took the small road that runs along the shoreline
and chose a nice campsite to call our own for the night. We have a great view
out to the Pacific and Santa Cruz Island. There are a few gas or oil rigs
off-shore - they are ugly, but we need them.
Our home for tonight - and Reese exploring his wild side
After a big salad for lunch, we decided to take Reese on a
long walk on the beach. We had to climb down over boulders on the
seawall and I am sorry to say I lost my footing and slipped. I fell back
into the rocks, banged my (luckily hat-padded) head and landed on my
(luckily well-padded) rear and hip. Panicked for a moment, I reassessed that
all parts were moving and climbed on down to the beach. I am very sore and
can guarantee I will be very bruised tomorrow - but I was able to gimp on
down the sand for a nice, though slow, stroll. We were greeted by porpoise
and I can't tell you how much Reese loved the ocean! He was so excited! He
ran towards the water and then bit at his leash and attacked it, shaking the
strap and growling. He pranced. He ran. He barked. He chased birds. He was a
dog in paradise.
Our campground
Reese crashes on the dash after his romp
Our view at sunset
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