Camping at Point Mugu

Since moving to California, one of things we've been really excited to do is get out and get camping.  While there's certainly plenty of good camping in Arizona, and we made use of those options from time to time (particularly the south rim of the Grand Canyon), there always seemed to be something keeping us at home.  Once we moved further west and found ourselves with a bit more free time on the weekends, we worked on eliminating those excuses one by one: we found ourselves a better (smaller, easier to assemble) tent on sale at Dick's Sporting Goods; we ended up with only one dog, and we could easily take her with us on local trips; and we lived in a place where tons of campgrounds with spectacular views were only a few hours' drive from the house.

Since we both had Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off, we planned to stay at home on Saturday and then camp on Sunday night, coming home Monday, and thinking this would lessen any crowds.  While we initially wanted to stay at Joshua Tree National Park, we quickly found out that those sites are booked months in advance, and we'd have to reconsider our venue.  Instead, we made a reservation at Point Mugu State Park, about an hour away along the coast from us, just west of Malibu.

We camping three!

Mugu was small - only 25 campsites total, had close beach access, and even allowed dogs on the beach, which is not something every place permits.  We got there right after check-in time (around 2:30pm) and after a small bit of negotiation with the ranger in charge ("hey, is that other campsite available?  The one that doesn't share space with anyone else?  Could we please have that instead?" "Sure!"), we started unpacking and setting up camp.

On our way to Malibu on the 405,

we pass right by the Goodyear blimp HQ

in Carson.  You rarely see the blimp on the ground,

so we had to grab a shot.

Tent time!

We hooked the kid up to a rope we ran

from the truck to the provided picnic table.

As you can see, she had a great time

keeping an eye on the trailhead.

As you can also see, she had a great time

getting herself tangled in the rope.

With things tentatively set up, we wandered over to check out the beach, just a bit before sunset.  You can cross Highway 1 from the park entrance to the beach, and it's not too busy, but when the tide is right, you can also walk through a tunnel, underneath the road and access it that way.  On the way to the beach, we did the tunnel route:

Looking toward the beach

(potentially obviously)

Picking our way among the rocks

Ta da!

Mugu Beach!

We chilled on the sand a bit, watching the sun dip into the water.  We headed back before sunset proper, since we hadn't thought to bring headlamps/flashlights with us, and we didn't want to try rock scrambling in the darkness.

"Guys, it's really bright out here."

"Can we go back now?

I can't drink this water, and it's weird."

As we started heading back to camp, we decided to try crossing the road instead of going back through the rocks, and on our way, we walked through the parking lot for the day use beach-goers.  This area has tons of wild parrots, and we spied a few noisily watching the sunset as well (actually, the next morning, we'd see decent sized flocks of them flying around, which was cool - you could always hear them coming).  

Squawking away

Made it across the road!

As we paused for the selfie, above, we beheld an amusing site.  I guess the ladies in this car were at the wrong campground (Sycamore Canyon was one of two sites within Mugu); they had to relocate a bit further down the road, and apparently, breaking down the tent only to put it up again a few moments later was not something they wanted to handle.

Can you see the arms sticking out of the windows,

holding the tent down?

I question the wisdom of trying this

while driving down Highway 1,

but everyone's different, I guess.

Anywhoo, it was back to camp and time to start chilling out, drinking beer, and eating foods!  Since our camping trip occurred in the middle of JanuVeggie, I'd done some research prior to going of vegetarian meals that were easy to cook on a camp stove.  I came across what turned out to be a really great recipe for sweet potato and black bean tacos; we prepped everything ahead of time, cooking the black bean mixture at home for easy reheating, and chopping all our toppings into bite-sized pieces for storage in small containers in the cooler.

Chris, person-ing the grill,

cooking the sweet potatoes from scratch,

and reheating the black beans.

Me, making friends with wildlife.

Please don't bite me.

Our finished dinner!

These were pretty delicious,

and we made them again during our

February camping trip
(spoiler alert!).

After dinner, it was time for dessert, which was - of course - S'mores!  C'mon - you can't camp properly without S'mores.

Hooray, S'Mores time!

We chilled out for a bit longer, and eventually decided it was time for bed.  We had our sleeping bags and we'd also brought an older one for Kaylee, along with her dog bed.  It would be in the 40's that night, so we also grabbed her a sweater, not wanting her to be cold.  I retired, and while Chris finished up his pre-bed routine, Kaylee took advantage of his absence to stake a claim on his sleeping bag.

"This is where I go."

Notice the dog bed at the bottom of the picture.

Chris attempted to sleep with her on the bag,

but eventually kicked her off on her own.

That face says, "whatever."

None of us slept super well that night; per normal when camping, we tossed and turned in our bags, trying to get truly comfy, and having an 80 pound dog wandering around the tent, randomly plopping her bony self down on top of you doesn't help either.  The day dawned with the screeching of parrots, and someone decided to cuddle with me for a bit:

There will be naps for everyone when we make it home.

Eventually, we all got moving and started heating up water for caffeine and fixing breakfast.  For breakfast, I'd found a recipe for egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, and they were freaking good, too.  Another win on the recipe front!

Also, more S'Mores for breakfast.

Of course!

The day was a bit overcast overall,

and our nearby hill was hard to see at times.

Like this one.

We didn't have to check out until noon, and while we wouldn't hang around that long, we took some time to relax after our relatively sleepless night.

This is the face of a dog who doesn't really like camping.

"Can we go home now, please?"

Eventually, the wish to get home and cleaned up overrode our desire to sit around, not doing anything, so we packed up and headed out.  This munchkin was happy to be back in the truck, on the way home:

Overall, camping at Mugu was a good time.  The weather was nice, the campground was small but well staffed and stocked with what we needed, and the drive wasn't too far; even though we were across Highway 1 from the ocean, we could still hear it lapping away during the night, which was nice.  We'll be happy to head there again in the future!

Later!

Amy