March 2019
By this point in our travels, we were learning to travel more slowly and try to experience the stops. This trip was also a lesson in stopping on a whim – somewhere that just looks nice – and seeing what may come.
We started trip four’s adventure by actually stopping at a friend’s place near Laguna Beach. They offered space at the house, so we found a charming state campground on Doheny State Beach in Dana Point to leave Aristotle for three days. We didn’t really experience the campground, but it looked kinda cool. Many of the campsites backed up directly the beach and some overlooked the marsh. However, you do feel like your neighbor was just inches away, leaving little privacy. Sneeze and the neighbor two spots down would likely hear. BUT… It’s camping on the beach, and that’s hard to beat.
We repeated the beach theme and headed north stopping at Thornhill Broome Campground on Point Mugu State Park. Again, it’s right on the beach, but doesn’t quite have the campground feel as it’s more like parallel parking next to the beach with the Pacific Coast Highway on the other side of a chain link fence. Not sure I would entirely recommend this spot, but it was easy access for walks on the beach and then hikes abound in the Santa Monica Mountains just across the Pacific Coast Highway.
Then… we got a bit creative. On our way to whatever location was planned, we just decided to stop on a whim at El Capitan State Beach. Lovely, just lovely state beach campground. The campground is positioned above the beach with various steps and access all around. It’s a tide pool lovers delight, and if you can deal with the freezing temperatures, a surfer’s stop. Just looking at the water made me shiver, so I stuck to the tide pools.
After getting our fill of amazing sunsets, walks on the beach, and the sounds of waves lulling us to sleep at night, it was time to move North.. We decided to rough it on our next stop and hang out at a small winery in Paso Robles courtesy of our membership in Harvest Hosts. Specifically, we settled down at Stacked Stone Cellars, a lovely, small vineyard/home/chicken coop/nursery/winery located about a mile from the town of Paso Robles.
Have we mentioned Harvest Hosts enough? Great idea it is… stay at a vineyard, winery, distillery, farm, museum, or golf course overnight. Enjoy the pleasures of their offerings and generally nice locations. It’s definitely better than the Walmart parking lot! We’ve compiled a few of our favorites on this page (page coming soon).
Well, this was our last stop on trip # 4 before putting Aristotle in storage for a few weeks in Gilroy, CA.
